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What I learned from my 2015 garden
What I learned from my 2015 garden
2015: the summary
For the past three years I have been conducting a scientific experiment in my vegetable garden to determine how the garden responds to soil mineral balancing as described in Steve Solomon’s book The Intelligent Gardener. I based the amount of the mixed amendments that I used in 2015 on the discussion I had with a gardening mentor, as I mentioned in this post, and followed the planting instructions for potatoes that are also discussed in that post. In addition, in 2015 I increased the amount of space I allowed for some crops to match more closely to the semi-intensive spacings in Solomon’s book Gardening When it Counts, and I trialed some new crop varieties and planting procedures. But I didn’t do one thing that my gardening mentor had also suggested. Because I hadn’t purchased enough cottonseed meal in early spring to use for side-dressing, I was unable to side-dress the long-season, high-demand crops as he had suggested.
With that said, here’s a summary of garden performance in 2015
1. In general, crop yields remained the same or increased compared to the past two years. For a few crops yields increased by large factors. A few crop yields decreased compared to previous years.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Keeping heat in and near your body in a cool residence
Keeping heat in and near your body in a cool residence
Clothing isn’t the only way to keep warmth close to your body, however. In this post I’ll discuss some other ways to keep heat inside and near you that don’t involve any structural changes to the building you live in. All of these means with a minor exception will apply to both renters and owners. Some of them are free or nearly so; others can be cheap or expensive.
A much-overlooked way to stay warm is exercise. OK, stop groaning already; I heard you. You’re thinking, not another guilt trip for not exercising. No, not at all. I’m merely pointing out that moving your body around generates heat. Dressing properly or using some of the other strategies I’ll discuss below will help you keep some of that heat close to you after you finish exercising, allowing you to keep your residence cooler for the same comfort level.
When I say exercise, I don’t mean you have to use machines or buy any special clothing to do it. How about doing some housework? Yes, I see you glaring at me. You don’t like housework any better than I do….click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
