Earth Day Contribution

[pops6927]

Today is Earth Day so we thought, as we're on vacation, to get covered in some dirt and sweat! Out back we planted a few years ago a tiny little rose plant some friends gave us. It has grown, even with trimming, into the rosebush from Hell!

When it was 'little':


Now in it's 'full size' in two parts, too tall to get in one picture:





Well, we cut it down in sections until we got it removed, having to axe the root @ 2" diameter, kill w/kerosene and cover with paper and bricks, then prepared the space to about 2' wide:



Went to Home Depot and got some Silverado Texas Sage and Japanese Boxwood:



Some humus and mulch:



Conditioned the soil with the humus, planted the bushes and covered with soaked newspaper:



And bedded with the mulch, project done! It's now almost 90° out so we're getting the dirt and sweat off and go shopping! Hope you have a good Earth Day too!



Pops §§

 

[grothe]

Very nice Pops...thanks for the pics...

 

[suprfast]

im doing a full garden this weekend. Tomatoes, garlic, jalapenos, eggplant, cayanne, corn, watermelon.

I have to finish pulling out the stupid lava rocks and ivy first. Im a very green person(except for this smoking stuff because i love food)
kris

 

[fire it up]

When they ask you "paper or plastic?" what do you say...
Neither!
Simple ways to go a little greener...
Bring your own bags when you go shopping.
Turn off the faucet when you brush your teeth.
Start a compost pile.
Use compact fluorescent bulbs.
Place a red brick in the tank of your toilet, this raises the water level and cuts back on usage.
When spraying weeds use vinegar instead of harsh chemicals.
Try to buy organic veggies or at least stay away from heavily pesticide filled ones.
Use oils such as peanut and olive, they are natural and biodegradable.
When cooking corn leave it in the husk instead of wrapping in foil.
If you need to clean try Simple Green, it is non-toxic, biodegradable and works miracles!
Make sure if you recycle bottles and cans you clean the cans and remove caps from the bottles, if they are left that way many recycling facilities may just throw them in the trash rather than taking the cap off of a million bottles a day.

*Forgot to mention, you can even throw ash in the compost as long as it is wood ash and no fats or oils have dripped into it.

 

[suprfast]

I always take my own bags(i even get a 5cent credit per bag). I used to live in a apt(2nd story) and the regular grocery bags never cut it. I bought some of the reusable clotch bags and wow, i was able to carry 100lbs of food per trip. We go shopping about once a month to cut down on the cost of trips to and from the store.

i run all CFL in the house and have my sprinklers setup on a timer so i dont overwater(my father in law is a landscaper and says 5-10 minutes tops is all a lawn needs in CA).

Not sure anyone can help me on the next topic. In the next few weeks i plan to start a worm farm for compost(or just a regular compost). Can anyone help me in this direction. My wife drinks coffee in the mornings and i drink iced tea all day so the tea bags and coffee filters will be recylced in the composter.

Im really stuck on the new clorox brand chemicals that are GREEN. No more harsh smells, and if i overspray it on something i put in my mouth i feel safe. I also use the eco friendly laundry detergent from costco.

Im sure everyone is now tired of hearing me being green. My reply, when you are as big as the hulk, live like the hulk
kris

 

[pineywoods]

Looks great Pops

 

[cruizer]

Have never bought a compact flouresence bulb and never will. I do not want the mercury threat in the house.

 

[pops6927]

I've replaced all mine with the compact fluorescents and the energy savings has definitely been well worth it. Don't give the 'mercury threat' a second thought, have never broken one and have dropped quite a few. Plus you only change them after several years, reducing that threat, and with grandkids there's more of a chance of breaking a regular bulb changing it every few months instead of years and having broken glass around little feet (they ALWAYS find something you don't want them to!) plus these don't get anywhere's near as hot around little fingers too.

 

[suprfast]

Unless you own a house from 1512 you have bought such lighting. All kitchens are required to use FL. Those have mercury too. Im assuming you dont eat seafood right, there is mercury in seafood.

 

[cman95]

Even though I like roses that thing was off the chain. The replacement plants will make a nice flowerbed.

 

[azrocker]

I liked the Rose! Wish you were my neighbor I would have dug it up for you.

 

[the iceman]

Enough with the warm & fuzzies & the good intentions without substance.
The Earth has been here a heluva lot longer than we have & it has been through a great deal of more extremes than we will ever be able to influence.

Just because we are fortunate enough to live in an era that that is ideal for human life does not mean that things will stay that way. I remember in the late 70's the media was all up in arms about "Global Cooling"

The fact of the matter is the Earth will "heal" itself no matter what we do. Take the dinosaurs as an example. If not for an errant asteroid we would not be here to post about our love of smoked deliciousness.

Don't take this little rant to say that we should exploit all our resources to the edge of oblivion but, if we were really concerned, would we be "smoking" our chow???

Hey, I'm not known as THE ICEMAN for nuthin'.

 

[the dude abides]

Hey Pops,
Good for you and you're plantings. Looks nice. I don't know what Texas Sage is, but I planted Russian Sage a few years back and that stuff spread like crazy. It started to take over the entire landscaping along the front of my house. Long root system, took forever to dig all that stuff outta there.

I don't use many of the compact flourecent bulbs simply because I don't like their coloring. I have them in the basement and garage. I have a neighbor behind me who has them through their whole house and it looks like the aliens have landed with the blue glow coming from their house at night.

 

[hell fire grill]

Is dumping kerosine in the dirt good for the earth?

 

[phreak]

Don't listen to this guy. Everyone and anyone that cares and does something about it needs to keep up the good work. We can make a difference for future generations (SCIENCE IS PROVING IT)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pops6927
, kill w/kerosene and cover with paper and bricks, then prepared the space to about 2' wide:
Pops §§

Is dumping kerosine in the dirt good for the earth?

probably not so good, a better alternative would be vinegar.

 

[chisoxjim]

good catch, kerosene isnt very earth friendly or green.

 

[suprfast]

Crazy you bring up the 70's. That was long before i was born, and according to most other conservative outlookers was about the same time dinosaurs roamed the earth right?

 

[pops6927]

Didn't think much about it, it came from the earth, and I only used about 2 thimblefuls, just enough to coat the exposed cut off the root. It'll all rot and become compost. It actually was told to me by a greenhouse owner many years ago on killing cut tree roots. Next time I'll use vinegar however. My bad!

 

[suprfast]

not sure if this is true but i was told to drive nails into the wood and when it rusts it will kill the stump. Never tried though.