Thursday, April 28, 2011
Back acne treatment
It is bad enough to get acne on your face but worse if you get them on your back! With face acne I can keep my face clean to prevent acne from getting worse but what do I do with my back acne? Is there some sort of back acne treatment that I can use? And even if there is, how do I reach my back? I’m going to need someone to help me every time I treat my back acne!
Autumn jobs
Autumn is a great time to do garden improvement and maintenance, for example constructing a pathway or a pergola, sharpening your tools, improving your soil or mulching the garden beds. A little time spent on jobs now will help your garden power away in the spring.
Strawberries planted now will produce fruit in October and November. Put some mulch around the base of a citrus tree, making sure not to allow any of the mulch to touch the trunk. Some citrus trees, such as Emperor mandarins, bear so heavily that the branches bend over with the weight of the crop. When this happens it is necessary to do some emergency thinning to prevent the branches snapping under the strain. Ideally, the best time to prune citrus is after the crop is harvested.
Strawberries planted now will produce fruit in October and November. Put some mulch around the base of a citrus tree, making sure not to allow any of the mulch to touch the trunk. Some citrus trees, such as Emperor mandarins, bear so heavily that the branches bend over with the weight of the crop. When this happens it is necessary to do some emergency thinning to prevent the branches snapping under the strain. Ideally, the best time to prune citrus is after the crop is harvested.
Two step stool
It is convenient to have a small step ladder inside the house for occasional uses when you need to get to something placed up high. I have a decent size ladder in the garage but that wouldn’t be good for inside the house. What we need is a two step stool that can be used as a stool when not being used as a small step.
Adding Organic Matter to Soil
The worst problem facing gardeners in Australia today is that when soils dry out, they can become water repellent, or hydrophobic. When this happens, water just runs off instead of soaking into the soil.
Hydrophobia usually occurs in sandy soils and often it is caused by mulches. When uncomposted mulch sits on the surface of the ground, waxy, oily material leaves that mulch as it breaks down and coats each individual grain in the soil. When the soil dries out and you try to rewet it, the waxy, oily coating on the grains won't let the water back in and the soil stays dry.
If you took that same mulch and put it into a compost heap, micro-organisms such as bacteria and fungi would break down the waxy and oily material along with the organic matter. As well, the remnants of organic matter that you get at the end of composting actually aid the soil to form tiny little cracks that allow water to penetrate - drying out is never really an issue and the soil always rewets. So organic material used as a mulch causes the problem, but solves the problem when used as a compost.
Hydrophobia usually occurs in sandy soils and often it is caused by mulches. When uncomposted mulch sits on the surface of the ground, waxy, oily material leaves that mulch as it breaks down and coats each individual grain in the soil. When the soil dries out and you try to rewet it, the waxy, oily coating on the grains won't let the water back in and the soil stays dry.
If you took that same mulch and put it into a compost heap, micro-organisms such as bacteria and fungi would break down the waxy and oily material along with the organic matter. As well, the remnants of organic matter that you get at the end of composting actually aid the soil to form tiny little cracks that allow water to penetrate - drying out is never really an issue and the soil always rewets. So organic material used as a mulch causes the problem, but solves the problem when used as a compost.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Cigars
I’m not one to smoke cigars but once in a while I might have a go with friends just for celebrations like someone’s having a baby or getting married. Mind you I don’t inhale, just puffing away blowing smoke. Some people don’t like the smell but I like the aroma of a good cigar however my wife will refuse to kiss me afterwards!
Growing Better Pot Plants
Growing a beautiful plant in a pot is a satisfying experience, and plants continue giving joy year after year, especially as they can be moved indoors for brief periods when flowering. However, many pot plants tend to become drab and do not add anything to their environment. There are however a few tricks to growing really good plants in pots.
Watering pot plants can be difficult, as the water often is not absorbed below the surface. A wetting agent acts to open up the potting mix and allows water to be fully absorbed. An experiment conducted with three pot plants with standard potting mix which had typically dried out, indicates the importance of a good wetting agent.
Watering pot plants can be difficult, as the water often is not absorbed below the surface. A wetting agent acts to open up the potting mix and allows water to be fully absorbed. An experiment conducted with three pot plants with standard potting mix which had typically dried out, indicates the importance of a good wetting agent.
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