A Little This and That
By Loren on Feb 24, 2009 in Uncategorized
I’ve recently discovered some San Diego companies you should know about. Blue Summit Financial and JPS Global Investments are offering investors environmentally sensitive investment portfolios. For those of you who have any money left to invest in your future, now seems like a pretty good time to put together investments in the upcoming boom in alternative energy, or matching your investments to your political and social sensibilities. Once you’ve invested you can track how your money is growing (hopefully) by checking out another local company. Robert Wilder of Wildershares LLC has established an industry leading clean energy index of companies. It’s sort of like the Dow or the S&P but only tracks clean energy stocks. It’s nice to see local companies doing well while doing good.
My friends at Western Tree Service dropped off 20 yards of chipped wood and leaves yesterday. This is one of those little known freebies which still exist these days. Tree trimmers must pay to unload their chips at the landfills so they are typically happy to have homeowners or groups of homeowners willing to take it off their hands. I will let the chips heat up and compost a bit to kill any tree seeds in there and then spread the material as mulch around the 10News Ranch. The good companies have such great chippers these days the material is very fine and makes great mulch. The mulch will hold water and greatly reduce the amount of water one needs in the garden. It all but eliminates weeds, which are smothered when covered or fail to germinate seeds to send up through the thick mat. Those weeds which occasionally make it through the mulch are really easy to pull. Within a year the mulch breaks down and becomes rich dark sweet smelling compost that attracts earthworms and feeds my gardens. Did I mention it’s FREE? I know 20 yards is way too much for most city or tract lots, but if you get together with your neighbors, have it dumped on one driveway and then have everyone chip in with pitch forks, wheelbarrows and pickup trucks you can easily distribute it among neighbors and have a little party at the same time. It diverts waste from our landfills, conserves water and improves soil quality.
There must be something bad about it, but after 20 years of using it, I can’t tell you what that would be. I even have the whacky design to wrap black plastic tubing (1/2″) around a huge pile and then have a second load delivered and piled up around the first, which will cover the pipe. If I attach a small pump and run water through the plastic pipe it should heat up to over 100F degrees. I read of one farmer who heated his home and his bath water for 18 months with one compost heap. There are also applications where you can use the water to heat greenhouses or to heat the water for tilapia tanks. I love this kind of stuff. I just wish I had more land and more time to fool around with it.
Well that’s it for now. Let me know what you think.
Thanks for tuning in, logging on and speaking up
Like your new blog
xoxoMexxoo
[Reply to this comment]
SN | Feb 25, 2009
I need no less than 200 yds of mulch, can you get me a phone and name of the right person. do they deliver to fallbrook?
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kevin | Feb 26, 2009
The best plan is to start calling the tree trimmers in Fallbrook, Oceanside, and Escondido and tell them what you are looking for. My experience has been that when they are working nearby they’ll be happy to have a place that needs that much mulch.
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loren nancarrow | Feb 27, 2009
all the mulch in north county us going to Legoland. How is that fair? can’t they share and spread it around to us working folk? 20 yards is not the min amount as I was told. tree service was very nice on the phone, but disappointed with legolands greed.
[Reply to this comment]
In response, on February 27, 2009, loren nancarrow said:
Hi Sean,
I also live in the north county and have had no trouble finding mulch. The trimmer who delivers to Legoland probably feels fortunate to have a place that will take all they produce. I’d call other companies. There are plenty of tree trimmers and I suspect you’ll have luck if you keep calling.
Sean | Feb 27, 2009
Hi Loren,
I have been mulching for years, after reading Ruth Stout’s book. Are eucalyptus chips safe? I’ll be growing shrubs and perennials.
Thanks, Mary
[Reply to this comment]
In response, on February 27, 2009, loren nancarrow said:
Hi mary,
I used to worry about euc mulch too but have spread it around my orchards and other garden beds for many years with no negative effects.
Mary Polhemus | Feb 27, 2009
We have a large fenced garden and need mulch to grow our vegetables in the right way. I don’t know how much we would need to cover a garden that is about 50′x100′. Could you give me a guesstimate?
How is the mulch delivered? We live out in Campo, so would probably have to go to town to pick it up.
I enjoy listening to all of your hints about nature and have tried some of them. We have lots of room and my husband and I are not able to do much around the place. If you need more space to grow things–COME ON OUT, maybe this would satisfy your need for more space and help fulfill our dreams of a more productive place.
patricia nobitt
Box 39, Campo 91906 (619) 478-5709
[Reply to this comment]
In response, on February 27, 2009, loren nancarrow said:
Hi Pat,
It sounds to me like you are looking for compost to improve your soil. Wood chip mulch is not appropriate as a soil additive. Its used on top of the soil to hold moisture and prevent weeds. It will eventually break down into compost and improve the soil, but if you are trying to get your soil in better shape for veggies, try turning lots of compost into the soil before you plant. Add the mulch after you’ve improved the soil. If you have a tree trimmer deliver a full load (20 Yards) you can leave it for a year or so in a pile and the inside will be beautiful compost for next season. Keep the pile moistened. It should be as wet as a wrung out sponge.
pat noblitt | Feb 27, 2009
Is there a problem with saving my dishwater and final washing machine rinse water to put on my plants? I know I can’t use this water on my vege gardens but what would it hurt on my shrubs and succulents or on the tree on my parkway. I see it as a win. I get exercise moving the bucket from the house to the yard and I get to have green plants and flower to enjoy. Your opinion is appreciated.
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In response, on April 8, 2009, Cami said:
HI Connie, great idea using gray water…I would be sure to buy eco-safe detergent and dish soap if using for gray water, I think if you do you could even use it for your vegetables too, we use 7th generation products which work great and are free of chemicals… there are other great products on the market available at Henry’s, OB Peoples, Trader Joes and now probably some supermarkets too. GO GRAYWATERING! Cami
Connie | Mar 3, 2009
Loren,
Where did your recipe for guacamole go! I tried it and it was awsome.
Please publish it again.
Bob
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Bob Davis | Mar 3, 2009
Loron,
The reason the lobbyists are spending money is because they must…to keep from being taxed to death over the shakey science…disproven by true scientists. You might want to actually read facts. The Artic has recovered from the cyclic melt of 2007…now two years of constant ice gains. The Antarctic is at an all time high in ice extent, especially last year and this year. The polar bears, except in areas of human encrouchment like Alaska, has a larger than ever world population. You might want to at least visit and read world renowned scientists like Anthony Watts http://www.wattsupwiththat.com, or Steve McIntire at http://www.climateaudit.com or thers at http://www.icecap.org. CO2 is .000384 parts of the atmosphere. Loron…go look at the NASA plots of polare ice at http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/daily.html
How long until you stop being biased? You need to look at what the skeptics have shown systematically and with facts about Urban heat islands, bad measurements and falsely presented data by the IPCC and James Hansen. Please…READ! Open your eyes. CO2 is a gas we exhale that makes plants grow. It is NOT poison. Vistit the websites I listed…you owe it to your audience to understand BOTH sides of the debate.
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In response, on April 9, 2009, Rey said:
Jarad,
Did you really men to post this on the Climate Change thread? Just asking ’cause it seems to fit better there.
Jarad Holmes | Mar 5, 2009