PBS Forum

Quote from: Arnold on December 02, 2024, 06:00:40 AMpoison ivy which creates a serious rash in humans

FWIW: Not all humans are allergic to the urushiol in poison ivy. I'm one of the fortunate ones.

" -it is traditional in cake/bread in Cornwall"
We sometimes include saffron when making a traditional ceremonial Jewish Challah bread.

Mark Mazer
Hertford, NC
USA

Quote from: Judy Glattstein on October 11, 2024, 05:35:49 PMAfter it left a titmouse (sparrow size little gray bird, also with a crest) would swoop down, uncover peanut, carry it off to a nearby branch. And eat it.

The North American Tufted Titmice hoard/cache food in fall and winter like some chickadees and tits (Family Paridae). They remove the seed from it's shell before stashing. We grew peanuts in our CT garden just for the fun of it in light sandy soil at the base of a sunny South facing stone wall. Here in NE North Carolina, peanuts are a row crop and farmers have just started digging them and leaving them to dry in the fields. There is a large peanut processing plant in nearby Edenton and the whole town smells like peanuts. Aflotoxin is a fungal toxin that can contaminate both peanuts and corn crops in humid conditions and great care is taken around here to make sure the crops have the proper moisture content during harvest, storage, and processing.

CG100 wrote:
" Just as well that we don't have guns when such disputes arise."

Years ago I trimmed the neighbors many nuisance Canadian Hemlock tree branches that were overhanging our driveway. He sued and we wound up in court. He had an attorney. We self represented. Five minutes later the judge ruled in our favor. Then I went home and promptly removed the fence that he had put on our property and threw it in his yard. Several years later, during a large snowstorm/blizzard, we saved his life after he had collapsed on his front steps. The old bastard never thanked me even after he crapped in the blanket we used until the medics arrived. His family was prominent and well respected in the small community for many years but he was cut from a different cloth. PS: both my wife and I had concealed gun carry permits. Fond memories.

Mark Mazer
Hertford, Nc
USA

Where I live, if the apple from your tree falls on my property, it is mine. Also, if a branch of said tree is growing over the property line, I'm free to trim it back to the property line.  Mark Mazer, Hertford, NC, USA

Not that we do it anymore, but we always used long fiber sphagnum moss when air layering woodies.

Mark Mazer
Hertford, NC
USA

CG!)) wrote:
"here'll be no commercially available sphagnum (peat) here very soon."

With 30+ colorful Sphagnum moss species in the UK, what is a non scofflaw moss gardener to do? Where does UK peated whisky come from?

Mark Mazer
Hertford, NC
USA

CG100 wrote:   and has (very) niche markets.

We find sphagnum moss indispensable for sowing and/or growing many genera of carnivorous plants.

Mark Mazer
Hertford, NC
USA

https://fensforthefuture.org.uk/creating-the-future/wetland-crop-sphagnum-moss

Mark Mazer
Hertford, NC
USA

CG100 wrote:
" Without seeing it, I am unsure what milled sphagnum might be, but it isn't something that I have ever knowingly seen in the UK, and as it would require damage to habitat to harvest.........."

Actually, much of the horticultural sphagnum moss available in the USA is a renewable resource growing back in the same bogs every 5-7 years and it's production is regulated in many regions like New Zealand and Canada. There is also a movement to establish "sphagnum farms" in some areas.

Mark Mazer
Hertford, NC
USA

"Peat is also in the process of being phased out, ultimately to become illegal to sell and for most horticultural uses in the UK/EU."

Here in the US, we usually don't consider horticultural (milled or long fiber)  "sphagnum moss" as "peat". Does the same thing go in the UK? Will horticultural "spagnum moss" also be phased out?

Mark Mazer
Hertford, NC
USA

Quote from: David Pilling on August 07, 2024, 07:57:37 AMOver the years I've lost seedlings to damping off and I've seen seeds rot whilst waiting for them to germinate. For seeds I've been driven to soaking them in domestic antiseptic cleaning liquids - what is called Dettol in the UK, maybe Clorex where you are.

Anyway at this late stage I have become aware that Cinnamon is recommended as a cure for these problems.

Old school... after sowing, sprinkle a thin (1/8 inch/3mm) layer of milled sphagnum moss over the seed pot surface. New school... drench seed pot and/or soak seeds in Daconil (Chlorothalonil), which I understand has been banned in the EU/UK.

Mark Mazer
Hertford, NC
USA

Thanks David. Now do:

 "The First Year, Plants Sleep, Second Year, They Creep & Third Year, They Leap"

Mark Mazer
Hertford, NC
USA

Quote from: David Pilling on August 04, 2024, 04:05:07 PMAdd your garden sayings...

"One years seeding,
 Seven years weeding"

"Sow dry,
Set wet."

Mark Mazer
Hertford, NC
USA

FarmLife: Mixed Habranthus tubispathus naturalizing next to the greenhouse after a couple of days of welcome rain.

Mark Mazer
Hertford, NC