- Thursday March 22, 2007 - 09:07pm
The picture above is not mine, but it is what happened to my Marigolds in just two days. I woke up this morning to find that my Marigolds, planted March 20th, 2007 in peat moss pots, had jumped up out of their seeds and where now an inch tall! My Chamomile, planted the same day, had sprouted as well and my PennyRoyal, planted the day before, had started to germinate in spots too.
Several factors may have lead up to this excellent growth:- Peat moss is great, I've always had excellent success with peat moss tablets.
- These plants get 16 hours of light everyday. They get full southeastern exposure plus a grow light that is set to a timer of 6am to 10pm.
- I was very careful to let the chlorine in the tap water evaporate prior to planting my seeds.
- They are inside, in my bedroom, toasty warm but not hot in a Jiffy 72 Greenhouse I bought at Wal-Mart for $6.00. Yes, $6.00, I didn't misquote. I haven't been able to find them anywhere else for even close to that price, I may have to stock up before they run out!
- My growing area is far enough away from the window to not be effected by drafts from outside and close enough to the heat register to stay warm at all times without getting dry or hot.
- My "sacred space" which includes my altar and various tools is right next to it. Yesterday was Vernal Equinox, which I associate elementally with Earth and things that grow in spring, and I performed rituals of "fruition of plans" and general fertility celebrations.
Yeah the last one is far-fetched, but positive intent is always a factor in life. Whatever the rhyme or reason for my spectacular growth, I hope I can repeat it again and again this year.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
That was quick!
Blessed Vernal Equinox to all!
- Wednesday March 21, 2007 - 06:16pm
Blessed Vernal(Latin: ver = spring) Equinox to all of you out there in Yahoo! 360 land.
"In between the two solstices, the longest and shortest days in the year (normally June 21 and December 22), lie the two equinoctial periods in the spring and the autumn. The equinoxes (March 21 and September 23) deliver equal lengths of day and night everywhere on the planet, with the sun rising exactly due east and setting exactly due west, on a level horizon." Robin Heath, Sun, Moon & Earth.
"Light and dark are in balance, but the light is mastering the darkness. It is basically a solar festival, and a newcomer to the Old Religion in Celtic and Teutonic Europe." - Janet and Stewart Farrar, A Witches' Bible: The Complete Witches' Handbook.
Those whom I've mentored consencrate their yearly supply of green candles today and celebrate with a few rituals and some feasting. Basically, we have our rituals in the morning before noon(when we can manage to get up that early) and finish the day by partying. Really though, do you need an excuse to celebrate?
WTF?!?!?
- Tuesday March 20, 2007 - 10:57pm
-
Read these.
http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4639.html
http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4831.html
I just don't fucking believe it... I'm not a user, it doesn't effect me if it's illegal or not, but this is outrageous.
You know, I'm really not interested in becoming a political activist, but maybe we all need to give out some political "black eyes" to our current government. We've already started backing George W. Bush into a corner, why stop there?
I for one, will not stand idly by. I vow here and now to exercise my right to vote to see that changes get made for what I want America to be.
Be warned Politicians:
I am going to make informed votes. I am going to encourage fellow citizens to make informed votes by disseminating information and/or persuasive essays and conversations. And worst of all, I'm going to teach my children to do the same thing!
[Poll copied from original blog, non-functioning her]
Do you vote every time you have the opportunity?
- 0 votes for: Yes, absolutely!
- 2 votes for: I try to.
- 1 vote for: No.
Briar Hedge?
Monday March 19, 2007 - 02:39am
Well, I spent most of this weekend digging up wild roses for a rose hedge we're planning on for the north side of our property. I looked up some info on wild roses and apparently the most effective way to make a hedge with them is to stagger two or more rows of roses, separating the plants by about three feet. I think we have enough roses, if not we can always go dig up some more on my Father-In-Law's property.
I bought some thick leather gloves with safety cuffs so that the thorns don't stab through while I'm transplanting them. The plan so far is to till the area, add manure fertilizer, add peat moss and then cover with potting soil. I know, it sounds like over-kill, but roses love fertilizer. We're going to train them into a nice hedge formation using twine, bamboo sticks and light pruning. I'm hoping the pruning won't be for a few years, they need to settle into the bed before I want to start trimming them back.
A good number of the plants we're transplanting were fairly well established where they were. My Father-In-Law is planting an orchard in the field they've grown in, so he was going to just mow them over if we didn't take them. The look healthy and seem to be really vigorous bloomers. Most likely a five petal, pink variety like the picture above. I haven't seen the blossoms yet, but they did still have hips on them.
I'm still waiting on my seeds from Burpee's. We've snagged some Morning Glories, Heavenly Blue variety. Did you know some people trip using these seeds? We want to plant these Morning Glories mixed with Moonflowers to have morning and evening blooms. Figured it'd be a cool effect on our deck out back.
Speaking of "tripping", I'm beginning to think we should legalize some more of the less dangerous drugs. You know, the ones everybody tries at least once in their life and then moves on. The reasoning behind this is the staggering amount of teens trying dangerous, ultimately lethal, legal ways of getting high.
I'm no angel, in High School I was one of those survivalist types(I still am, actually) who would think about what I could do to prepare myself to survive any situation. Following this line of thought, I starting researching native plants for nutritional and medicinal properties. Long story short, I learned how to prepare lethal herbal poisons. Why? Because I was a teenager and had hormones driving me paranoid. I never thought about getting high, just about staying alive. Hey, I grew up in Flint. You'd be worrying about it too if you grew up in my neighborhoods.
Anyways, some of these concoctions teens are using to get high contain lethal doses of herbs I know will kill you. Trust me, a friend didn't believe me on the toxicity of a plant in botany class and decided to prove me wrong by touching it to her tongue. She spit it out... and shortly turned blue and had to be taken to the hospital.
Kids are now experimenting with anything they can find because they have no outlets. I'm not saying we should stick a joint in the mouth of every teenager, but maybe we shouldn't keep it too far out of their reach. I'd rather catch my kids with a spliff than huffing nail polish, wouldn't you? At least I know the effects of Marijuana on the body and how difficult(but not impossible) it is to get THC poisoning.
I don't know. I'm not a big fan of drugs really. I'm not interested in getting high. I like a nice cigar every now and then, but it doesn't get me high. I like a nice drink occasionally, but I don't get drunk. I'm not going to roll a jay... but I do enjoy the smell when someone else burned one in the vicinity recently.
So come on, let's save our kids by giving them some choices that we've tried and know won't hurt them. http://www.mjlegal.org/ Besides, are the side effects any worse than the legal drugs we advertise in entertainment? Not if you do the research for yourself instead of just blindly following the government's decrees.
[Poll copied from original blog, non-functioning her]
Well, I spent most of this weekend digging up wild roses for a rose hedge we're planning on for the north side of our property. I looked up some info on wild roses and apparently the most effective way to make a hedge with them is to stagger two or more rows of roses, separating the plants by about three feet. I think we have enough roses, if not we can always go dig up some more on my Father-In-Law's property.
I bought some thick leather gloves with safety cuffs so that the thorns don't stab through while I'm transplanting them. The plan so far is to till the area, add manure fertilizer, add peat moss and then cover with potting soil. I know, it sounds like over-kill, but roses love fertilizer. We're going to train them into a nice hedge formation using twine, bamboo sticks and light pruning. I'm hoping the pruning won't be for a few years, they need to settle into the bed before I want to start trimming them back.
A good number of the plants we're transplanting were fairly well established where they were. My Father-In-Law is planting an orchard in the field they've grown in, so he was going to just mow them over if we didn't take them. The look healthy and seem to be really vigorous bloomers. Most likely a five petal, pink variety like the picture above. I haven't seen the blossoms yet, but they did still have hips on them.
I'm still waiting on my seeds from Burpee's. We've snagged some Morning Glories, Heavenly Blue variety. Did you know some people trip using these seeds? We want to plant these Morning Glories mixed with Moonflowers to have morning and evening blooms. Figured it'd be a cool effect on our deck out back.
Speaking of "tripping", I'm beginning to think we should legalize some more of the less dangerous drugs. You know, the ones everybody tries at least once in their life and then moves on. The reasoning behind this is the staggering amount of teens trying dangerous, ultimately lethal, legal ways of getting high.
I'm no angel, in High School I was one of those survivalist types(I still am, actually) who would think about what I could do to prepare myself to survive any situation. Following this line of thought, I starting researching native plants for nutritional and medicinal properties. Long story short, I learned how to prepare lethal herbal poisons. Why? Because I was a teenager and had hormones driving me paranoid. I never thought about getting high, just about staying alive. Hey, I grew up in Flint. You'd be worrying about it too if you grew up in my neighborhoods.
Anyways, some of these concoctions teens are using to get high contain lethal doses of herbs I know will kill you. Trust me, a friend didn't believe me on the toxicity of a plant in botany class and decided to prove me wrong by touching it to her tongue. She spit it out... and shortly turned blue and had to be taken to the hospital.
Kids are now experimenting with anything they can find because they have no outlets. I'm not saying we should stick a joint in the mouth of every teenager, but maybe we shouldn't keep it too far out of their reach. I'd rather catch my kids with a spliff than huffing nail polish, wouldn't you? At least I know the effects of Marijuana on the body and how difficult(but not impossible) it is to get THC poisoning.
I don't know. I'm not a big fan of drugs really. I'm not interested in getting high. I like a nice cigar every now and then, but it doesn't get me high. I like a nice drink occasionally, but I don't get drunk. I'm not going to roll a jay... but I do enjoy the smell when someone else burned one in the vicinity recently.
So come on, let's save our kids by giving them some choices that we've tried and know won't hurt them. http://www.mjlegal.org/ Besides, are the side effects any worse than the legal drugs we advertise in entertainment? Not if you do the research for yourself instead of just blindly following the government's decrees.
[Poll copied from original blog, non-functioning her]
Do you think Marijuana should be re-evalutated as a recreational pharmaceutical?
- 4 votes for: Yes
- 0 votes for: Maybe
- 0 votes for: No
More gardening... study, plan, work and spend money.
- Thursday March 15, 2007 - 09:07pm
-
Yeah, things are going okay.
I've been doing a lot of gardening and research for gardening. I'm trying to go with as much companion planting and organic gardening stuff as I can, but... I'm really lazy and don't want to do a lot of maintenance work on my garden. I decided to put down landscaping fabric for weed control. I'm too lazy to weed on a regular basis and I know it.
Been pretty busy, just got my PennyRoyal seeds in the mail today from Sand Mountain Herbs.com. I'm planning on planting those around the house to cut down on pest insects in and around my home. I want to try to start them indoors in order to cut down on loss of seed due to birds, animals, insects, fungus, disease, etc... Once they're established, most things give them a wide berth due to the plant's toxic nature.
I bought a grow light, timer and some seed starting greenhouses with peat moss tablets at Wal-Mart yesterday. Azalia and I are going to put up a shelf above our bed for seed starting and general indoor growing. 16 hours of light, starting at 6:00am, will be the daily timer setting. I also snagged some fish emulsion and a spray bottle. For those of you who've never used it, I'd personally recommend it as one of the best low-impact fertilizers you can buy. It's much less likely to burn your plants than anything else I've come across.
I spent about $83 at Burpee on my gardening herbs and vegetables. I still need to either make a trellis or break down and buy some tomato cages. I'm growing the fastest growing varieties they had available for both cherry tomatoes and Beefsteak. With Tennessee's lengthy growingHabenarosI might squeeze out a couple of harvests! I also snagged Cucumbers, Jalapenos, Habenaros and Luffa gourds. I don't know how well the Luffa gourds will turn out, but it's supposed to be able to grow down here so I'm going to try it.
I'll need to pick up some more peat moss and top soil for this year's garden. I have Chives all over the area I want to plant the garden. Ground Ivy snuck into our lawn as well and seems to be doing quite well. I love both of these plants and would rather see them transplanted than destroyed. I actually made a tea from some Chamomile, Ground Ivy and lots of honey for my family who are all down with a cold and sore throats. The kids loved it and I enjoyed a small sampling myself.
I still need to have the area for the garden tilled up. Azalia's father said he'll come out Saturday and bring his new cultivator and maybe his Mantis Tiller for some of the smaller areas. I'm still planning on putting my pumpkin patch out front with white pumpkin seed from those that appeared suddenly in our lawn last year. Additionally, I think I'll till up the side yard for a flower garden. That way, I'll have less lawn to mow.
Yes, I am lazy.
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