The Original O'l Farts Club.

[bigsur51]

@bigsur51 aren't you living in the prairies? Your native soil has got to be top notch stuff loaded with all sorts of healthy goodness.

I'm totally ignorant as I've never been out that way and experienced it myself, but I have to imagine all of that self feeding prairies do, you have yourself a great resource for your base.

yes , eastern Colorado high plains prairie with an asterisk

the asterisk being we are in a unique geographical location which is the Rain Shadow side of the Rocky Mountains

the majority of farmers out here all plant dry land crops

the soil is sandy with a little loam

we are in the D2 area

 

[moose eater]

-52 f. when the pup indicated she needed out at 4:30 A.M.

At 7:00 A.M. we went back out before her breakfast, and it had dropped a bit, to -55 f.

Closest we got to the airport temps was 10 degrees when they were -40 f. last night and we were -50 f. We're back to a 15-degree spread now.

But they've changed the forecast a bit and we are 'supposed' to get up to -8 or -10 for a high on Monday. Then back down before rising a bit next weekend.

Puppy was enjoyably silly, waking up in bed, asking to have her belly rubbed, nosing my nose, and full of positive energy. I think if I were to encounter someone wanting to do a trial with Prozac, I'd recommend to them instead that they get a good puppy if they're able to spend the time and be around sufficiently to be engaged with the little creature.

I need it to warm up enough to change the oil and filters of all sorts on my smaller Toyota, and get a couple wheels balanced, as well as possibly swap out a battery, before I drive to Los Anchorage.

I can recall doing a brake job on my '64 Ford pick-up, outside, sitting on hardpack snow in the driveway at my old cabin down on the Tanana River in the early 80s at about -53 f. I don't do that anymore. Hands (nor the rest of me) can handle that stuff anymore.

 

[SubGirl]

That's cool @Putembk I was starting to feel like a loner out here in the land of growing. I cycle my soil back and forth between the raised beds outdoors and my dungeon grows. It doesn't seem to be very common.

My two little 4ft square veggie beds are full of perlite. Someone asked me about it last year that didn’t know I grow inside too. I told them that it helps the roots. She said my peppers were so beautiful, she was going to add some to her spring garden. . I hope it works

 

[Sun&Soil]

yes , eastern Colorado high plains prairie with an asterisk

the asterisk being we are in a unique geographical location which is the Rain Shadow side of the Rocky Mountains

the majority of farmers out here all plant dry land crops

the soil is sandy with a little loam


View attachment 18952003
View attachment 18952004

we are in the D2 area


View attachment 18952006

Oh, a little more sandy then I imagined. I didn't take the Rockies into consideration and was just thinking about the vegetation only. Oops. I was thinking more loam, but that makes sense.

 

[Gray Wolf]

A long-time friend in the Yukon Territory makes his own arrow points from black rock we find on the beaches there out near the NW area of Taggish Lake, near the Carcross Narrows. He uses them with the recurve bow he made.

Some of the rock on the shoreline just SE of the Taggish Narrows is sharp enough that if you land a soft-skinned boat on shore or fall when landing, it can get a bit gruesome. When fracturing the rocks to make points, along the fracture line edge can be as sharp as any razor.

Most of the obsidian around here is black and fractures razor sharp.

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The obsidian scalpels are actually sharper than steel ones and used in eye surgery.

 

[Mr_Hash]

we recycle all our ProMix soil for sure….that dirt is getting to expensive to just throw away

besides , where does one throw away dirt?…

Same here. I have two 3 tier compost areas that get all my Promix rootballs, previous seasons plant material, and all the chicken/rabbit poop and hay/pine bedding....

Been cooking one batch for 3 years now... Almost time for some fun. 🫡

 

[Africanna]

I'd read (and somewhat practiced very briefly) that the reuse of any used (higher salts) soils/mixes can be made more successful with alfalfa meal being added as both a buffer and nutrient source when reconditioning.

But I also would suspect that a pile left outside to age, getting precipitation, age, etc. would naturally lower the existing salts from previous uses.

Alfalfa meal is an excellent conditioner. It's a staple in my mix

 

[moose eater]

Alfalfa meal is an excellent conditioner. It's a staple in my mix

We buy 50-lb. bags of feed-grade alfalfa meal at the feed store and till that into the raised beds and spud field.

I've used a bit of it in freshly mixed soilless mixes for the cannabis, too, but not as much as reconditioning the raised veggie beds.

 

[Africanna]

Same here. I have two 3 tier compost areas that get all my Promix rootballs, previous seasons plant material, and all the chicken/rabbit poop and hay/pine bedding....

Been cooking one batch for 3 years now... Almost time for some fun. 🫡

Rootballs are full of good stuff and often discarded

 

[dogzter]

After making a few small hills out back I now take all the dirt and leftovers to the dump..........helps fill it in.

 

[moose eater]

After making a few small hills out back I now take all the dirt and leftovers to the dump..........helps fill it in.

I initially got into dumping containers into the spud field as a matter of disposing of evidence and the habit stayed with me. Springtime out there could look a bit odd at times after the snow left.

But I also used to save up all the fan leaves, root balls and stalks and wait until a good winter night with no real breeze, get a bon fire blazing HOT, and when it had a serious bed of coals and about an 8-10 ft. diameter, I'd toss a 55-gallon trash bag or 2 of cannabis waste on top of the fire after flattening the top of the fire a bit, and then stack longer narrow dry spruce poles or a pallet on top of the bags to hold down embers, etc.

I no longer do the burn part pf that whole deal, instead taking bags of cannabis waste to the dumpster transfer station and tossing them in; the joys and leisure of technical legality rather than Ravin Decision decrim. Not many, but a couple.

 

[Mr_Hash]

Summer rootballs.... Some 'er here... Some are there....

 

[Mr_Hash]

Time for a spot o' tea...Pinky's up.

 

[Putembk]

There wasn't much going on in the grow today so I decided to tie a few flies. Spring is coming and I have an April fishing trip planned.

I will be fishing the Arkansas river with tiny dry flies. Just got done tying a few #22 Humpies. I will be using flies like these with a midge emerger as a dropper.

I can still do it! Having a hard time seeing. Plus this is a difficult fly to tie this small

Here is my total collection of dry flies. Probably 500 or so.

 

[moose eater]

Oh, a little more sandy then I imagined. I didn't take the Rockies into consideration and was just thinking about the vegetation only. Oops. I was thinking more loam, but that makes sense.

We get about 1-2 inches of loam on top, much of it in conifer areas, so it's quite acidic.

And then, in my 'hood, I'm on 125 vertical feet of ancient riverbed silt.

I hate silt.

Had no clue about its lack of admirable character when we bought land here. I think of it as gelatin with a double-dose of stubbornness. Doesn't drain worth a shit, when saturated it jiggles a fair bit when kicked, and slowly oozes (when it doesn't fracture and drop) at cut-banks like a glacier on Quaaludes.

Sand, on the other hand, has wonderful conditioning and draining properties.

Trade?

 

[Putembk]

Actually I have about 3 times that many when you include nymphs, streamers and larger dry flies. I used to tie for Trout Unlimited and two fly shops in Denver.

 

[Mr_Hash]

There wasn't much going on in the grow today so I decided to tie a few flies. Spring is coming and I have an April fishing trip planned.

I will be fishing the Arkansas river with tiny dry flies. Just got done tying a few #22 Humpies. I will be using flies like these with a midge emerger as a dropper.

View attachment 18952023


I can still do it! Having a hard time seeing. Plus this is a difficult fly to tie this small

View attachment 18952026

Here is my total collection of dry flies. Probably 500 or so.

View attachment 18952027

Fucking amazing work @Putembk ....the time is indeed nigh. I'll be out there connected with you by the water under mah feet. I can't wait, and I hope you smash em!!

 

[OleReynard]

There wasn't much going on in the grow today so I decided to tie a few flies. Spring is coming and I have an April fishing trip planned.

I will be fishing the Arkansas river with tiny dry flies. Just got done tying a few #22 Humpies. I will be using flies like these with a midge emerger as a dropper.

View attachment 18952023


I can still do it! Having a hard time seeing. Plus this is a difficult fly to tie this small

View attachment 18952026

Here is my total collection of dry flies. Probably 500 or so.

View attachment 18952027

Nice looking work

 

[Sun&Soil]

I compost all of my waste including a yearly inventory of our stash. If it didn't get smoked or eaten that year it goes into the pile. Sometimes I have to fight with Mrs S&S to give up her jars. After 20 yrs of being with me she still hasn't gotten used to beeing cannarich.

Keeping those rootballs in tact for the next grow is like starting a race with a warmed up engine if you are depending on bacteria to drive the grow.

 

[Sun&Soil]

We get about 1-2 inches of loam on top, much of it in conifer areas, so it's quite acidic.

And then, in my 'hood, I'm on 125 vertical feet of ancient riverbed silt.

I hate silt.

Had no clue about its lack of admirable character when we bought land here. I think of it as gelatin with a double-dose of stubbornness. Doesn't drain worth a shit, when saturated it jiggles a fair bit when kicked, and slowly oozes (when it doesn't fracture and drop) at cut-banks like a glacier on Quaaludes.

Sand, on the other hand, has wonderful conditioning and draining properties.

Trade?

I was thinking between you and big you two could combine for a perfect soil base.