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Dec. 21st, 2009
In From the Cold Artwork!
Dec. 21st, 2009 10:08 am I feel like it's christmas...Oh, wait.
Anyway,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ala_tariel made art!
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v280/Maneldaiel/?action=view¤t=InFromtheCold.jpg
Anyway,
ala_tariel made art!http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v280/Maneldaiel/?action=view¤t=InFromtheCold.jpg
Mommy life
Dec. 21st, 2009 10:26 amI saw that one of the SPN/J2 reccing groups was having an end-of-year self-rec event. So I went through my fics for 2009 and realized I have nothing worth reccing. Very sad.
Today I learned: Never underestimate the strength and speed of a determined baby. Sami was on my lap and bored while i checked e-mail. I looked down and she had pulled the space-key off my laptop. This is sort of a problem.
Today I learned: Never underestimate the strength and speed of a determined baby. Sami was on my lap and bored while i checked e-mail. I looked down and she had pulled the space-key off my laptop. This is sort of a problem.
Unexpected success!
Dec. 21st, 2009 04:07 pmSo last year when I was all pregnant and stuff, I started a gardening project.
I wanted to expand the 24"wide flowerbeds in front out by another yard and edge it with white blocks so we could replace lawn that we watered for either heat/dry resistant plants or edibles that we would water but get something out of.
I knew from experience that pulling up St. Augustine grass sod is a nightmare. It took hours and hours to pull up just a few square feet.
So I had the bright idea that I'd have the lawn guy cut it short, and then Kendra and Sam and I laid out the blocks and covered the short grass with layers of cardboard and then about 2" of cheap soft-wood mulch.
I went to work it in today, and I was expecting to scrape back the mulch, pull out the cardboard and then remove dead grass.
Imagine my surprise when I broke through the mulch and there was about 2" of completely decomposed cardboard and grass. Nothing to pull out. Just had to shovel it around and try to work it into the clay-heavy Texas dirt.
I almost want to start buying blocks and mulch and planning next year's sod-to-bed expansion (The goal is to have very little "lawn" left at the end).
I need suggestions though: are there any more-green ways to do this? I know the softwood mulch isn't the most ecological solution to the issue.
What would be the greenest way to improve the soil so it's less heavy and clumpy? I have a lot of compost, but when I mix it into the soil, even in a 50/50 mix to fill flowerpots or whatever, when it gets hot and dry it turns to a solid, unbreakable mass. Mass quantities of vermiculite?
I wanted to expand the 24"wide flowerbeds in front out by another yard and edge it with white blocks so we could replace lawn that we watered for either heat/dry resistant plants or edibles that we would water but get something out of.
I knew from experience that pulling up St. Augustine grass sod is a nightmare. It took hours and hours to pull up just a few square feet.
So I had the bright idea that I'd have the lawn guy cut it short, and then Kendra and Sam and I laid out the blocks and covered the short grass with layers of cardboard and then about 2" of cheap soft-wood mulch.
I went to work it in today, and I was expecting to scrape back the mulch, pull out the cardboard and then remove dead grass.
Imagine my surprise when I broke through the mulch and there was about 2" of completely decomposed cardboard and grass. Nothing to pull out. Just had to shovel it around and try to work it into the clay-heavy Texas dirt.
I almost want to start buying blocks and mulch and planning next year's sod-to-bed expansion (The goal is to have very little "lawn" left at the end).
I need suggestions though: are there any more-green ways to do this? I know the softwood mulch isn't the most ecological solution to the issue.
What would be the greenest way to improve the soil so it's less heavy and clumpy? I have a lot of compost, but when I mix it into the soil, even in a 50/50 mix to fill flowerpots or whatever, when it gets hot and dry it turns to a solid, unbreakable mass. Mass quantities of vermiculite?