Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

nafex - Re: [NAFEX] weirdly useless soil

nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: ghg3@heirloomorchardist.com
  • To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] weirdly useless soil
  • Date: Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:02:04 -0700

Ginda,

I'm a New Englander, and I think I recall hearing about that Coast of Maine stuff advertised on the radio.  It's a compost mix isn't it?  Made with local organics and shellfish waste etc....I remember when I was a youngster working at Corliss Brothers nursery in Ipswich, we had a similar mix (creatively called "Corliss Mix").

I like the idea of taking waste and making a valuable product out of it.  But it's hard for me to buy that stuff, because I can do the same thing in my backyard.  You're doing it too, with your compost pile.

I think you are right on the money with your virus theory.  The Coast of Maine mix could have had a lot of wilt in it.  I'd just dump the stuff where it won't be mixed with compost that I'm apt to use for a few years.  Or maybe you can distribute it under some rhododendrons...or other woody shrubs.

Incidentally, I'm crushed that my Irises got decimated from every virus and bacterium under the sun this year. A very cold and rainy summer.  It's very hard for me to pull the diseased vegetation, and throw it in the garbage can, not in the compost!

George Gifford

Organic Farming & Gardening
Sustainable Living
18th & 19th Century Rural Life
www.HeirloomOrchardist.com

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [NAFEX] weirdly useless soil
From: Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>
Date: Wed, September 02, 2009 12:29 am
To: NAFEX Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>

I have very rocky soil. Whenever I dig a hole, I need to get
additional soil to fill it in, since I've tossed so many rocks aside.
And this spring, when I bought a big new pot for one more tomato
plant, I bought a bag of expensive "Coast of Maine" soil to fill it.

I have 4 big pots, each with one tomato plant and some smaller stuff.
(3 have basil, 1 has a seedling currant I decided to try to grow out,
and one also has an alpine strawberry that came from I know not where,
possibly it's a feral seedling that I didn't weed out.) The tomato in
the new one looks horrible. It lost all but one or two leaves, and it
just a 2.5' stalk. I don't think it ever flowered.

I attributed the tomato's failure to viruses and whatnot - it's some
random thing advertised as being from Russia, and didn't claim to be
resistant to anything. (The 4 tomatoes are each different
cultivars.) But I just noticed that the basil in the pot has also
failed to grow. Yes, the cold rainy summer wasn't kind to basil, but
the basil in the other two pots is 2 feet tall and has gone to seed,
and the basil in this pot is only a bit larger than when I planted it.

Any theories?

I'm also wondering what to do with a giant pot of bad soil. I don't
really want to dump it on the mulch pile, as I've started to mine that
for loam. I suppose I could dump it next to the mulch pile, where a
pile of dirt won't be an eyesore.

thanks,
Ginda
eastern MA, zone 6
_______________________________________________
nafex mailing list
nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Reproduction of list messages or archives is not allowed.
This includes distribution on other email lists or reproduction on web sites.
Permission to reproduce is NEVER granted, so don't claim you have permission!

**YOU MUST BE SUBSCRIBED TO POST!**
Posts from email addresses that are not subscribed are discarded.
No exceptions.
----
To subscribe or unsubscribe, go to the bottom of this page (also can be used to change other email options):
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex

File attachments are NOT stripped by this list.
TAKE STEPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM COMPUTER VIRUSES!
Please do not send binary files.
Use plain text ONLY in emails!

NAFEX web site: http://www.nafex.org/



Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page