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WAS Starting seeds-Now -a Story about Poo- not for the easy annoyed

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Has anyone tried using fine vermiculite and sand to start their seeds? I was
also wondering about the use of the water retaining beads(sorry-err.. don't
recall their name) in keeping the little guys from drying out so darn fast.
I know that some folks have used them in their flowerpots and in their
flowerbeds and just love what they do to help retain moisture but have never
heard anything about with vegeables.-I am collecting leftover food
containers with clear tops and big soda bottles which I have laid on their
side, cut a little trap door open  and then filled with soil. - makes a nice
little terrarium til they are ready to transplant.(Will let you know how
this works-saw it on "HomeMatters") Have a bunch of yogurt containers( etc)
with  plastic bags and rubber bands and even cupcake containers with dixie
cups in them, milk cartons- all kind of things- You know the drill-old
fashionsed and cheap and I hope- sucessfull. I am experimenting, trying to
recycle and save money without being ridiculous. I used flats last year-they
were expensive- got brittle and fell apart- the tops didn't fit well ,they
were hard to move around  without cracking and they dried out to quick- plus
I had a heck of a time getting the plants of out them.Hardly anything
survived and I wound up buying plants. So I figure I don't have much to lose
by trying things differently. I don't do the indoor light thing- no
room.(Can barely pay my utility bills now out here in CA anyhow without
adding grow lights!) so- am doing half of my seeds the way that Trudy  D.
suggested last year- by overwintering them and half by starting them later
on a sheltered patio table- but both methods require that the tops of the
plants be covered. I saved Trudy's article- by the way- if anyone's
interested-just email me.It is probably still in the archives. She was very
successful with it and I will let you know how it goes with me.Anyone else
trying this?
 I am in zone 9 and have no good excuse for complaining about the weather
when some of YOU are under a ton of snow but it is all relative and cold
gray dreary skies get tiresome no matter what-I never thought I would say
this but I am really glad I didn't buy a greenhouse(gulp)  I couldn't afford
to heat it right now and we keep having these damn blackouts. Guess that's
another good reason to try out this overwintering project of Trudy's. Been
shoveling cowpoop into my beds and trying to keep the DOGS from eating IT
and the CATS from pooping in the freshly spread COMPOST.And then  trying to
keep the DOG POOP cleaned up  too. Sheesh! So much POOP to keep track
of!!How do you guys deal with the doggy and kitty poo- especially when you
have flowers and veggie beds all mixed up together?I have the  nastiest
mixture of stuff on the bottom of my boots and there is no way that I am
absolutely sure that the various poops are not going to get a little bit
mixed up-(why do I feel like such a garden loser when I say this?) I have a
small yard and all the gardens are mixed up and chicken wire on the ground
and in the beds will only help after things are planted -  Some are existing
beds I am ammending to and some are new and it is all prime pooping ground.
I am scooping as fast as I can. I am still getting beds created- and thewy
are covered but the animals are crafty and the rains are making a mucky mess
of it all. Goodness knows what has pooped in the mulch I just put down.I
find myself digging for turds! If I was my wife I would let me in the
house!I keep thinking that there iws going to be a cast turd in with the
carrots and it is going to kill us all! OK, I am obsessing and I have to
stop at the risk of ostracizing myself. Please forgive me.It's just that
every cat in the neighborhood is coming here and I even put a cat box out
there for them to use but NOOOOO- they like the mulch and the compost  and
the straw and I cannot cover everything up!!!!!!!!!!I got rid of most of the
lawn and enlarged my slightly raised beds and now the dog just walks right
into them(!) and goes because I guess she doesn't like muddy paths or
concrete walks. I know this must be some oversight on my part but right now
all I know is poop is way too prominent an issue in my garden life and it is
not even February!!!!!!! If I don't kill us off with botulism - I'll do us
in with  the ecoli virus-! How the heck did we ever survive on the farms?I
don't remember this being a big problem when I was a kid(bunch of
dogs -bunch of cats) and on the garden pictures I see on the Internet with
dogs- no one really talks about it. Some one talk about it please!?! (you
can send me a bill for therapy) Martha Stuart has those two big ugly
Chows-(now that's gotta be some BIG poo) Just once- while she's showing us
how to plant potatoes- I would LOVE to see her step in a big pile of POO and
turn around and say " Out !!Sophie!!!! Get your big nasty butt out of my
garden this minute you filthy beast! This is not a good thing!" and then
say'To get smashed dog poo off your garden clogs and shovels, soak them in a
solution of......"     -just so that I knew that some  one besides ME was
hopscotching over piles in their muddy backyard. Yuck!Ok I quit.
Really.-Excuse the snit. I feel much better. But I REALLY use some ideas on
how you guys manage.LOL!Take care and good to be back-Teri -in Sacramento
CA-zone-9
----- Original Message -----
From: Janet Wintermute <jwintermute@erols.com>
To: Square Foot Gardening List <sqft@listbot.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 5:34 PM
Subject: RE: Starting seeds(parks starts)


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> Like Charlie, I've also had good germination results with Parks Starts.
>
> However, (1) you absolutely have to move the peat plug-with-seedling into
a
> more conventional soil mixture promptly, and (2) that peat plug is dense
> enough that it never really does break down and join the soil mixture in
> the transplanting pot.
>
> I let some tomatoes go *way* too long in the Parks Starts one year and
> basically lost my crop.
>
> --Janet
>
>
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