Record Manatee Die Off

Over 200 manatees have died this year most likely from a red tide bloom. It is sad to note that as they were dying rescuers were noticing that some were having seizures indicated brain encephalitis.

The algae is largely attributed to chemical runoff and just this week, in separate news, Brevard County passed an ordinance making it illegal to spread fertilizers and pesticides in yards during storm watches and warnings. Seems to me that the best policy is to never plant anything on beach ecosystems that require either fertilizers or pesticides in the first place.

http://www.npr.org/2013/03/28/175470727/algae-bloom-kills-record-number-of-florida-manatees

SheSurfs wrote:

Over 200 manatees have died this year most likely from a red tide bloom. It is sad to note that as they were dying rescuers were noticing that some were having seizures indicated brain encephalitis.

The algae is largely attributed to chemical runoff and just this week, in separate news, Brevard County passed an ordinance making it illegal to spread fertilizers and pesticides in yards during storm watches and warnings. Seems to me that the best policy is to never plant anything on beach ecosystems that require either fertilizers or pesticides in the first place.

http://www.npr.org/2013/03/28/175470727/algae-bloom-kills-record-number-of-florida-manatees

I used to live in a waterfront home. I never, ever put fertilizer within 30 feet of the water's edge, and only applied a very light amount about every 3-4 years.

The best yard really is a natural yard. We all love green lawns, but the pesticides and fertilizers that it takes to keep these yards up are not good for our waterways.

I like the organization-- the Florida Native Plant Society. I'm a "friend" of theirs on FB and they have all kinds of good tips on native Florida plants and about nature hikes/plant sales and other activities throughout the state of Florida.

Florida Native Plant Society

http://www.fnps.org/

Great link, Neko~

nekochan wrote:

The best yard really is a natural yard.

Our waterfront yard was as natural as we could keep it. From the water toward the house, we had thick Needlerush out in the water, Spartina, Wiregrass, a little grass, a good thicket of Florida Palms, then Live Oaks up against the house.

We had a boardwalk from the house to the end of the pier. We didn't hardly even WALK on the land back there.

A fine trimmed yard it wasn't...

Beautiful, Eric. Why did you sell?

I really, really miss live oaks and other Gulf Coast plants. We don't have them up here.

Are y'all familiar with the Florida Wildlife Corridor? There is a program that is being broadcast on PBS channels in Florida about it. Not sure it it's being shown on the local Pensacola channel.

http://www.floridawildlifecorridor.org/


I respect the rights of homeowners and landowners. I don't like a lot of the policies of government in seizing people's land or restricting land use. Oftentimes, it's just stupid. And I think there are a lot of extremist nuts involved in these green causes that really would be pleased if we were all living in caves again.

But I am a big advocate of protecting our wildlife and our natural areas. I like what the Nature Conservancy does, in buying up tracts of land. I think we should put a high priority on preserving some of the natural areas that we have left.

Neko, we sold because I was unhappy with my employer (florida DEP) and Christine's employer had been trying to promote her to a position in Birmingham... so we moved. We didn't want to say "what if" for her career advancement by not following her career path, DEP pissed me off, and we said "let's go". It turned out to be a great decision. She has been routinely promoted and is now in charge of an Accounts Payable Department that pays out over $18 Billion annually. Yeah, I would say she has progressed far beyond what we could have done in Pensacola.

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Neko, you mentioned land preservation. I was actively involved in preserving 5,000 acres on the West side of Pensacola called the Perdido Pitcher Plant Prairie. We made numerous trips to Tallahassee, did half-hour TV shows standing ankle deep in swamp water, did radio shows, rented billboards, sent out a dozen mass mailings, etc. Nobody was forced to sell, but we secured a major portion of the natural trail running from Perdido Bay to the Jones Swamp.
It's now called the Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park. Most of the undeveloped land in the center of the picture below is part of the preserve.

My last post was self aggrandizing, but i'm proud of what a half dozen dedicated folks can do... and what we accomplished.

it was my 15 minutes of fame. a large picture of me in a shirt and tie while holding a white-topped pitcher plant, was on the PNJ front page at the top of the page.

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Sorry SS for being off topic. But that land preservation stuff is fun.

You have every right to be proud!
That is what I'm talking about...people working together to preserve land, and not trying to take land away from the owners. I love it!

nekochan wrote:

The best yard really is a natural yard. We all love green lawns, but the pesticides and fertilizers that it takes to keep these yards up are not good for our waterways.

I like the organization-- the Florida Native Plant Society. I'm a "friend" of theirs on FB and they have all kinds of good tips on native Florida plants and about nature hikes/plant sales and other activities throughout the state of Florida.

Florida Native Plant Society

http://www.fnps.org/

Absolutely no offense intended, Neko, but I absolutely do not love green lawns. Much of that likely has to do with having grown up in a dry, drought-ridden climate where xeriscaping is the best route and green lawns are the worst. When we bought our home off Garcon Pt Road the very first thing we did was rip out about 75 - 80% of the lawn (and the utterly hideous shrubs) and put in native plants. We put in an automatic drip system and also did our best to practice xeriscaping... although I admit that we were surprised to find out that the state was in a drought. Seemed pretty lush to us, having some from here, lol.

Getting a little more back to the subject, keeping a proper compost pile is a great cootie-free way to feed your plants and flowers, and spraying a mild solution of dishsoap and water on plants & flowers w/bugs on them will gt rid of the bugs in a jiffy. Again, no cooties!

The SRIA put non native plants and grass in the corridor on Pensacola Beach and elsewhere on the island, none of the palms are native either. It is only a perception what people think beautiful is. All in the eye of the beholder.

The problem is when that perception overrides good sense and our survival instincts. In the end it is our species own survival that is at stake...

I have a huge compost pile in Pensacola. I have been adding my BBQ ashes (mostly wood ashes) to it. Since I grill a lot and burn a chimnea, there are a fair amount of ashes in the pile.

I'm confused. My Kingsford grill manual says to remove ashes promptly because if they get wet, they'll become acidic and severely corrode the ash tray. I always thought that ashes were on the alkaline scale.

I have no idea what pH this compost bed is now. What do y'all think?

Me too eric my understanding was just the opposite? Do you think they are supposing you would use a " manufactured " charcoal rather than natural?

Eric wrote:

My last post was self aggrandizing, but i'm proud of what a half dozen dedicated folks can do... and what we accomplished.

it was my 15 minutes of fame. a large picture of me in a shirt and tie while holding a white-topped pitcher plant, was on the PNJ front page at the top of the page.

---

Sorry SS for being off topic. But that land preservation stuff is fun.

As well it should....people like you are instrumental for positive changes.

Riceme, no offense taken! Absolutely true, I know you and I have talked about this before. And I have changed my thinking over the years about what makes a beautiful yard. I still do like the looks of a nice, well kept green lawn but I do hope more people move towards more of a natural look. I'm sure that the lawn care companies don't like this idea very much!

But you know Floridians....so many people think that a nice yard can only mean a fertilized, pesticided manicured lot full of green grass.

Oh, and hubby had a patio veggie garden last year and he used no pesticides--instead, he used dish soap, just like you mentioned. The veggies were beautiful and delicious.

whowherewhy wrote:

The SRIA put non native plants and grass in the corridor on Pensacola Beach and elsewhere on the island, none of the palms are native either. It is only a perception what people think beautiful is. All in the eye of the beholder.

The problem is when that perception overrides good sense and our survival instincts. In the end it is our species own survival that is at stake...

That's downright shameful and someone (or some ones!) needs to take them to task for that BS... And talk to them about xeriscaping while they're at it. Why irrigate when you don't have to or could irrigate far less??

Eric wrote:

I have a huge compost pile in Pensacola. I have been adding my BBQ ashes (mostly wood ashes) to it. Since I grill a lot and burn a chimnea, there are a fair amount of ashes in the pile.

I'm confused. My Kingsford grill manual says to remove ashes promptly because if they get wet, they'll become acidic and severely corrode the ash tray. I always thought that ashes were on the alkaline scale.

I have no idea what pH this compost bed is now. What do y'all think?

From linked NatGeo article:

Quote :

Ash from your fireplace or outdoor fire pit can be a useful amendment to your garden. In its raw state, ash can discourage insects living in the compost pile from migrating to the rest of your garden. It can also add lime and potassium to the soil. When used in compost, ash adds valuable nutrients without changing the pH of the soil. The exact nutrients depend on the type of wood that is burned. Layering wood ash into the compost pile also helps control odors and neutralizes the pH of the compost. (See References 1)

http://greenliving.nationalgeographic.com/use-ash-compost-3144.html

Interesting stuff... as long as I've been composting, which has been forever... we've always had a compost pile since I was a lil wee one, I don't recall ever knowing that wood ash didn't change the pH of your soil. I knew about the nutrients, but I don't think I knew about the pH neutralization. NEAT!

EE, A Nifty Ranchy Tip for you and Neko: When you all get snow up in your parts, if you sprinkle (COLD!!!) wood ash onto the snow on your front path, deck or driveway even I suppose, it will melt in a jiffy. Just remember to wash it off after it warms up.

Eric wrote:

I have a huge compost pile in Pensacola. I have been adding my BBQ ashes (mostly wood ashes) to it. Since I grill a lot and burn a chimnea, there are a fair amount of ashes in the pile.

I'm confused. My Kingsford grill manual says to remove ashes promptly because if they get wet, they'll become acidic and severely corrode the ash tray. I always thought that ashes were on the alkaline scale.

I have no idea what pH this compost bed is now. What do y'all think?

Excellent general reference, as usual... Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_ash

From Clemson (woop-woop!)... Note that I am none too impressed w/the rest of the article):

Quote :

If soil pH is above 7.0 anywhere in the Southeast, one needs to find out why. Of course, some soils from the Black Belt prairie region of central Alabama are naturally calcareous and alkaline. They are formed from the soft limestone known as Selma chalk. Some soils could be as much as 50% lime and have a pH value as high as 8.3. There's not much one can do about this. Just grow plants tolerant of calcareous soils - not azaleas, camellias, gardenias, and blueberries. Soils that have an artificially high pH, however, may also have a high salt content. Some waste products such as wood ashes (not agricultural lime) applied to the soil could be high in salts (salts of sodium, potassium, etc.). High salts probably caused the initial damaging effects to the plants. With time, rainfall will leach the salts out of the rooting zone. A high pH (up to about pH 8.0) would probably create severe micronutrient deficiencies (iron, zinc, and manganese) and result in a general yellowing and poor growth. High salts will kill plants.
http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~blpprt/lowerpH.html

E²: I don't know whether your grill has a cast iron bottom like mine does or what. Google "ash acidification reaction with _________" <------ insert your BBQ's bottom metal there and you'll get the info you need to determine whether or not the manual is correct.

via WikiHow: How to Test the pH of Your Soil:

http://www.wikihow.com/Test-Soil-pH

Looks like you can get a pH tester for soil @Lowe's for about $10:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_251966-83666-1240_0__?Ntt=ph+tester+for+soil&UserSearch=ph+tester+for+soil&productId=3028419&rpp=32

Happy gardening!

I think I'll get me one of those testers.

Having done a lot of environmental work, I was most impressed with corrosion technology. You could take an item about the size of a fat cigar called a copper-copper sulfate half cell, jab it into wet soil and connect it to the negative lead of a voltmeter and the positive wire of the meter to metal buried in the ground and you could measure the electrical current generated by the metal. We would use them on steel underground gas tanks at service stations. If it generated over -850 millivolts, the metal was protected from corrosion by sacrificial anodes... zinc/magnesium bars connected to the tanks. The anodes generated a protective current to keep the tanks from rusting... sacrificing themselves. On boats that remain in the water, you bolt sacrificial anodes to outboard engines, propeller shafts and rudders and replace them when the boats are hauled out.

I figured with your background and how inexpensive those testers are, you'd likely wanna get yourself one. Heck, I think I might get me one too.

What all sorts of things do you put in your compost, EE?

In the past I never put banana peels or eggshells in my compost, but upon recent research I've found that folks now say that it's good to put them in there, although they decompose at a slower rate than other common things.

I likely need to curb the amount of coffee grounds in my pile.