Brattleboro Literary Festival: Tom Callahan, James Dodson (2017)

Benefits of Pine Needles in your landscaping: It offers the ideal level of level of acidity for your plants to soak up optimum soil nutrients It does not drift and get rid of and breaks down more gradually, so it does not have to be reapplied as often as other mulches It is much easier to handle and lighter per cubic foot than other mulches: one large bale can cover as much area as 30 cubic feet of the majority of mulches the expense per square foot is competitive with other mulches It breathes better, does not compact, and permits better water seepage It is easy to apply: just unroll the bales and scatter by hand It does not draw in termites It adds natural product and nutrients to soil and minimizes weeds The consistent color and fine texture of pine straw brings out the color, contrast, and texture of your landscape You can use it for disintegration control where grass won't grow to hold soil, even on hillsides and courses

FAQ

How Do I Get Rid Of Red Begonia Stained Rocks & Concrete?
I Have Begonias In My Front Flower Beds & Now The Hard Frost Has Flattened Them. The Bright Red Flowers & Stems Have Turned To Mush & Stained The Rock Border & Parts Of My Concrete Sidewalk. I Tried To Hose & Scrub The Bright Red & Purple Stains Off But That Didn'T Touch It. Does Anyone Know A Way To Get Rid Of This? The Large Stains Are Pretty Darn Red.

The Sun may bleach out the stains. I know it will bleach the stains left by pine straw on concrete.

Will Lime Dissolver The Leave And Pine Needles In My Gutter And Sewer Pipe?

I'll guess you're referring to your roof gutters and "downspouts", which commonly get clogged with leaves & pine needles. Fastest way to clean them by far is to get up there with a ladder and pull them out by hand, blow out with a leaf blower, or hose out. Right where the downspout, the vertical pipe, connects with the gutter, the horizontal open "tray" thing, there are often a couple of turned bits, called "elbows", which are notorious for leaf clogs. I prefer to attach them with just a single screw, then quick to detach, knock clear, and reattach. Personally, I use a leaf-guard in the gutter, at the entry to each down spout. No clogged 'els for years, and my approx. 60ft of gutters can be cleared in less than an hour.
If, by some chance, you think you have a leaf & needle obstruction in your plumbing system's main drain's "soil stack", an open 3 or 4" pipe sticking out of the roof, "snaking" it out from top-side is usually what's done. I would expect poor or odd performance from household drains if the problem exists.

I Want To Start A Quail Farm. Anyone Know Where I Can Get Some Information?
I Have Raised Pigeons For Years, And Am Quite Good At It. I Would Like To Know If Anyone Has Any Experience With Quail, And Could Tell Me How Their Care And Maintenance Differs From Pigeons, If At All.

Hardly. Most birds requite just about the same maintenance. In fact, if you've ever owned chickens, there's no difference in raising quail. Just feed them scratch grain, cracked corn, or a wild bird seed mix. Make sure they have plenty of water, and it's best to have a cage with an open ground so they can have access to the grass. Quail like to hide in tall grass and in little corners to lay eggs and sleep, so having something like that, even if it's just a pile of straw or pine needles, will make them feel happier and safer. Don't let them out of the cage though, normally once a quail gets out, not matter how long you've had it at your home, it will disappear forever. You can keep them in an open-top pen like chickens, just make sure their wings are clipped because they are exellent fliers.
Also, make sure they have a place to get out of the weather - whether it be cold or hot, wet or dry. Surprisingly, these little birds are actually quite tough.

Hope that helped!
- Becky

Where Can I Pierce My Belly Button?
So I Guess My Mom Finally Gave In But Do You Guys Know If I Could Pierce My Belly Button In Westland Or Dolphin Or Pembroke Pines Mall? Please Let Me Know Asap!!!

i wouldnt recommend getting them done at malls. they dont clean the needles all the way through because they dont have the time.
and if your just going to ignore my last statement then you have to make sure to buy bactine and use it to clean your belly piercing to keep it from infecting.

How Do I Fix Up A Lawn From Scratch?
I Just Bought A House With A Garden Untouched For A Year. You Can Imagine Leafs Everywhere, Yellow Grass, And Mushrooms. How Do I Start?

Where are you? What zone? Is your lawn sunny or shady?

Leaves everywhere sounds like alot of shade. It's usually futile to try to grow grass under trees. Instead make large pine straw or mulch "islands" around the trees. Then you either seed or sod the open lawn areas.

If your yard is a total mess, mostly weeds and there's no grass at present worth saving, you will want to use Round-up to kill the weeds so you can start fresh. Round-up is no longer patented so look for cheaper products with the same active ingrediant.

You can sod the next day after using Round-up. Some say even sooner. Do not spray Round-up on windy days. It will kill your bushes if it drifts or blows onto the leaves. For best results, till and rake smooth the lawn before laying the sod.

If you're in the south you probably want to sod with St. Augustine or zoysia. Else where I'm not familiar with.

If you sod this time of year, you'll need to water some over the winter to keep the sod from drying out. It wont have much time to mend to the soil so it will need a sprinkling (or a rain) once a week.

Lay your sod as evenly as you can on a smooth and level prepared area. Next year use a sand/soil mix to fill in cracks and depressions.

Brattleboro Literary Festival: Tom Callahan, James Dodson (2017)

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