March 30, 2015

At the Smart Pot Café...

P1130936

... you can grow anything you want.

(And if you want to buy a Smart Pot like the one Meade is planting, you can buy them at Amazon, here. And please, if you want to buy anything at Amazon, go in here.)

52 comments:

mccullough said...

Is the Christmas tree mulch used up yet?

I'm going to get into gardening again when I'm older. I used to work landscaping jobs during college summers. For some reason I don't have the right temperament for it these days. Middle age, I guess

Rick said...

Sungold tomatoes, my favorite! I've been planting them every year, since '99.

MadisonMan said...

My seedlings are up, and they get moved shortly to the daughter's room (I rearranged furniture yesterday) to take advantage of the south-facing window there. Then I have to remember to keep the door shut or the cat will eat the seedlings.

MadisonMan said...

(NO tomatoes though -- my neighbor always overplants her starting tomatoes and I willingly take overflow).

Rick said...

Madison Man, mine are up as well. Seed planting is an addiction. This year, I've planted 15 varieties of tomatoes, 10 varieties of peppers, and 8 kinds of basil.

m stone said...

Is that a dog bed in the left foreground?

rhhardin said...

Something in Central Ohio clay soil kills Russian Olive, but not Autumn Olive.

Both are supposed to be weeds, but only Autumn Olive survives more than a few months.

They both feed birds in the winter, when they're there.

MadisonMan said...

I've only planted flower seeds. In the garden this year I'm only planting turnips and melons, direct seeded. We'll see how it goes. And 1 or 2 tomatoes from my neighbor.

Peppers have been a consistent failure in my garden. Disappointment after disappointment! For years! Tomatilloes worked okay -- but then I'm saddled with too many of 'em -- you can only make so much salsa verde. Dad always planted sweet corn and I wish I could do that, but there's just not that much room. (And the raccoons in the neighborhood would eat it all anyway).

rhhardin said...

In the fall, people used to come into work with squashes of various kind.

The joke was to accost one and say, "Oh good! You're taking squashes!"

rhhardin said...

Rush data point : I find, carrying an AM/FM/SW radio on the bike, that I don't listen to Rush but rather some ham morse code band.

Perhaps I feel safe because Rush is being recorded to the HD archive at home, so in theory I could go back and listen, though I never do.

I think he's gotten repetitive on Obama, who is so bad that every bad thing is already known and expected.

Julie C said...

I have two of these bags. One has basil planted in it and the other has a nice jalapeño plant already bursting with fruit. The bags are great for heat loving plants.

I've also got 8 tomato plants, zucchini, beans, golden beets, carrots and lots of potatoes. Those are all in raised beds. I'm planning to get lettuce started this week too. It's been in the low 80s here.

Of course, we are in the midst of a record drought so there you go.

rhhardin said...

Would linear regression capability have changed astrology to more resemble climate science?

lemondog said...

Smart pot. How different from regular pot?

Anonymous said...

smart pots w/o soil I assume

the cost benefit farming equation for me is herbs and tomatoes

jimbino said...

Though I consider this blog the best on the Web for me, I still don't get the idea of paying an intermediary, like Ann Althouse, for what amounts to no service rendered, since I am perfectly capable of finding and ordering what I want from Amazon, eBay and others, and, like credit-card fees, this skimming of my payments is not something I can support.

I regularly negotiate with docs, dentists and liquor stores, etc., to give me a cash discount. It's hard to negotiate with Amazon of course, since they have a policy of doing evil, but, thanks to Darwin, there are alternatives, like Alibaba, which I will try to support, until they too try to rip me off.

Hagar said...

Would it not be a blast, if Iran leaves the Geneva talks tomorrow claiming that the P5+1 is just too unreasonably obstructive and enemies of peace, and then on Wednesday - April Fools' Day - they explode an underground nuclear test?

Clayton Hennesey said...

In hot, arid regions, the Smart Pot becomes a Home Depot bucket with slits cut in the bottom to retard lateral moisture loss while providing complete drainage.

Tank said...

I got nothing.

I usually start thinking about this stuff about a week before [trigger warning] Mother's Day.

Last year we had mediocre tomatoes, decent basil and a big FAIL on the mint, which everyone says you can't stop from growing. Overall, pathetic.

A bad mint crop severely impacts my Mojito situation.

Tank said...

jimbino said...

Though I consider this blog the best on the Web for me, I still don't get the idea of paying an intermediary, like Ann Althouse, for what amounts to no service rendered, since I am perfectly capable of finding and ordering what I want from Amazon, eBay and others, and, like credit-card fees, this skimming of my payments is not something I can support.


The point is you make a donation to Althouse for giving you a bit of pleasure each day, and it costs you LITERALLY nothing.

jimbino said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
jimbino said...

Wrong, Tank.

Though I don't deny that the Althouse blog does give me pleasure from time to time, it does cost me to order from Amazon through her portal.

Just as when it costs me some 2% to 3% when I use a credit card to purchase from Walmart, Lowes or Home Depot.

What is costs me, more or less, is the 2% or 3% I get in cash discount from my local liquor store or the 5% to 10% I get from a doc or my dentist.

If Ann Althouse chooses to charge for access to her blog, that's fine, but it's not fine to pretend that ordering Amazon products through her link is costing me nothing.

The fact that she is not charging me for the portal to Amazon and that she is almost up-front regarding the hidden costs to me mitigates whatever fiduciary duty she would otherwise owe me.

There's lots of discussion of kickbacks, especially when the beneficiary of the kickback has power to control contracts, as in the present case of Petrobras and Dilma Roussef.

Tank said...

@jimbino

I was assuming you were going to order from Amazon anyway. If not, then you are correct.

In what way would Althouse have a fiduciary duty to you?

MadisonMan said...

and it costs you LITERALLY nothing.

Is there a difference between nothing and literally nothing?

(Advocating for putting the 'literally' between it and costs) ;)

JSD said...

Rebuilding the Mona Lisa of the Skies - Lockheed Super Constellation Starliners 1957 - Lufthansa Project

This is an off-topic post on an aircraft restoration project that is nearing completion. A client of our firm was involved in the restoration of this plane. I usually drive by the hanger on the way to our family camp and check out the progress. It is expected to be completed this year.

http://www.dlbs.de/en/Projects/Lockheed-Superstar/News.php

The Super Constellation Starliner is the most graceful and beautiful airliner ever built. It was the last of the big piston-powered airliner. Conceived by Howard Hughes during the 1950’s, the triple tail Super Connie represented the absolute zenith of piston-driven airliners, wrangling 3,400 horsepower out of each of its 3,350-cubic-inch Curtis-Wright 18-cylinder, twin-row radial engines. It was the long range champion of its day capable of 6,000 mile flights. The Starliner was the last prop driven Air Force 1 under President Eisenhower.

Of the 44 Starliners that were built and only 4 working survivors exist. Maurice Roundy of Maine began collecting Starliners in the 1980’s and eventually came to own three of them. He found one in Newburg NY, another in Honduras and a third in Florida. They were free for the taking if he could get them off the tarmac. He would assemble a crew, patch them up and attempt to fly to Maine. Two made the complete trip; the third remained grounded in Florida. Restoration was way beyond his Mr. Roundy’s means and abilities and they sat in his back yard, which abutted the Auburn Municipal airport. He eventually filed bankruptcy and lost the planes. Lufthansa bought all three planes at auction in 2007. They built a hanger in Maine and are building one fully restored plane from the three planes. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2015 at a cost of $60 million.

http://www.conniesurvivors.com/1-maurice_roundys_starliners.htm


jimbino said...

Tank,

There are at least two types of fiduciary duty, one legal and the other informal.

If a person, like a financial advisor, lawyer, real-estate agent or rental agent, takes pay in exchange for advice or service supposedly in my interest, he has a legal fiduciary duty, often imposed by (ridiculous) certification laws.

If he takes kickbacks, I can sue and likely win for any losses in transactions. Leonard Cohen famously lost $30,000,000 to an agent who ripped him off. He won his case but recovered virtually nothing of his loss. For this we got Hallelujah and other great music and poetry when he was forced to return to work after age 70.

Ann Althouse is operating in a more murky arena. I'm not paying for her advice, services, or blog, so she has, I would say, no legal responsibility not to take kick-backs or to be up-front in what it costs me to deal through her.

Still, I don't deal with a Facebook that has a hidden agenda of censorship or even with friends who gain a kickback upon recommending a mechanic. To this date, I have no idea how much Amazon pays Althouse for pretending that it's not costing me more to buy through her portal. They probably have a non-disclosure agreement, a key indicator of deceit.

Anonymous said...

Obama at the opening of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute: "It's not because they shared Ted's ideology or his positions, but they knew Ted was someone who bridged the partisan divide over and over and over again."

Biden at the opening of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute: "He was an anchor for many of us in our personal lives.”

God, I'm going to miss these guys.

Curious George said...

I read Jimbino's post and I realize very quickly that he is both a moron and an asshole. His positions are flawed, but really, why voice them? It's not a requirement you moron.

jimbino said...

Ted Kennedy drove right into the divide and virtually threw Kopechne an anchor.

Still the truth: more people have died in Ted Kennedy's back seat then from smoking weed.

We need to institute a policy of disinterring such villains and putting them in ridicule on the public square.

Bob Ellison said...

I've been working on (mostly) African-American spirituals on keyboards for years, and more so lately. "Amazing Grace", "I Don't Feel No Ways Tired", "Hard Times Come Again No More", etc. Not entirely black songs; lots of whites in on them over the years.

Anyway, if you have suggestions for songs I should channel, please send me their titles or links. This genre is dear to me.

jimbino said...

All the while Ann is imploring me to spend my upwards-of-$20000 per year on Amazon through her portal, she tolerates such pure ad-hominem posts as that of Curious George, who says

"I read Jimbino's post and I realize very quickly that he is both a moron and an asshole. His positions are flawed, but really, why voice them? It's not a requirement you moron."

Why O why would I ever buy Amazon stuff through Althouse?

Freeman Hunt said...

Why O why would I ever buy Amazon stuff through Althouse?

Because you can say the same thing right back at 'im. What a place!

jimbino said...

Right, Freeman Hunt,

I'm supposed to sink to their level of ad hominem, tu quoque and ad nauseam attacks?

Meade said...

"Something in Central Ohio clay soil kills Russian Olive, but not Autumn Olive."

It's probably not the clay but Phomopsis elaeagni, a fungus. Wet weather spreads microscopic spores. Check for cankers and gummosis.

Ohio has some of the most nutrient-dense soils in the world. When compost and other organic materials are incorporated into the clay, the cation-exchange capacity increases as humic acids and aeration release from the clay the calcium, magnesium, and many other micronutrients that are otherwise unavailable to plant roots.

Ann Althouse said...

I feel like Jimbino is trying to pay me a thousand dollars to make Curious George shut up.

Maybe I could open a new income stream by selling my deletion services!

Meade said...

"Maybe I could open a new income stream by selling my deletion services!"

But you might end up squashing Curious George's abundant sharing of comments and Jimbino's joy in accosting George with "Oh good! You're leaving another comment!"

Meade said...

"They probably have a non-disclosure agreement, a key indicator of deceit."

We can have a full-disclosure agreement with you if you'd like. But I think you've already disclosed just what a Scrooge you are.

MadisonMan said...

Count how often Curious George calls someone an idiot or moron, or otherwise insults them.

Plot that number as a function of time.

It's a very interesting plot, I'm sure.

Meade said...

An interesting plot, sure, but a bit weedy.

jimbino said...

Besides affirming that I enjoy Ann Althouse's blog, I can say that she speaks better English than stuffed shirts like Eugene Volokh. If it were my blog, I'd delete all comments that consisted of pure ad hominem.

jimbino said...

Ann Althouse said,

"I feel like Jimbino is trying to pay me a thousand dollars to make Curious George shut up.

Maybe I could open a new income stream by selling my deletion services!"

I'd pay you more than that to delete persons like Curious George and those that foist mandates on me.

jimbino said...

Re: Meade who says

"They probably have a non-disclosure agreement, a key indicator of deceit."

We can have a full-disclosure agreement with you if you'd like. But I think you've already disclosed just what a Scrooge you are"

Agreed. I'll post the terms of my kick-back from Amazon if you post yours (meaning perhaps, Ann Althouse's)

I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours.

Curious George said...

"jimbino said...
All the while Ann is imploring me to spend my upwards-of-$20000 per year on Amazon through her portal, she tolerates such pure ad-hominem posts as that of Curious George, who says

"I read Jimbino's post and I realize very quickly that he is both a moron and an asshole. His positions are flawed, but really, why voice them? It's not a requirement you moron."

Why O why would I ever buy Amazon stuff through Althouse?

"Implore?"

"..beg someone earnestly or desperately to do something."

She said "please" and "consider". No begging, no desperation.

Just another example of the stupidity of your decisions and the fact that you are an ass.

Anonymous said...

Althouse, your deck needs refinishing. Stat. Powerwashing and wood brightener would go a long way out there.

Anonymous said...

Just promix bx ? Any suggestions for nutrients ?

MadisonMan said...

I'd pay you more than that to delete persons like Curious George and those that foist mandates on me

You know, you can ignore people.

Anonymous said...

Meade,

I loved your explanation of the complex activity in soil. I come from a very long line of farmers and my two parents are both Master Gardeners. I heard lots of this kind of advice at the dinner table and in the car growing up. I absorbed almost none of it.

Instead I learned how to change the oil, spark plugs, and transmission fluid in my cars (for fun) and became a licensed Professional Engineer in two states. Odd how interests vary from generation to generation.

Meade said...

"Just promix bx ? Any suggestions for nutrients ?"

I'm partial to Osmocote.

@Grundoon: Dad wanted me to study engineering but I wanted to be like him and grow stuff.

The Elder said...

At the risk of returning to the subject, what is the size of the Soft Pot you are seen filling with soil? What mixture of soil did you use? Do you intend to use something (a stake or cage) to hold up the tomato plant? Will the soil mixture be sufficiently dense to support that "something?" Can a person do this single-handed?

Meade said...

At the risk of returning to the subject, what is the size of the Soft Pot you are seen filling with soil?

The Smart Pot® I'm seen filling with "growing medium" is the 25 gallon size.

What mixture of soil did you use?

PRO-MIX BX W/ BIO & MYCO 3.8 CU/FT

Do you intend to use something (a stake or cage) to hold up the tomato plant?

A stake in the ground directly behind each bag.

Will the soil mixture be sufficiently dense to support that "something?"

n/a

Can a person do this single-handed?

Yes, an exceptional person can and, I expect, will.

Meade said...

I recommend THESE. Much cheaper than SmartPots.

Ann Althouse said...

"Besides affirming that I enjoy Ann Althouse's blog, I can say that she speaks better English than stuffed shirts like Eugene Volokh. If it were my blog, I'd delete all comments that consisted of pure ad hominem."

Ah, but what is purity?

Anonymous said...

Althouse, your deck needs refinishing or at least a powerwash and a wood brightener treatment.