What did you do in the garden today?

[EuroChook]

On poison ivy (Sounds painful)... vitamin D is anthistaminic. If one's vit D is low, mast cells destabilize much more easily and release histamine. Also caffeine, being a methylxanthine compound is also antihistaminic and anti-inflammatory, with the only caveat being that certain phenotypes will react to caffeine, and for them it will produce histamine in an inverted parabola response over time. But for those not reactive to caffeine, even a three teaspoon instant cup can be painted onto a rash, mosquito bite, yea, even hemmorhoids for some relief. As long as one doesn't mind smelling like 'eau du cafe'. Bromelain in pineapple is antiinflammatory. Ethanol is a depressant antiinflammatory. Ginger, too. 4g a day may even help bring relief to osteoarthritis.

Just winking anti-inflammatory tiddles into my afternoon tiddle cup.

 

[gtaus]

A year??? Did you mean 1 hour?

Yeah, I thought maybe that was typo, but I checked into it and everywhere they say the oil from poison ivy can stay in your clothes and reinfect you as much as one year, or more, later. Like was mentioned, you have to wash those clothes in cold water so the oil is not triggered to release. I'm thinking the best option is to have either disposable protective clothing for poison ivy jobs or have a set of working clothes just for that job.

 

[igorsMistress]

Sounds like you guys were having fun. Good for you!

I'm sure you could move all that mulch with a spade, but a fork would be so much easier. Something like this 5-tine fork...


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I also move a lot of wood chips and compost with a 10-tine fork like this...

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Looks like that young man was having a good time in that trailer. But I'm an old man and have learned that it's a lot easier on me moving compost with a fork. I did not have one fork before I got composting chickens and started making compost. I quickly learned that my trusty old spade was a lot of work moving mulch. That's when I started buying forks and they work much better for me. I have three, maybe four different forks now. Each one has an advantage over the others depending on the job at hand.

Dear Wife looks at my tools and has no idea why I have all kinds of shovels, forks, saws, pliers, hammers, etc... When I try to explain that each tool is specialized for certain tasks, she tunes me out and does not want to hear anything. She understands why a person needs more than one kind of screwdriver, flat head or Philips head, but that's about it.

Loved your utility trailer. Wish I had one like that. I do have "Gorilla" carts like the size in your picture, and one even bigger. I use my "Gorilla" carts all the time. 4 wheels are so much better than my old one-wheeled wheelbarrow.

I used to help my grandpa all the time when I was growing up. Those are still some of my best memories. Love to see kids out helping instead of sitting in the house playing games on a smartphone or game console. Life is so much better outside. Good for him.

I think that’s an excuse to buy more tools I use the same one for my kitchen gadgets though, hence two multi cookers. One for cooking our food, the other is only for canning.

 

[gtaus]

I've never heard of using cold water to wash after exposure to PI. I use warm water, with detergent and a water conditioner like borax or washing soda (not baking soda).

Several web sites I just accessed recommend hot water or as hot as your clothing fabric can handle. An extra wash couldn't hurt. And wash contaminated clothes separately.

FWIW, everything I read online said use cold water in the wash so the poison ivy oil does not get released. In any case, I washed my jeans that got exposed to poison ivy separately from all my other clothes.

 

[igorsMistress]

My dad claimed that he wasn't allergic to poison ivy, and demonstrated once by rubbing poison ivy leaves on his arm.

Regarding sterilizing soil, I wonder if putting some soil/compost in a black plastic bag and setting it in direct sunlight would get it hot enough to sterilize?

You can do this over your compost pile to help it heat up. It helps to kill bacteria and bugs by generating heat.

 

[igorsMistress]

I suspect I'd be personna non grata if I cooked any chicken run compost in the house. You guys have confirmed my decision just to buy commercial sterilized compost. Thanks for keeping the peace in my family!



That's too bad. About 25 years ago, after my dad got a really bad case of poison ivy, he later went to the doctor and got some kind of a shot that "prevented" him from getting another bad case of poison ivy. That's what he told me. But he did not have it in his lungs. Still, there might be a preventative measure your mother could use to keep her lungs clear.



I guess the good news is that you probably have a bumper crop of cucumbers this year!

Again, I will mention that the 2X4 pallet wood trellis I built for Dear Wife is super strong. You could swing from it. The trellis is basically free standing on its own, but I decided to screw it into the raised bed to make it even stronger.

Here is a picture when I first built that trellis...

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It might not be the prettiest trellis out there, but it is super strong, I paid nothing for the salvaged wood, and now it's totally covered with the bitter melon vines anyway. I had consider using 2X2's or lighter wood with a more appealing design, but I opted for strength in the design and I am glad I did.

Dear Wife could not be happier with her new trellis...



Grandma made the best BLT's. But, come to think of it, grandma made everything the best as I remember it.

You have such a pretty area there, and I like the trellis.

 

[ShrekDawg]

And the self checkout scanners are usually "card only". They're trying to remove cash purchases.

Ours are still both thankfully. CVS has one of each.

 

[Sequel]

My dad claimed that he wasn't allergic to poison ivy, and demonstrated once by rubbing poison ivy leaves on his arm.

Regarding sterilizing soil, I wonder if putting some soil/compost in a black plastic bag and setting it in direct sunlight would get it hot enough to sterilize?

Put it in clear plastic. They say you can Solarize garden soil under clear plastic. Everything will sprout then everything cooks!

 

[ShrekDawg]

One more thing...make sure you never burn it. I have a friend who did. They ended up in the hospital. It was in their sinuses, throat. They really got sick.

That happened to my dad’s friend once. Though I’m not sure if he ended up in the hospital or not. But it was all in his throat and lungs and everything.

 

[gtaus]

I think that’s an excuse to buy more tools

Guilty! Of course. A person can never have too many tools! But more seriously, the reason so many different types of forks, for example, exist is because some designs are just so much better than others for certain jobs.

Grandpa taught me the difference between tools that look the same but might have different functions and performance in use. My earliest memory of that is using hand saws back in the day. Grandpa showed me the difference in the teeth between a crosscut saw and a ripping saw. Then he had me saw a board both ways with each saw so the lesson of what saw to use was driven home. Believe me, you don't want to use a crosscut saw to rip a board by hand! Valuable lesson for the times. However, nowadays, I just have saw blade on my 18v circular saw and it cuts both ways just fine.

More to gardening concerns, you would not want to use a flat-bottomed grain shovel to work up the garden soil. It would take forever compared to a spade shovel. And you probably would choose a pitchfork over a spade to dig out potatoes. How many different kinds of hoes have you purchased over the years? Each seems to have a particular feature that might make it better for a certain job.

But, yes, I am full of excuses to get new tools. That's my weak point.

Dear Wife could wear a different pair of shoes every day for a few months, easily, before she got back to the first pair. I have had the same snow boots for 30+ years! No need to get another pair as long as the old snow boots are still good.

But I do have different sizes and types of shovels for light snow, heavy snow, or wet snow. Not to mention a couple of snow blowers. One for blowing off light snow out on the deck, and a big walk behind blower to clear the driveway after a heavy snow.

I think I can easily talk myself into getting just about any new tool. You got me there...