If your container plants have lost their lust for life and you want to do something about that, watch this video. Sloat Gardens is a 10-store California gardening chain operating in San Francisco, Marin, Contra Costa and San Mateo counties. Here an expert from Sloat Gardens reveals two products that are key to successful container gardening. A business-like presenter takes 2 mins, 54 seconds to impart this knowledge.
Whether you are planting veggies, herbs or color plants, use good potting soil and transfer the seedlings in their plugs to the container. Then you take something called Zeba (a cornstarch polymer tagged as “super absorbant granules”) on the box and put a little of it around the root zone of the plants - not too much. This retains moisture in the soil and breaks down in about a year. (You can also use Zeba when sowing seeds.)
After that you take a product called Sure Start (a kind of ancient fungal material with a scientific name I couldn’t quite catch) and put about a cup of it in the container. The Sloat Gardens representative swears by this product. She says that if you put two containers next to each other and treat one with Sure Start and the other one not, the difference is “like night and day”, with the Sure Start container doing much better, of course. “There is a symbiotic relationship between the Sure Start and the plant,” she says. “Sure Start encourages the plant to take up nutrients and water while the Sure Start draws some starch from the plant’s roots.”
This video called “How to Buy Green Produce” is brought to you by Tree Hugger TV. It’s not an exciting video by any means, but it does get a point across. What else would you expect for approximately two minutes of video? This video takes that is familiar to use all – the supermarket. The man in the video is interviewing food author Marion Nestle. The main complaint about this video is that it’s difficult to hear everything that is being said because of poor sound quality.
There is an introductory discussion on apples. If you watch this video, you will learn that the purpose of wax on apples is to protect them while they are being shipped. Testing has shown that it’s too big to be absorbed into the skin. Video tip #1: It is important that you wash fruit to remove any excessive wax because the wax is not soluble.
You may have wondered where apples come from when it’s not apple season? If you haven’t, then maybe you should. The point is that they can come from anywhere. They are no longer required to have labels, so unless they have a label you will just not know. So if your apples came from overseas, then you are paying transportation costs in the price of your apple. Video tip #2: Buying local can ensure fresher produce. Look for country of origin label.
Marion defines what it means for a vegetable to be grown organically. Unfortunately, this part was a bit difficult to understand, so you will not understand the entire message. However, you will still learn that it is good for the plant. Video tip #3: Support local farms by visiting your local farmers market.
This video is recommended. It provides a basic understanding of buying green produce. You really cannot go wrong by watching it.
This video on Green Roofs was quite a surprise. This video, put out by Earth Pledge, was very well done and nicely produced. It features fantastic scenery, narrator Vanessa Rae, researchers, cool music, and even rolls off production credits at the end. Some of the material in this video is a bit advanced. However, the format of the video makes it where anyone can understand it. Vanessa discusses the highlights of each segment and then the researchers delve into the scientific details.
If you watch this video (and you definitely should), you will learn that green roofs are very beneficial to big cities. This video was filmed in New York City, home to numerous skyscrapers. Covering these buildings with a green roof can help tremendously.
You may be wandering what a green roof is. Well, it is exactly what it sounds like – a roof covered with vegetation. A green roof can survive with little or no maintenance for as long as 30-50 years. That’s a pretty great thing in itself.
Researchers shown on the video discussed the research currently being done. The purpose of green roof research is to determine why green roofs are valuable. Researchers are measuring storm water runoff (how plants on the ground control the water flow to earth) and temperature (how roofs with vegetation compare to those without).
A helpful diagram is shown in the video. This diagram shows that green rooms are made up of the following in this order starting from the top: (1) vegetation, (2) growing medium, (3) drainage, aeration, water storage, and root barrier, (4) insulation, (5) membrane protection and root barrier, (6) roofing membranes, and (7) structural support.
One of the researchers goes on to explain that a green roof keeps temperatures down which in turn acts to cool down the city. What could be better than that in the middle of the summer?
This video is highly recommended. You are guaranteed to learn something and will probably even be entertained for five minutes.
This video on “How to Select the Right Shovel” was quite a surprise. There was definitely no major effort taken to make this video; it was obviously one take in the middle of a hardware store. However, the gentleman speaking in the video was extremely knowledgeable about shovels (and probably a bunch of other stuff too). If you are in the market for a new shovel and don’t know where to start, you should definitely take five minutes to watch this video first. It will make your job much easier and help you find exactly what you need.
The unidentified man in this video brought forth a great deal of information. Here are a few introductory comments. The shovel is the most frequently used tool. There are many, many sizes and quality types. At a typical hardware outlet, you will see about 20 different shovels. Who would have known? Apparently, a shovel is not just a shovel.
If you watch this video, you will learn about the various shovel sizes. A #2 shovel has a head that is 9” x 11” and a #1 shovel has a head smaller than a #2. The next size down is a #0 and shovel sizes go all the way down to a floral shovel, which has not been assigned a number. A person’s ability to use a large shovel depends on their size, age, and strength. For example, a 36-year-old man in good health can handle a larger shovel easier than a 75-year-old man in fragile health.
A shovel should be chosen according to the task for which it is intended. A small shovel should be used in a tight area while a large shovel can be used in an open area. A smaller shovel is also a better choice for dense soil.
When selecting a shovel, you should pay attention to the quality of the head. A forward shovel is stronger, heavier, and denser than a hollow back shovel.
These too are an important factor. A connection with two rivets is preferred over a straight should connection which has one rivet. The two rivets make the connection stronger.
You should look for a good, clean straight grain handle. The grain of the wood should be tight and properly aligned. If the grain is running in the wrong direction, then the shovel will be easier to break.
Lastly, be aware that there are different length shovels available. Choose length according to your height.