landscaper and gardener

LANDSCAPER AND GARDENER
thats what i have become
well i was already both before i retired

as you know if youve read this blog much i volunteer for the
habitat for humanity helping build houses in this area
i have worked on my seventh house thats been built in the last 12+ months

on the previous house i became actively involved with the landscaping
trying to eliminate as much grass as possible in the landscape
so the homeowner wouldnt have to water and fertilize and care
for so much lawn
they were being committed to years of expense watering it and
caring for it
70% of municipal water is used in landscapes
folk were running low on water around here

the first house i did we eliminated 75% of the grass in the front yard
and left a nice patch of grass in the front for them to enjoy

in the latest house we were able to eliminate 40% of the front yard
grass by utilizing rock along the yard on one side of the driveway and
along that strip replacing grass between the sidewalk and the street
that no mans land thats hard to keep watered and mowed

we also were able to use mulch to eliminate planting grass around the
new monterey oak we planted in the front yard
the tree wont have to compete with the grass for water and
nutrition

we also were able to utilize the rocks from the rocking of the house
in the landscape making large beds across the back fence covering
it with mulch and along the driveway

here you can see that i was teaching a group of high school kids from
one of the habitat clubs at their high school how to properly plant
a tree
-only as deep as the container
-make sure the root flare is above ground level
-dont pile the mulch around the tree trunk
-mulch the area around the tree and avoid grass under the tree if possible
-use the native soil from the hole to fill the hole around the tree
-add some good garden soil or compost to top it off with
 then cover with mulch
-remove any post holding the tree in place
 i leave the tree free standing without those metal rods or wire ties

in the background in the picture you can see the 1" rocks that were
put in the no man area by the street
several rustic large rocks were placed on top of these rocks

we also planted a spineless cactus salvia greggii dwarf youpon holly and
a prostrate rosemary in the front and a red oak in the back

ive also started to utilize some rain garden techniques in the landscapes
to slow down water runoff from the property which will decrease
the amount of supplemental water thats used

a 2 x 6 ft raised garden bed made from the rock left over from the house
was built that the homeowner will use for herb growth or veggies

they are given the austin grow green book with the list of xeric plants
for the area and a handout on how to care for the yard and plants

overall a successful landscape plan on a limited budget utilizing donated
plants and supplies

now we have to figure out how to collect rainwater on a no budget

twice in the last two weeks the threat of a freeze has occurred
last week it did occur here at the country n
its these freezes that usually sneak up on me and wipe out my
tomatoes
so last week i redid all my row covers over my maters and taters
and peppers and beans and cucumber and eggplants and basil
sure glad i did as they all survived the frost and freeze without
significant damage

then that cold front came through yesterday that dropped the temps from
70 to 40 in a matter of a few minutes
no freeze warning was given for where the country n is but just
west there was freeze warnings
the weatherman said no worry if you are not in that area
herard that before

so i covered up my two keyhole gardens and my tomatoes in
their 5 ft cages and my squash beans cukes cantilope and beans

i knew if i didnt do it that there would definitely be a freeze
and i would have to go to my knees and start crying
as i had put so much effort into growing those maters by
planting them in early february and nursing them along

looks like i am going to be successful since i survived
those two late freezes


i am about to plant a tatume squash thats has some resistance to
that damn squash boerer that will wipe out my zucchini and yellow
squash after the first couple of pickings
hope its successful
its an heirloom one that grows on runners like pumpkins

here is the link to the tamu ag websites article on the tatume

i am sure glad i dont farm for a living
there are so many things that can go wrong to wipe out your crops

the organicgreen doctor

how secure are they

HOW SECURE ARE THEY

i read kim komandos newsletters every day and follow what
she recommends
i dont know much about computers but i figure that she does
this for a living so i let her do all the work and i just do what
she tells me to do

i have especially been watchful lately of making more secure passwords
like writing out a sentence then using the letters to make a password
eg
dogs like to chase cats and cars a lot
dL2sc&c81
(six days)

i was proud of all my new passwords
until last sunday she posted in her newsletter this
website called how secure is my password

so i put in my password to my rollover ira
it said
it would take a pc 11 minutes to hack this password
thats not good

so i tried my checking account
it would take 3 days thats sort of reassuring

so it tried my facebook password
that wouldnt take long just 3 hours to get it hacked

so my gmail password
that would take 3 hours also

so my apple password
another 3 days

none of these are really good are they

all my passwords are 8 characters
lets try 12345678
oops that was quick-instantly

how about password
quick again

how about longhorns-22 minutes
and razorbacks-9 hours
that ones safer than my important accounts
lets try
cowboyssuck-10 days

so i went back to check my personal facebook password
it would take 48 years to crack it
finally i have at least one of all my passwords safe

so i went back and added 4&X to my blogs facebook password
and it went from 3 hours to 4,000 years to crack that password

guess i got some work to do today to make my passwords
more secure

now if i can just keep google and facebook from stealing them
ill be ok

the organicgreen doctor

how long you got left

HOW LONG YOU GOT LEFT

(www.scientificamerican.com)

thats the question that everyone wants answered

now the northwestern mutual insurance has a new link 

for what they call the longevity game

where you can calculate how much longer you got

so i went online and plugged in my age

looks like 79 for me but i plugged in my wife shes age and she

gets to go to 81

well i always wanted to go first anyway

lets see what a few life style changes could do to how long i got

i then plugged in my height and weight

didnt help any lost a year

thats the weight ive gained since i retired 2 years ago

i then lost 15 lbs and gained two years

then gained 15 lbs and lost those two years

so maintain that body weight index at normal must help some

next no family members with heart trouble before 55

gained those two years back

score 79

next blood pressure

if normal i gain to 83

i now have controlled mild blood pressure so its 79 still

uncontrolled blood pressure would make it 76

not knowing my pressure would make it 77

so far its still 79 for me

stress in my life is not bad

in fact im laid back most of the time

give me another year for that 

now im at 80

too much stress would knock it to 78

exercise at the level i do moves me to 82

i could gain another year to 83 if i did more vigourous activity

couch potatoing would knock me down to 77

my wife she and i eat mainly a vegetarian diet with some

scattering of eggs and meat 

this bumps me up to 85

if i ate fast food etc a lot it would knock me down to 77

next i always wear my seat belt gives me another year 86

next i did get a speeding ticket recently so that made me 

stay the same

if that cop had given me a warning i might live another year longer

getting a dwi makes you lose 13 years of longevity

next since i drink a glass of wine at night i gain another year to 87

drink 5 drinks at a time only once a month and you lose 7 years

next i quit smoking 40 years ago so i gain 2 years to 89

if you smoke over 2 packs a year you lose 10 years

now i know thats not right as few people who smoke that much 

make it to 79

then finally i dont use recreational drugs so i get another year to 90

if i did i would loose 9 years

sorry willie you dont have much time left

final score then is 90

then these thoughts

living right by controlling your weight blood pressure stress eating 

correctly drinking in moderation not smoking living a less stressful life 

and family genetics

can make you live longer 

and be healthier along the way 

of course there was no alzheimers questions

that will cost me 10-15 years

interesting though that these life style changes are the same things that 

people can do to slow down the development of alzheimers disease

so i plugged my wife she into the longevity calculator and she

came out to 97

so i guess i have to recalculate her financial retirement plan so she 

wont run out of money since she is going to live so long

the organicgreen doctor