In a recent Akron Beacon Journal article, Bob Downing reported of a proliferation of toxic algae blooms on Lake Erie and in various Ohio inland lakes and ponds.
In Ohio are seven native species of algae that produce toxins.
One such toxin is called microcystin which is a known nerve toxin. At high enough levels the toxin can sicken or even kill humans and animals as such was the case this year in Ohio with 29 people sickened and three dogs killed.
There is a moderate risk to those who use waterways for recreational purposes when levels of microcystin are at levels of between 10 and 20 parts per billon.
The biggest problem is with bodies of water used for swimming and those used for municipal water supplies.
Only once, very low levels of the toxin were found in Akron’s city water supply as the water department’s carbon filters remove any of the algae toxins.
The algae problem could not exist without phosphorus from animal manures, farm runoff and lawn fertilizers according to Dr. David Boher of Heidelberg University’s National Center for Water Quality Research.
Recently, many lawn fertilizer manufacturers have greatly reduced or totally removed phosphorus from their new product formulation.
I suspect that as more and more problems become associated with water runoff loaded with fertilizer that the industry believes that EPA regulation is very near.
Another possible scenario too is the escalating cost of phosphorus that has seen prices triple or more since last spring!
At least from lawn fertilizers, the resultant phosphorus runoff problems will largely be cleaned up from a much more limited use of the element just as when phosphates were removed from detergents years ago.
Riparian buffers along creeks and streams will help to reduce polluted runoff from lawns and farms as these buffers act like a filtration system.
As of now, I know of no EPA regulation (state or federal) that limits phosphorus use; however, the lawn fertilizer industry appears to be regulating itself very rapidly.
Water polluted with toxic algae caused by phosphorus runoff is a problem we cannot afford and one which can and will be corrected either from market forces due to the now high cost of phosphorus or government mandates to reduce phosphorus runoff.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Dayton "Dirt" - November 26, 2010
It’s finally time to pick out a real Christmas tree for an old-fashioned Christmas.
No, a real tree is not as convenient and easy as a pre-lit artificial tree but then that’s the fun of it.
The “fun” is the search for the perfect tree with just the right shape, needle length, color, height and width.
Getting outside in the fresh air and maybe snow with the entire family and you might just have to make a “day of it” instead of family members going his or her own separate way.
Our trees are all Ohio-grown and as I’ve written in earlier blogs, ours are very fresh!
The Owl Barn is filled with trees, gift items, poinsettias and such that give the inside of the building a Christmas glow.
You’ll have to come by to see the 11 foot Fraser Fir decorated against the north wall.
Its lit up with more than 800 LED lights that cut power usage by as much as 80% compared to the old incandescent types.
I like the LED Christmas lights as they are cool to the touch and don’t tend to dry out the tree.
For nearly 30 years, we’ve been making and displaying quite an array of grave decorations that are ready for pick up or delivery.
Live and artificial wreaths, door swags, roping and greens are displayed inside and outside the Owl Barn.
Come on down to take a look at our beautiful trees and displays and visit the new Owl Barn Market.
Tom
No, a real tree is not as convenient and easy as a pre-lit artificial tree but then that’s the fun of it.
The “fun” is the search for the perfect tree with just the right shape, needle length, color, height and width.
Getting outside in the fresh air and maybe snow with the entire family and you might just have to make a “day of it” instead of family members going his or her own separate way.
Our trees are all Ohio-grown and as I’ve written in earlier blogs, ours are very fresh!
The Owl Barn is filled with trees, gift items, poinsettias and such that give the inside of the building a Christmas glow.
You’ll have to come by to see the 11 foot Fraser Fir decorated against the north wall.
Its lit up with more than 800 LED lights that cut power usage by as much as 80% compared to the old incandescent types.
I like the LED Christmas lights as they are cool to the touch and don’t tend to dry out the tree.
For nearly 30 years, we’ve been making and displaying quite an array of grave decorations that are ready for pick up or delivery.
Live and artificial wreaths, door swags, roping and greens are displayed inside and outside the Owl Barn.
Come on down to take a look at our beautiful trees and displays and visit the new Owl Barn Market.
Tom
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Dayton "Dirt" - November 12, 2010
Without a doubt, the holidays are coming fast!
Our cut Christmas trees will be ready for sale by November 24th so that if you want the “pick of the litter” that would be the day to come over toe pick out your tree and have it held until you’re ready for it.
Our trees are from a small family operation in southern Ohio and are extremely fresh and of high quality.
I pick out about a dozen trees per year for customers that let me know the type and shape of tree they want.
Generally I do well except with rare exceptions on satisfying the customer.
The grave blanket business will be in full swing this week as we just cut our branches.
I will be delivering many of the grave decorations just before Thanksgiving although deliveries or pick ups go on until Christmas Eve.
In addition to the live greens and wreaths, we’ll also have many artificial wreaths, trees and grave decorations made up.
On the nursery front, even now is a good time to plant your favorite tree or shrub and we’ve got plenty in stock.
The large Maples we received just last week are gorgeous!
Hope to see you at our holiday open house November 26-28.
Tom
Our cut Christmas trees will be ready for sale by November 24th so that if you want the “pick of the litter” that would be the day to come over toe pick out your tree and have it held until you’re ready for it.
Our trees are from a small family operation in southern Ohio and are extremely fresh and of high quality.
I pick out about a dozen trees per year for customers that let me know the type and shape of tree they want.
Generally I do well except with rare exceptions on satisfying the customer.
The grave blanket business will be in full swing this week as we just cut our branches.
I will be delivering many of the grave decorations just before Thanksgiving although deliveries or pick ups go on until Christmas Eve.
In addition to the live greens and wreaths, we’ll also have many artificial wreaths, trees and grave decorations made up.
On the nursery front, even now is a good time to plant your favorite tree or shrub and we’ve got plenty in stock.
The large Maples we received just last week are gorgeous!
Hope to see you at our holiday open house November 26-28.
Tom
Friday, November 5, 2010
Dayton "Dirt" - November 5, 2010
Today the rain and/or snow is a welcome sight as the ground is still on the dry side!
Soil moisture is especially important for broadleaved evergreens as they tend to transpire water more than other evergreens so that adequate soil moisture is important while they are in the dormant stage.
We just received a large shipment of different varieties of Maples in a 2 1/2 “ and 3” caliper size and in the range of 12 to 16 feet!
This size of tree tends to be a size that you could call “instant” shade.
We have finished up covering our own overwintering houses with white plastic film and now are anticipating a run of mice in the houses that will eat bulbs, perennial roots and even bark off trees and shrubs.
Our way of dealing with mice is a good old-fashioned mouse trap baited with a single sunflower seed.
Its not unusual to kill 30-40 in the fall and winter season!
Well, its back to unloading trees and setting them up.
Arriving next week is a load of beautiful Cleveland Select Pears as they could not be dug until all the leaves had fallen.
I just don’t like wrestling around the 500 pound plus root balls!
Back to work,
Tom
Soil moisture is especially important for broadleaved evergreens as they tend to transpire water more than other evergreens so that adequate soil moisture is important while they are in the dormant stage.
We just received a large shipment of different varieties of Maples in a 2 1/2 “ and 3” caliper size and in the range of 12 to 16 feet!
This size of tree tends to be a size that you could call “instant” shade.
We have finished up covering our own overwintering houses with white plastic film and now are anticipating a run of mice in the houses that will eat bulbs, perennial roots and even bark off trees and shrubs.
Our way of dealing with mice is a good old-fashioned mouse trap baited with a single sunflower seed.
Its not unusual to kill 30-40 in the fall and winter season!
Well, its back to unloading trees and setting them up.
Arriving next week is a load of beautiful Cleveland Select Pears as they could not be dug until all the leaves had fallen.
I just don’t like wrestling around the 500 pound plus root balls!
Back to work,
Tom
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Dayton "Dirt" Green Blog - November 2010
The debate about energy consumption, cost, carbon taxes, “clean” coal, wind and solar energy is sure to rage on for years to come.
One note of good fortune for most of us that heat our homes and businesses with natural gas is that the supply seems to be great and the cost relatively low as compared to just two years ago.
At the nursery, lower natural gas costs are a blessing as we typically use about 1400 MCF of this fuel to mostly heat our greenhouses for the production of annual flowers to be ready for sale in May.
Before the last surge in natural gas prices, heating the greenhouses was typically about 20% of the total production costs.
Even though gas costs seem to be declining, our goal is to increase production of annual flowers with less gas or at least using no more than our current consumption.
Three ways that we will achieve our goal of less natural gas use is from the 93% greenhouse heaters we installed last spring, heat curtains that close over the greenhouse crop at night blocking heat transmission through the roof, and by growing “cold crops” in a separate greenhouse where the minimum temperature for a quality plant is as much as 20 degrees than many other plants.
Some experts believe that at the current rate of consumption, the United States has a 62 year supply of natural gas with never drilling techniques.
You would think no one would question the lower natural gas cost but think again.
Debate is raging over the practice called fracking in which water and chemicals are injected at high pressure deep into shade rock foundations in New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia & Ohio.
The concern is that such techniques to extract the gigantic locked up reserves could damage ground water supplies.
If wide spread contamination of ground water does occur due to drilling, the jubilation of new found suppliers of gas at a lower cost will be short-lived.
How our water supplies will fare during this drilling boom only time will tell.
One note of good fortune for most of us that heat our homes and businesses with natural gas is that the supply seems to be great and the cost relatively low as compared to just two years ago.
At the nursery, lower natural gas costs are a blessing as we typically use about 1400 MCF of this fuel to mostly heat our greenhouses for the production of annual flowers to be ready for sale in May.
Before the last surge in natural gas prices, heating the greenhouses was typically about 20% of the total production costs.
Even though gas costs seem to be declining, our goal is to increase production of annual flowers with less gas or at least using no more than our current consumption.
Three ways that we will achieve our goal of less natural gas use is from the 93% greenhouse heaters we installed last spring, heat curtains that close over the greenhouse crop at night blocking heat transmission through the roof, and by growing “cold crops” in a separate greenhouse where the minimum temperature for a quality plant is as much as 20 degrees than many other plants.
Some experts believe that at the current rate of consumption, the United States has a 62 year supply of natural gas with never drilling techniques.
You would think no one would question the lower natural gas cost but think again.
Debate is raging over the practice called fracking in which water and chemicals are injected at high pressure deep into shade rock foundations in New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia & Ohio.
The concern is that such techniques to extract the gigantic locked up reserves could damage ground water supplies.
If wide spread contamination of ground water does occur due to drilling, the jubilation of new found suppliers of gas at a lower cost will be short-lived.
How our water supplies will fare during this drilling boom only time will tell.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Dayton "Dirt" - October 29, 2010
At the nursery, we’re just about wrapped up for winter and already getting ready for Christmas.
Next week two truckloads of gorgeous Maples, Cleveland flowering Pears and a few Red Oaks will be coming in that can be planted yet this fall or spring; however, fall is the best time as the root system will have a growth spurt in order to get the trees established before the next hopefully not-too-hot summer.
This year, our new structure we call the Owl Barn will be open that will give a better Christmas ambiance for the season instead of our main store that is filled with the smell of fertilizers.
The Owl Barn will be complete with decorated trees, gifts and more as well as our standard fare of Ohio grown cut Christmas trees, wreaths and greens.
Grave blankets will be in our perennial house on display where they used to be more than five years ago so that all of our “Christmas stuff” is altogether.
The Owl Barn is currently closed in order to get it ready for the holiday season but will open in mid-November.
Hope to see you soon.
Tom
Next week two truckloads of gorgeous Maples, Cleveland flowering Pears and a few Red Oaks will be coming in that can be planted yet this fall or spring; however, fall is the best time as the root system will have a growth spurt in order to get the trees established before the next hopefully not-too-hot summer.
This year, our new structure we call the Owl Barn will be open that will give a better Christmas ambiance for the season instead of our main store that is filled with the smell of fertilizers.
The Owl Barn will be complete with decorated trees, gifts and more as well as our standard fare of Ohio grown cut Christmas trees, wreaths and greens.
Grave blankets will be in our perennial house on display where they used to be more than five years ago so that all of our “Christmas stuff” is altogether.
The Owl Barn is currently closed in order to get it ready for the holiday season but will open in mid-November.
Hope to see you soon.
Tom
Friday, October 22, 2010
Dayton "Dirt" - October 22, 2010
With several medium frosts behind us, the plant life is really beginning to "shut down" for winter.
Much of the nursery stock that we bought for next spring as well as the stock we grew this summer has now been "put to bed" in the winter storage houses where even though there is no heat, the full force of the winter cold and winter winds will not kill the root systems of the plants since they are above ground.
Keep in mind that although most of our stock will be put away after the weekend, we will still have the material available should you wish to do some landscaping even through November.
Some nice Maples, flowering and other trees will be arriving in early November as they will dig safely when their leaves have fallen and will be ready to plant in your yard until the ground freezes solid!
Our new production greenhouse for annual flowers for spring is proceeding on schedule so that we'll be able to offer better quality at prices less than last year on 4.5" potted plants, hanging baskets and many combination pots.
Let's hope for some significant rain yet as still the ground is dry deep down.
Tom
Much of the nursery stock that we bought for next spring as well as the stock we grew this summer has now been "put to bed" in the winter storage houses where even though there is no heat, the full force of the winter cold and winter winds will not kill the root systems of the plants since they are above ground.
Keep in mind that although most of our stock will be put away after the weekend, we will still have the material available should you wish to do some landscaping even through November.
Some nice Maples, flowering and other trees will be arriving in early November as they will dig safely when their leaves have fallen and will be ready to plant in your yard until the ground freezes solid!
Our new production greenhouse for annual flowers for spring is proceeding on schedule so that we'll be able to offer better quality at prices less than last year on 4.5" potted plants, hanging baskets and many combination pots.
Let's hope for some significant rain yet as still the ground is dry deep down.
Tom
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