The Progressive Gardener - Getting Started by Kenneth Lafler

   Preparing  your  growing  area


                        by

                            Kenneth  Lafler





   When preparing  your  garden  , one  must  look  for an area  with full  sun most  of the day ,  good  drainage ,  water , and  a healthy soil  or loom.  Also  good ventilation is  important.  Your  garden  needs to be  in an area  with plenty of air  circulation for proper  growth.



  
     First  , clear  all  the  weeds  with a  rake to the bare soil and  continue  this for  about  a  week to get   the  seeds  left over from  cleaning the area .  If seeds are present  they  will take over  the  area  almost  immediately .  An anti weed  agent  can help  with this but these are  chemical products and not suited for  vegetables or any other consumable  trees or plants .


   For area's you want to be free of weeds   ,  place a  sheet of  black  poly-urethane sheeting   down  and cover  it  with rocks  or dirt  to  keep it from blowing  away  . This will eliminate  weed growth on the sides of your  growing  area  or  pathways .


   


    Then using  a  roto-tiller  or shovel  , dig down about  a foot  to two feet . This soil condition is called friable .   This  means  the  soil  has  aeration for the roots of your  vegetable  crop. 

    Eye  protection should  always be  worn when using  a  roto-tiller  or even a  lawn mower.  And  the  machine should be turned  completely off before  adjusting .



  After  this , the soil needs to be amended. This means  adding  organic material  , such as  compost , granular fertilizer's  and organic  matter .
I prefer  Kellogs  Grow  Mulch or  Nitro-Humus for  outdoors .  For  indoor  growing  a potting  mix  will be  needed for
drainage.



    Work  the soil  additives  in  for about  another  week  and continue  working on the quality  of  the soil  through  the life  cycle of the  plant .


    At  the  same  time , hot beds  should be  constructed  to get  an early start  on the  growing season.   These are container's with a  controlled environment to keep the seedlings warm .



  



      Fruit  and  vegetable  crate's work well for this . Just place  a  clear  sheet of Poly-urethane plastic  over the  box after  filling it with Grow-Mulch , or the soil of your choice.

  When  growing indoors  ,  drainage is even more important. Without  proper drainage  , the  water can stagnate  in the bottom of the pot  and  destroy  the  root system .



  Liquid  growth product's must also be used for  healthy  plants and  vegetables . A  good  non-organic  fertilizer  is  Miracle  Grow  .  There are also organic  fertilizer's  on the market but they are slower acting  than chemical product's .

  The  thing to remember is , the more care you give your  garden  , the  more returns you will recieve from it .


                  by

                              Kenneth  Lafler

The Great Lake's Triangle by Kenneth Lafler

   

  
     The Burmuda Triangle has been known  for centuries as an area with unusual behavior and unexplained disappearances. Even Christopher Columbus reported strange activity while crossing through the  Bermuda triangle.  Ships and planes have been disappearing for as long as people have inhabited the area.

  Even the United States  nuclear submarine Scorpion was lost in the Bermuda Triangle.

     

    But there is an area in the United  States  with far more strange disappearances than the Bermuda Triangle off the Florida coast . These  are  the  great  lakes. Particularly Lake Superior.

  
    Located on the border of  Canada, the Lake's are  Huron, Superior, Erie, Ontario and  Lake  Michigan.  This has  been a hub for shipping for centuries.

  But  as long  as  mankind has been sailing in these  water's, there has been a  history of  unexplained  disappearances. Far more than in the Bermuda Triangle.


    

One of  the  Strangest  Disappearance's  was that of the Edmund  Fitzgerald. The  Fitzgerald  was  a  ship designed for carrying  iron ore  and when completed  in 1957, she  was  the  largest  ship of her class.

    
In November 1975, the Edmund  Fitzgerald  was sailing in  tandem with the ore  carrier, the Arthur M. Anderson and was within radio and visual contact  the  entire  time, except  for ten minutes when the Anderson's radar went down.
  
    When the  system came back online,  the  Fitzgerald  was  gone.

     The Fitzgerald  was located  several days  later  near  an area  called  White  Fish  Bay. But upon examination the ship had  seemed  to  have gone down so quickly, none of the life boat's were prepared for launching.

  
  
 The phenomena seems to have to do with what is called the "Agonic Line" which is a part of the Earth's electromagnetic field . This is the area of the Earth where true north and magnetic north are exactly the same. This can completely disrupt the ships guidance system's. 

   The Agonic Line also extendeds into the Bermuda Triangle.

  

  
    The  local Native  American  population near  the  Great  Lake's  have  always  had  stories  of giant  waves  that  appeared suddenly  and  are  capable of  destroying  even relatively large  ships.

    Oceanographer's  call this  a  Seiche  Wave.  They  sometimes  are referred to as  "Rouge  Waves ".

  This  is the result of what is called  Positive  and Negative  interference.  This is  when two  opposing  waves  or currents  collide.

    
   
     The positive and negative  waves intersecting can cause the water level to rise to tremendous heights. Sometimes as high as 100 feet

   

      Passenger Planes have also gone down under mysterious circumstances. A pilot flying a commercial  passenger jet literally drove the plane straight into the lake  with no distress call even going to the tower.

   

    The strange thing is, one is rarely out of visual contact with either other ships or land. A ship or plane is almost always near by.

      But the Fitzgerald went down so suddenly, no may day signal went out and the hatches had not even been closed with the accident happening so quickly.



  


     Rouge waves at one time were thought to be a myth. But with new camera technology sailors began capturing footage of these waves finally verifying thier existence. 



   


       Even with today's technology, rouge waves are still extremely dangerous due to the fact that they appear without warning and are  extremely unpredictable unlike a Tsunami in which there is advanced warning of the impending wave.

    Even today, ships still disappear without warning on the Great Lakes.

   By
             Kenneth Lafler