Monday, March 23, 2015

About 10 years ago I had a strip of THIRSTY lawn in front of my front fence that needed constant mowing, so I covered it with carpet and mulch to turn it into a parking space. But over the years weeds have sprouted in the decaying mulch, plus Nut Sedge grew up right through the carpet. I won't use conventional herbicides on the problem. But a heavy spraying of food grade potassium chloride followed by light weeding of my front carpeted driveway seems to have worked (though I still see nut sedge!). I Googled and confirmed that most red mulch is heavy in arsenic, nickel and chromate, so tomorrow I am spraying this older tree mulch with iron oxide concrete stain for a nice color contrast. Both the potassium chloride (aka muriate of potash) and the iron should be good for the roses and papayas.






My dog Cracker got another 3 days of almost total relief from itching due to oak pollen after his 4th bag of Magic 8 Allergy tea mixed into 5 scrambled eggs and fried chicken. By starting earlier this year, a week after the catkins came out, I spared him tons of itching plus he got one sore the size of a nickel on his shoulder, which quickly healed vs.last year's horrible sores on his back. The oaks seem to be done flowering so I will watch and see if he needs a fifth....next spring I will start the tea as soon as the catkins form. I gave 2 bags to my new neighbor Zach southwest of me until he buys a box as prick tests show he is allergic to 30 kinds of pollen plus he just spent $300 on his dog Milo for allergy sores. He said each spring and fall here is hell for him as he is from Pennsylvania. I am SO glad for this tea I get at downtown's Oceanic Market! Four bags gave Cracker 2.5 weeks of relief.