Garden Ramblings: Fuel line update, slow gardening, pond developments, pea popping

Posted Saturday, March 28, 2009, at 6:45 PM

Regarding the fuel issue I was having with the 17 hp Kohler engine, I mentioned that I found a post on the internet about Sears giving the wrong filter number as a replacement. That apparently is correct.

I replaced the "new filter" with another new filter that has a straight sided, barrel shape as apposed to the Sears funky funnel shaped one and bingo, we just finished the lawn with no fuel issues.

Last night I noticed the water pump was not pushing much water in our pond. All this surface water from the rains has a tendency to flush trash into the pond and the pre-screen gets clogged, sooo.... I cleaned it out.

This morning the pond had lost half of its water. I helped the pump empty the pond. The water cress had overgrown the waterfalls and the additional water flow backed up. I never could find where it was overflowing, but cleared the watercress and I have not lost any more water. Go figure!

Wondering about the "pea popping"? Actually I was un-popping the peas that popped to the surface after all these rains. I don't know if the soil washed away or the water floated them out of the soil. Either way, there were about 25% of my peas on top of the row yesterday. Pop, pop,pop.

Ever heard of "slow gardening"? I guess I am a little behind the times on the terminology because I had not and went to check it out. It turns out the article in the New York Times was about an acquaintance of Deb & mine from Jackson, MS, Felder Rushing.

Felder used to be an extension agent in Jackson and was an interesting fellow 20 years ago but time has REALLY developed that. Go to our garden gleanings page and read what he is up to now. http://mybedfordcounty.com/gardengleanin...

I remember his truck garden and backyard eccentricities but I could not identify the man from the pictures they took. Wow! Have I changed that much too? Be sure to click on the pictures to get a closer look.

Comments
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I loved mr Rushing garden ideas! I have some onions and lettuce planted in a container on my porch. They seem to be doing great.

I really loved the bottle art tree he made with the recycled bottles.

Way Cool.

-- Posted by 4fabfelines on Sat, Mar 28, 2009, at 9:03 PM

Thanks for checking him out. I have not seen him in many years, but he was always entertaining and colorful, and his garden reflects that. He has written several books and usually does it from a Southern perspective which is refreshing.

I think he has a new one out, but I do not recall it at the moment. Maybe he has one in the works with the Slow Gardening concept.

I could get away with his style out here where no one sees, but he lives in an old neighborhood north of city center, or at least he did. I would imagine his fenced in back yard is also to keep neighbors from complaining.

-- Posted by stevemills on Sat, Mar 28, 2009, at 9:35 PM

I usually get to see some pics of Felder's gardens at one of the seminars I attend to maintain my certification points for my applicators license. Carol Reese from the Jackson experiment station usually has some slides, yes I said slides, of his gardens. Carol hasn't quite gotten the idea to use digital pics and a power point presentation in this digital age, but I still enjoy her presentation at the seminars. Felder has some interesting items in his garden.

-- Posted by rtdavis62 on Sat, Mar 28, 2009, at 11:16 PM

They discuss his gardens in certification meetings? I think some of his neighbors might say certifiable is more appropriate. Just kidding, but he would probably say it first.

Is he still with the Extension Service? I thought he retired and is speaking, writing now and radio hosting.

-- Posted by stevemills on Sun, Mar 29, 2009, at 8:57 AM

I enjoyed the writing by Mr. Fielder. It is interesting and funny. He is educated and works hard doing all those things. The only thing I can't figure out is why is he so heavy; not nice to say "fat."

-- Posted by nannygoat@isp.com on Sun, Mar 29, 2009, at 7:48 PM

He never used to be that way and I think it would have been nice if the reporter had chosen a different photo, but....

The angle of the shot makes a big difference. As I said, the reporter could have done better unless that is what they were trying to do?

-- Posted by stevemills on Sun, Mar 29, 2009, at 8:26 PM

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Steve Mills

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Steve Mills and his wife have one daughter and live on a farm outside of Bell Buckle. They previously owned two coffee/ice cream shops, currently operate an internet sales company and teach classes, but his primary job involves the paper industry worldwide. Hobbies and interests lie in gardening, photography, recorded music and of course, their pets.

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