February 11, 2012

Plant your potatoes when white oak leaves are the size of a cat's ear--the phenology thread

What is phenology?

Phenology is the study of recurring biological phenomena and their relationship to weather. Bird migration, hunting and gathering seasons, blooming of wildflowers and trees, and the seasonal appearance of insects are examples of phenological events that have been recorded for centuries. We have all observed that plants bloom earlier in warm springs. Insects also emerge earlier when it is warm than in cooler seasons. Because the development of both plants and insects is temperature dependent, plants can accurately track the environmental factors that determine when insects are active. For this reason, plant phenology can be used to predict insect emergence. Indeed, the use of plant phenology to predict insect activity is an old practice, with recorded observations dating back at least 300 years. In fact, research at The Ohio State University has shown that plants bloom and insects emerge in virtually the same order every year, no matter what kind of weather occurred that winter or spring. For this reason, the flowering sequence of plants can be used as a biological calendar to predict insect activity, and to time other gardening practices that are dependent on a particular stage of plant development, such as propagation or weed control. The trees and shrubs planted in the OSU Phenology Garden network sites will be monitored for the first and full bloom, which will assist with identifying insect activity.

http://phenology.osu.edu/

Plant swiss chard, spinach, beet, and onions when the daffodils are in bloom.
-Peas when maple trees flower
-Potatoes when white oak leaves are the size of a cat's ear.
-Bush beans,pole beans, and cucumbers when the apple blossoms are dropping.
-Warm weather crops like tomatoes, melons, and eggplant when black locust and peonies flower.
-Cabbage and broccoli after dogwoods have dropped their flowers because there is less chance of the crops being damaged by root maggots.

January 12, 2012

"The nuclear bomb took all the fun out of war" and other fun quotes by Edward Abbey

Lovely winter reading. I will send you to the originator for the long list: http://llamakeeper.com/abbey_quotes.html

"If America could be, once again, a nation of self-reliant farmers, craftsmen, hunters, ranchers, and artists, then the rich would have little power to dominate others. Neither to serve nor to rule: That was the American dream." -- Edward Abbey

This one is Freudian:
"Running the big rapids is like sex: half the fun lies in the anticipation. Two thirds of the thrill with the approach. The remainder is only ecstasy-or darkness." -- Edward Abbey

"The idea of wilderness needs no defense. It only needs more defenders." --Edward Abbey

"Society is like a stew. If you don't keep it stirred up, you get a lot of
scum on top." --Edward Abbey

"The rich are not very nice. That's why they're rich." --Edward Abbey
...for the 99%.

December 24, 2011

Kasich Vows 'Tough' Shale Regulation

Dec. 20, 2011 7:02 a.m. By George Nelson
...
The promised regulation will affect issues such as gathering lines, high-pressure pipelines, the kinds of chemicals used in the exploration and extraction process, "I mean, it's from A to Z," Kasich said during the news conference, which was streamed on the web.
...
"And let me also be clear that the biggest companies want strong regulation," he continued. "We don't want yahoos coming into Ohio and damaging the environment, and we are working on that every day.
...
At one point during the press event, Kasich, who was joined by several members of his administration, directly asked Scott Nally, director of the state Environmental Protection Agency, whether the situation with Patriot Water Treatment LLC was "done yet." Patriot, a Warren company that accepts low-salinity brine water used in the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, process, is in a dispute with state officials over its permits to discharge the treated water into Warren's wastewater system.
...
http://business-journal.com/kasich-vows-tough-shale-regulation-p20640-1.htm

December 8, 2011

First Energy Davis Besse nuclear: cracks in the containment vessel to go with corrosion in the head

[font size = 3]...of the steel pressure vessel. [/font]

The corrosion around the nozzles of the head were the story of the last decade. There was a hole "as big as a football" in the reactor head. The only metal containing the radioactive water was the layer of chromium plating on the reactor head. Three engineers were found guilty of falsifying safety records in that instance.

Now, the plant owners are reporting a second occurrence cracks in the concrete of the containment vessel. The first crack was a fifteen foot long "hairline crack" near the bottom of the containment vessel.

I will keep you posted about this hazard on our lake. There are relicensing hearings coming up. Hopefully, my thread will outlast Davis Besse.

Davis Besse operators admit to more cracks than previously announced
Thanks to WTOL television

TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - After admitting to discovering cracks in the concrete shell of the Davis-Besse nuclear reactor last month, the plant's operator says there more cracks near the top of the structure. The cracks were immediately announced to the necessary regulators, but they were not made public at the time.

On Wednesday, a spokesperson for FirstEnergy Corp. told The Associated Press that the cracks were found in November. Jennifer Young, the plant's spokesperson, says that the cracks were reported to the U.S. Nuclear regulatory Commission, and they never tried to hide the information.
...edit for copyright reasons...
http://www.wtol.com/story/16214458/davis-besse

Davis-Besse meeting postponed
Thanks to The Toledo Blade

...FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company, meanwhile, announced Tuesday that the Davis-Besse plant resumed producing electricity at 7:23 a.m. Tuesday following a nine-week shutdown for a reactor-head replacement. The plant was at 23 percent power on Tuesday morning and is expected to reach full output later this week.

A 30-foot, hairline crack was discovered in the shield building Oct. 10 after a contractor cut an access hole through the structure for the reactor-head replacement. Further investigation revealed additional cracking in the concrete, but last week the NRC authorized First Energy to restart the plant while further research about the cracking is conducted.
...edit for copyright reasons...

http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2011/12/06/Davis-Besse-meeting-postponed.html