LA Plant Genetics

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Last Notes

2025-03-31 00:03:51 UTC

#Mosstodon #SilentSunday
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2025-03-30 03:47:51 UTC

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We have thousands of native bees here (you can literally hear them walking by anything in flower), but the "agricultural" areas of California (and most other states) are sad, lifeless places. But that could probably be reversed within a decade or less by changing management practices (e.g. spraying less and adding habitat). I would suspect there are native bees that would move in if the conditions were better. Adding bee & bird habitat increased our yields dramatically.

2025-03-30 02:25:12 UTC

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We have over a thousand species of native bees in California. Why would we need to import bees? (Bad management apparently).

2025-03-05 14:48:12 UTC

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We are trying to figure out how to even get to our local farmers market, as the city running it blocked easy bike access (about the same or less travel time as by car), so it would take 5x as long to walk as bike, which is outside my normal walking distance. Plus the vehicle route and parking is something I would rather not deal with (slow, busy streets and then you have to park at a water park and walk quite a way to the market).🤷

2025-03-04 02:49:59 UTC

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If you want to plant something evenly, you can pour the seeds. Add 0.05 grams agar. (from grocery, derived from seaweed, usually near gelatin products) to 100 ml water, microwave 1 minute, then cool. Add your seeds, swirl to mix, then pour to plant. This method allows even planting in a line, or spread over a smooth surface (like spreading cake frosting on soil). No seed tape or coating needed.

2025-02-14 20:38:10 UTC

After the rain, the #asperagus and #mallow have sprouted!
https://spore.social/system/media_attachments/files/114/004/139/336/192/248/original/5356988cdabb9826.jpg
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2025-01-13 14:44:01 UTC

I'm thinking I need to pull my #citrus early (we usually harvest as needed from now to November/December) to avoid stressing the trees too much. The poor trees are starting to look #drought stressed (especially the tangelo & Valencia oranges), so I might need to add them to the grey water irrigation rotation to get fruit next year. (The exception being the Satsuma tangerine, which looks ok).
No winter/spring wild veggies either as they never germinated due to lack of rain.
#ClimateDiary

2024-12-28 20:33:26 UTC

#CaliforniaBuckwheat rolls. They turned the dough a dark brown with a slightly denser texture, but the flavor change is subtle. About 1/3 of the wheat flour was replaced. It reminds me of dark rye bread without the rye flavor. The dough had an interesting texture.
#CaliforniaNativePlants #EdiblePerennialGrain
#bread
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2024-12-26 15:13:38 UTC

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I was able to read the full article without issues. Now if I could only get my elderly relatives to stop buying AI knitting books off Amazon as easily....

2024-12-08 14:22:28 UTC

It's #December and the #Tomatoes are ripening. #PetChickens enjoying fresh tomatoes when we should be getting ready for #FreezingTemperatures (it was only 47 F here, but 56 F in areas with more concrete).
#ClimateChange #ClimateDiary
https://spore.social/system/media_attachments/files/113/617/621/495/654/775/original/cc72b66a3f585866.jpg
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2024-12-03 15:43:17 UTC

We have apparently switched from zone 9 to zone 10. It is sad, as the change was marked by half a dozen 40 year old apple trees dying. Unfortunately, no luck on the screen for apples & cherries that will grow here yet, even less likely for success now (zone 9 is about the limit on minimum chill hours for fruit on existing varieties).
#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #apples

2024-12-02 00:01:45 UTC

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I have a Korean steel cabbage washer (a colander about 2 feet across and 8 inches deep) I use to sift it fine. It was pretty cheap at the Korean grocery, which has also been a great source for other garden tools (sickles, hand hoes, round Japanese-style metal chopsticks for dibbles, etc.)
The chunky stuff goes back to compost more. I have about 500 gallons of compost going right now, which sounds like a lot but only takes up about the same space as a car.

2024-12-01 23:14:00 UTC

#Compost haul for today, spread into this winter's carrot & radish beds.
#Compostodon
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2024-10-13 15:59:48 UTC

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Alternatively:
1. #Compost piles designed for local rainfall. I don't think the tarp would help with local flooding. The only time I can see a dry pile being good is to lessen compost weight before spreading it out in the garden or sifting it.
2. Separate compost piles for browns & greens, as they benefit from different compost conditions.
3. Chunky carbon materials on the bottom (like hugelkultur) so you don't have to shred them first.
#compostodon

2024-10-13 14:56:31 UTC

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Sadly, AI makes adults less intelligent than a 4 yo, but they feel like geniuses.
One of the "results" was figured out almost half a century ago in commercial farming. But there are clearly "accepted" ways to do things (fish tank water > human urine for instance). I would guess 90+% of the researchers have never grown plants outside the lab, and therefore probably don't know how to make compost or other common practices (like how to fertilize plants with urine).

2024-10-12 23:19:44 UTC

Just finished a two day seminar in which #compost is only mentioned in passing as something impossible or only to be done with black solder flies or earthworms, but more openness to a diversity of composting processes would solve 90% of the research problems being discussed. Oh well, I guess AI hasn't thought of it yet, so it doesn't exist.
#compostodon

2024-09-29 17:35:21 UTC

9 gallons of #FoodWaste into my new composter yesterday and there is still plenty of space for more. Expanding the #compost area again is exciting.
(No photos as I set things up in the dark).
#compostodon

2024-09-26 12:53:11 UTC

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It depends on your climate. Harsh winter climates with wet summer: spring
Mild winter with dry summer: fall
Basically you want to maximize the time between planting & dry soil so the roots can develop. But if you plant in fall & the roots are shallow, they might freeze & kill the tree.

2024-09-22 23:39:59 UTC

We have a lot of #tunas this year, and for the first time they are growing in clusters. I expect several hundred pounds of fruit by the time we finish harvesting. Not bad for a 25 cent purchase.
#FruitScolling #CactusPears #DroughtTolerant
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2024-09-18 05:56:44 UTC

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Most green (unripe) tomatoes are also edible & delicious. Green tomato relish is a great way to preserve the tomatoes that won't ripen due to weather.

2024-09-18 05:39:22 UTC

Everyone wants #earthworms in their garden, but do you have #SoilMacrofauna? We have #gophers, #chipmunks & #moles working hard to make lots of tunnels to absorb the winter rain & snow. Just be careful walking, as the #soil tends to sink about six inches (15 centimeters) with every step.
#SoilBiodiversity #SoilFauna #compostodon
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2024-09-15 20:49:25 UTC

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Definitely use your worms, as it is nearly impossible to get them out of the compost when done. Also, if it is moist enough, worms can crawl several feet up vertical surfaces.
If you have #PetChickens, they will enjoy the excess worms from your composter. (They are also an excellent way to dispose of unwanted leftovers & scraps). Chickens are very friendly, easy to train, & hens lay ~1 egg per day during the spring & summer for up to a decade.

2024-09-14 15:28:13 UTC

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It used to be "electric trolley/rail everywhere" in SoCal. My grandparents even went on vacation from LA to Yosemite car-free in the 1950s, before the freeways. My grandmother never had a driver's license & my mom didn't have one until the 1980s because they could get to most shopping by bike or walking. But in the 1980s they made bicycling dangerous to get the last hold-outs into cars & now we have no local shopping.

2024-09-13 02:52:10 UTC

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You can put it in paper grocery bags (or cloth rice/flour bags) and hang them up away from the rabbits inside. Bathroom is a big nope, even with dehumidifier.
You can shell to reduce the volume, but the best flavor will be if you wait to do further processing until you are ready to eat or freeze.
Rodents will get into hanging bags if present.

2024-09-09 13:22:26 UTC

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🤣🤣
If you have the right organisms, you can feed unlimited green. Although it may take about a week for the rotting egg smell to go away if you add too many rotting eggs. Also, don't add whole eggs or they may explode randomly in your pile as they compost.
Yes,

2024-09-09 13:16:59 UTC

At least one #AvocadoSeedling survived the summer, so hopefully it will survive to the fruit production stage to see if it is a keeper. I would love to find something with good rootstock & fruit traits as it could be easily propagated by tissue culture instead of grafting. #PlantBreeding
https://spore.social/system/media_attachments/files/113/107/761/724/097/783/original/3d2ed790da950772.jpg

2024-09-09 03:57:53 UTC

A random #BirdNest found in the navel orange tree.
https://spore.social/system/media_attachments/files/113/105/571/158/797/808/original/7af031f6db00937c.jpg

2024-09-09 03:54:01 UTC

This would be a beautiful photo if it wasn't such scary & unusual fire behavior. Photo of a pyrocumulous cloud from the #LineFire, as seen from Los Angeles County at sunset on September 8, 2024.
https://spore.social/system/media_attachments/files/113/105/564/644/852/101/original/458b50446105e14f.jpg

2024-09-09 01:30:42 UTC

Weather forecast for the week. Looks like we could be getting back to normalish weather by next weekend. So if we don't burn this week, it will be time to winterize next weekend. The weather weirdness is just getting worse. 🤷
#LineFire #LakeArrowhead #ClimateChange #ClimateDiary #CaWx
https://spore.social/system/media_attachments/files/113/104/969/482/291/665/original/ea067038e70d33bc.png

2024-09-04 15:00:54 UTC

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Why not make compost that is more soil-like? Especially topsoil-like, which is the thin, nutrient rich layer on good soil? If you add enough "forbidden" stuff like bones, you can get plenty of minerals in your compost.
To me, a good compost should be able to grow plants on its own. But I am an unusual #compost maker.
#compostodon

2024-08-25 18:19:57 UTC

Grocery store? No, just raided the yard. Also harvested but not shown: elderflowers, roses, CA buckwheat (St. Catherine's lace). The small bucket of figs (#MissionFigs) has already been eaten. #Tunas will be juiced (for pink lemonade) & pulp fermented for cooking wine. #Oranges are eaten cold. #KadotaFigs & #BrownTurkishFigs will become fruit butter. #HomegrownFood #FruitScolling
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2024-08-25 01:28:43 UTC

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The most important thing is to keep as much organic matter on site as possible. If you need to prepare a bed, but the compost isn't "done", you can bury it in the bed (with about a foot of soil on top), but the plants will need extra water. This method is great in swampy areas, or places with plenty of rain as it will keep the plants from waterlogging.
Instead of maximizing compost, focus on maximizing retained organic matter.
Otherwise, it sounds great.
#compostodon

2024-08-21 22:14:19 UTC

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I'm willing to try composting anything and was being silly about it.

2024-08-21 19:28:37 UTC

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🤣
I had multiple grant proposals to compost municipal waste rejected for the process being too inexpensive.
🤣
I will try to compost anything. When I finally succeed in composting plastics, nothing will be safe.
🤣
(Worms don't like my composting methods, but they sometimes sneak in, especially when things get more soil-like. They are surprisingly good climbers).🪱😬

2024-08-21 01:46:30 UTC

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As a chemist, it is never wrong to wash your hands both before & after the restroom/eating.
Ethanol (e.g. straight vodka) is to kill surface pathogens.
Bleach (1 part household bleach/hyperchlorite, 9 parts water) is for viruses, fungi, bacteria & DNA.
Or you can get a hypochlorite generator & make improved bleach from salt + water that isn't as shelf-stable (cheap for bulk cleaning).
Warm, soapy water is excellent at lysing (opening) bacteria & is in fact part of DNA isolation.😷🥰

2024-08-20 05:25:31 UTC

The #figs have finally arrived!
They are only about a month late.
#ClimateDiary #FruitScolling #MissionFig
https://spore.social/system/media_attachments/files/112/992/674/246/976/021/original/ce5eee7ee08478f2.jpg

2024-08-17 15:37:09 UTC

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If you are lazy & don't shred anything, it will take 6 months to 10 years for the material to compost in place. Chopping/shredding is only necessary for a quick turn around, if you are short on space (e.g. 15-day compost piles).
Also, some wildlife (bees, ants, lizards, etc.) enjoy piles of woody debris as habitat. Many invertebrates enjoy piles of dried weeds. So you are also helping the local wildlife by creating homes for them when you don't shred.

2024-08-17 15:19:48 UTC

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There are many articles, this one is free & describes what happened.
https://www.sciencealert.com/how-12-000-tonnes-of-dumped-orange-peel-produced-something-nobody-imagined

2024-08-17 15:17:20 UTC

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We have citrus trees. Any dropped fruits start composting within a day or two just from being on the ground & are returned to soil within a few months. The green mold that forms speeds the process along for us.
However, your system may react differently. If it doesn't work, use a method where it is left undisturbed without mechanical aeration. The mold generates compounds that kill bacteria, so it may cause problems in turned piles that don't get hot quickly to kill it.

2024-08-16 14:20:51 UTC

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I'm sorry, I'm not understanding. I posted how one site could be doing a dozen compost methods depending on what materials are available & what the soil needs.
Your response seems to be pick a method & do it daily. Not everyone has time to turn a compost pile.
My point was that composting should be more holistic than that, with the possibility that multiple methods might be necessary and that materials on site should be used for a useful purpose if possible prior to composting.

2024-08-16 01:50:52 UTC

Instead of following recipes &. turning #compost daily, one can also take a holistic approach.
First, look at your environment, your waste streams, and the resources available.
Then consider the best way to put it back into the soil after using it.
Will you burn branches & woody debris to cook your food? Chop & drop it? Bury it for hugelkultur or to prevent it from burning in wildfires?
Do you have a way to compost your food waste? Bokashi? Trench composting? Burn it?
1/?
#compostodon

2024-08-14 19:57:23 UTC

#Compost #rock, up close.
#SoilCarbonAggregate #SOC
#Compostodon
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2024-08-14 02:34:04 UTC

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Cooking food underground is common to many cultures, especially for slow cooking. Hawaiian luau, European ox roast, New England clam bake, Chumash roasting toyon in CA, and the list could go on indefinitely
The bigger question then becomes why their biochar is different from all these other areas with a traditional of in-ground cooking? I suspect it is how they built the fires.
(Almost everyone used to make wood ash & biochar when cooking until recently).

2024-08-14 01:47:25 UTC

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I can get 30% soil carbon in my compost within about 6 months. It isn't hard once you understand the process.
I don't mind him experimenting, I just want to see the results. Otherwise it is like a toddler making a cake: flour, eggs, butter, earthworms, a clock & then bake it. Does that make a good cake? Which ingredients do we need and which are unnecessary?
I watch & see the adult equivalent of a toddler baking a silly cake & not learning from mistakes.

2024-08-13 15:54:21 UTC

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I would 100% not compost the way he shows. It is very sus that he builds the pile but doesn't show the finished compost, especially after adding a bunch of non-traditional ingredients.
CSI composting isn't hard, but beginners should put those ingredients in trenches and skip the broken pottery. It is fine to have broken pottery in your compost, but I would not recommend deliberately adding it. 🤣
Burying trash in trenches is an ancient technique that isn't unique to the Amazon.🤦

2024-08-10 04:29:06 UTC

Today's #compost haul. This one has a lot of "sand" from the composite roof that washed off into the compost area. Everything is clean & tidy now, which is nice. One more bin and then I am done with the compost extraction for a few months.
#Compostodon
https://spore.social/system/media_attachments/files/112/935/815/522/248/216/original/046834ad4f1a9813.jpg

2024-08-09 17:05:49 UTC

Yesterday's #compost haul. Almost done with cleanup & emptying composters in preparation for the fall rains.
#Compostodon
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2024-08-06 00:27:04 UTC

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What will the chickens eat if you drive off their most favorite insect? Plus they love to lay eggs in #compost, resulting in tasty pet snacks.
(We only see a few dozen instead of thousands since getting #PetChickens).

2024-08-04 16:01:39 UTC

I don't think this should be flowering in August. Calscape.org says it should be summer dormant.
#EnceliaFarinosa #Brittlebush #CaliforniaNativePlants #ClimateDiary #Bloomscrolling
https://spore.social/system/media_attachments/files/112/904/565/522/980/146/original/77e8aaeab125e670.jpg

2024-08-04 03:08:14 UTC

#Compost haul for today.
#Compostodon
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2024-07-30 19:47:28 UTC

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I love that it told me adding biochar to soil is better than burning the material. My dear computer model, do you not understand how biochar is made?🤣
🤖"Crop residue management: Incorporating crop residues into field soils as compost or biochar instead of removing or burning them can replenish soil organic matter and increase soil carbon sequestration."
(Also pretty sure you would remove materials to #compost them instead of making the field into a giant compost pile).🤣

2024-07-30 19:39:00 UTC

I got an email today that #AI is now doing #CDR. "Designed to strengthen science-based understanding of carbon dioxide removal (CDR), the tool leverages AI to generate detailed, yet accessible responses for everyone- policymakers, journalists, civil society organizations and the general public. It is free and open to use for all."
Pretty sure the science shows AI generated CO2 emissions, not removes them.😬

2024-06-29 23:42:01 UTC

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I have a very interesting method for aerating my piles that works extremely well. Adding air pipes/pumping heated air in would be very bad.
My setup passively prevents excessive moisture (e.g. from rain) and otherwise is pretty good at retaining moisture. I spent decades working out how to get everything to work without manure and with minimal added water. I have tried almost every composting method there is and designed something better.

2024-06-29 23:03:00 UTC

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I usually have 20-30 composters going at once. I never check moisture levels or temperature or turn it. I definitely don't want it going into the thermophilic stage (that was very hard to design out).
I have a custom setup that is fix it & forgot it because I don't have time for other methods. I can visually tell when it needs more water (usually only in summer) and I get better quality compost than I have seen come out of other systems, with more possible inputs & better outputs.
https://spore.social/system/media_attachments/files/112/702/385/769/900/588/original/6bb2d490e9d92015.jpg

2024-06-29 22:24:52 UTC

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Well, the plastic is going somewhere, and if it went to commercial facilities, there might be more incentive to reduce the volume (as opposed to just sending them to a landfill).
Also, you can compost some plastics, as the article you linked noted. I feel like the more barriers to composting (must be free of x, balanced ratios of y & z, etc.), the less of a climate solution composting becomes.
Composting should be just set it up & forget it until it is done.

2024-06-29 20:10:01 UTC

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Why not compost everything first, then sort it out after composting is done? So many large composters are already pulling trash out of the finished compost.
(Plastic is very hard to compost unfortunately).