h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A few sunny pics from the last few weeks.

http://bit.ly/lDUDJb

And a few hours of solid rain today thank goodness.

Anyone else have any?

have you thought of putting some weed barrier fabric ontop of the waterproof membrane in the pond and it top and bottom wwith some stones, that way any gravel you put there wont just slide off, showing the plastic, and it will give plants a place to grip and grow, making it all look more natural!!!!?

I didn't think about 'weed barrier fabric'. I'll certainly look into that as I hate looking at the liner.

How does the weed barrier fabric attack to the liner?

Do I just drape it? Cos I don't want to use any glue obviously.

But if that could work it would be brilliant.

Okay just re-read and you mentioned anchoring with stones.

Yep I'll look into it.

sediment would also build up on it and make it look more natural,

a nice couple of largish round river pebbles would hold it on the bottom without a chance of cutting the mambrane, and tucking it under the stones at the top rimm of the pond would hold it at the top

Does it have a kind of roughish surface then? Is it like a fabric? I've never actually seen the stuff.

thanksfor the "taff a word" theread

i unsubed that, but saw it had been bumped up the message list, so tought, here we go again!!!!

some have put the effort in are getting a little too protective, un less some lighten up its going to get nasty here soon.

and i dont mean me

they all seem to think i have some sort of agenda or something....i dont

i just see things of interest in a thread and ask about it, its the standard hootoo topic drift but some think i am a lot brighter than i am and steering the thread in a direction

i only asked about which country we would be hosted in because of something i was a 3rd party witness to, but thats a different story and some would think i was being doom and gloom

sorry

i'm rambling

I've never actually seen the stuff.

its a black cloth type fabric, water permable and pretty tough

you normaly use it to cover a patch of ground, it stops weeds growing through it, then cover with, gravel/bark chips

Well I think you're pretty bright..and that's meant as a compliment, not to do with you supposedly being clever at stirring etc or whatever was meant.

I like your straightforwardness. And I have been back at you over that subject. But we're mates just the same because of what I've got to know about you over a long period.

Of course you can sometimes be an annoying little so and so...so can I..we're human.

But that kind emotional blackmail stuff makes me really angry. And yeah it could get nasty.

I'd forgotten what a fantastic garden you have Effers. What are you growing in the pots along the path?

Scotch bonnet chilli peppers and several pots of basil. They seem to do better in pots with well aerated compost mixed with well rotted horse muck. They obviously do much better in hot countries so I think there's more of a build up of heat in pots.

I'm not very good at growing things in pots. I probably get the potting mix wrong though (tend to make it myself too). I always forget to water them soon enough too, which I'm sure doesn't help

We very nearly had frost the night before last.

But everything is growing like mad. Make hay while the sun shines seems to be the motto.

The long range is for record heat this summer. Hopefully it will start soon.

dug up my freshly planted bed over the weekend

Can't remember what part of Canada you are in anhaga. Do you get plenty of rain in a hot summer?

'Do you get plenty of rain in a hot summer?'

Not historically speaking. Alberta is in the rain shadow of the Rockies -- something a little over ten inches of precipitation a year is normal. We get a lot of thunder showers and storms, but the rainfall from them is not usually terribly great.

But I've a suspicion that all bets are off with climate change.

Ten inches, that's not alot! Less than we get here. A hot summer here generally means drought. People complain about cooler summers, but it does grow better food.

they get about 6 foot of snow in the winter to supplement the low rain, that melts in the spring and waters the lawn

That makes sense. The odd year we get snow here it makes a big difference. Most of the time the soil dries out and when it rains the water just runs over the top of it.

We don't get six feet of snow here usually. Very often the first snow comes just before Christmas and a normal winter doesn't have a whole heck of a lot.

Here's a map that shows annual precipitation averaged over thirty years.

http://www2.agric.gov.ab.ca/icons/acis/maps/agricultural_land_resource_atlas_of_alberta/climate/annual_total_precipitation_of_alberta/annual_total_precipitation_1971-2000_big_map.png

I live in the 450-500 mm area (green). So, I might get almost twenty inches, taking into account snow (melted), rain and dew. Pretty much all of the agricultural land of the Province is in the South in the under 500 mm area, particularly in the under 350mm area.

And, for comparison: http://www.british-towns.net/weather/annual_precipitation.asp