mat black

i"ve been growing my own vegies at home for about 7 years. frist thing you might want to do is determine your soil type. the basic categories are sand/silt/clay/loam most soils while having a certain predominance of one type, are typically a combination of at least 2 or 3 types. the soil type will dicatate how well the drainage will be and the nutrient holding capacity. clay holds and contains nutrients, but drains poorly etc. the ideal is alluvial soil or a deep loam. i'm a fan of NOT digging if you can avoid it. excessive digging, particularly at a depth greater thatn 300mm can drastically disturb and damage the soil structure. this can have implications on the biological activity of the soil, especially the worms. to avoid digging, i like to fallow beds after it has grown 1 or 2 crops. this involves one or a combination of the following: planting a green manure/crop (usually broad beans or barley), applying compost, applying rotted manure, mineral rock dust, and lucerne but preferablly pea straw. allow all this to rot down and then plant onto it what ever is next in line according to the crop rotation system. basically, don't plant a crop in the same place twice. try to have a rotatin of at least 4 or 5 plant families for each bed soil that is left bare for extended periods will loose it's vitality and could become hydrophobic. hydrophobic soil is very common here because of the harsh sun. in this regard, i no longer look at weeds an an enemy of the garden. they are just there to provide protection to the soil from the sun. i hope you enjoy growing and eating your own food. to me, it is an opportunity to become involved in another of natures cycles.

i thinki have to introduce myself in orde to post, but im way too tired at the moment . sorry

hey thanks Freeform, i finally managed to get a post here. i've been reading your posts, they've been very interesting.

i've been practicing daoyin for 1-2 hours a say for about 7 months. i've been taught about 30 forms, none of which are on chias dvd. my understanding is that, during the pause after the exhale, the body is placed under a mild stress. this mild stress triggers the generation og endogenous nitric oxde. (this is diferent exogenoud nitric oxide which can be dangerous) the pause can be as long or short as one wants, but over time, they can ggrow to become quite long. endogenous nitric oxide dilates the vessels and capillaries, and increases oxygen absorbtion. this when combined with stretches for each particular daoyin gong, opens the meridians and crates nice qi and blood flow. this seems similar to what they were talking about in the link that you posted Yoda. (to me, dao yin, when taught by a good master, is invaluable and generally underated in it's efficacy for opening channels and getting qi to move)