[NatureNS] Nitrogen mineralization and water

Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2008 08:27:45 -0400
From: "Paul S. Boyer" <psboyer@eastlink.ca>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
References: <48CC427A.4040209@glinx.com>
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The grass has been growing so fast that one must mow every week (or  
just let it go, which is what I favor — but my wife does not!)   
Blackberries are fruiting about ten times normal, and apples are  
larger than ever.

I think that there are two causes for this.  First, there is plenty of  
water, and no mid-summer dry period, which is fairly common most years  
in the Chebucto Peninsula.  Then there are nutrients which have been  
accumulating during the dry years, and are now being used for growth  
by the grass and brushy plants.

It is not all good for the plants.  Moisture also favours certain  
insects.  Our lilacs are unusually heavily infested this year with the  
dreaded leaf-borer, and they look dead.  People are commenting on the  
abundance of mosquitoes this late in the season.  Small broadleaf  
shrubs seem to have more signs of insect damage than has been usual.

We have voles, raccoons, deer, Canada Geese, and quite a few passerine  
birds around.  Why am I the only one eating the blackberries?  I would  
have thought that they would have been a very attractive and  
accessible food source for wildlife.

On 15 Sep 2008, at 8:30 AM, Eleanor Lindsay wrote:

> In my part of the province  (Seabright, St Margarets Bay)  I and  
> everyone around me commented frequently this spring and summer about  
> how noticeably extra-lush  both cultivated and wild vegetation  
> around us has been this year................
>
> Eleanor Lindsay
>
> Henk Kwindt wrote:
>> Hi Dave and All,
>> Our garden has produced abundantly this summer, not only the leafy  
>> parts but also the carrots , parsnips, tomatoes, beans etc.did very  
>> well. So I can't conclude that there was more nitrogen released.  
>> Fertilization was mainly provided by compost, similar to other  
>> years. Weatherwise, this summer has been wetter than average.
>> Cheers, Henk Kwindt, Cow Bay, NS.
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "David & Alison Webster" <dwebster@glinx.com 
>> >
>> To: <NatureNS@chebucto.ns.ca>
>> Sent: Saturday, September 13, 2008 7:45 PM
>> Subject: [NatureNS] Nitrogen mineralization
>>
>>
>>> Dear All,            Sept 13, 2008
>>>   I applied only trace amounts of nitrogen fertilizer to the  
>>> garden this year, beside the carrot and beet seedlings so they  
>>> could outgrow flea-beetle feeding, but everything has the  
>>> appearence of high nitrogen so I think there has been an unusually  
>>> high release of nitrogen by mineralization this summer.
>>>
>>>   I am wondering if anyone else has noticed this or if it has  
>>> something to do with the state of my garden.
>>>
>>> Yt, DW, Kentville
>>>
>>
>>
>

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