Soil Additives for the Garden

It use to be gardening is a very simple, easy and relaxing endeavor may it be for pleasure of for profit. Now a days, it is growing more complicated and complex not by the volume of new data and variety of floras but confusing gardening terms and products, which gardeners tend to use in varying ways. As a novice gardener it would be taxing and uninspiring as most of the confusing terms are encountered early step of gardening, especially in preparing the soil in a garden.

Soil is the foundation of any garden and farm and having a good soil in a garden, if not perfect, needs some preparation.  To do that, most employ the old school and modest solution of simply adding some organic matters, like finished compost. Other would take a modern approach which would be incorporating various soil additives.

Gardening Terms of Different Soil Additives

Zeolite

Zeolite is a very porous mineral used in industry as a filtering agent for water, as a stockfeed supplement and horticulture, as a soil additive. Due to its porous nature, each particle has a large surgace area , enabling ‘cation wxchange.’ This means that it can hold and exchange nutrients require by plants, making nutrients readily available.

Sponglite

Sponglite, silicon dioxide, is an ancient, fossilized sea sponges. It is used in agriculture, to capture industrial spilled liquids, in cat litter, fire retardant products, and thermal insulation. It is comprised of almost 99% silica. Silica plays an important role on strengthening cell structure in plants, making them less susceptible to pest and disease attack. It also aids in healthy flower and fruit production.  Lightweight and extremely porous, it has a natural ability to hold water. The silica-based strong sponge structure make it hard to break sown, thus it is ideal in additive in potting and garden soil. The down side, its dust particle is abrasive similar to asbestos, precaution should be taken.

Gypsum

Gypsum, is also known as hydrated calcium sulfate- a pH neutral, occurs as a saline evaporate mineral from ancient watercourses, like limestone. It is a major industrial mineral used in products from paper to paint, and also as a food additive. In the garden, it is used as clay breaker, helping to improve the soil structure by alleviating compaction that would   increase the air and water infiltration and plant roots penetration through the soil. However, clay soil that need improving need to be tested as not all clay soil will respond to gypsum.  

Bentonite

Bentonite is a kind of clay formed from decomposed volcanic ash minerals like montmorillonite and beidellite. It has many industrial uses from sinking oil wells to dam lining to cat litter. In the garden, it is used for it water retention ability. It is useful in binding soil particles to create a crumb structure.

Perlite

Perlite is a volcanic glass that is heated to 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit. It has many industrial applications from masonry construction, cement and gypsum plasters and loose fill insulation. It is also use in pharmaceuticals and pool water filtration and as an abrasive agent in polishes, cleansers and soaps. In the garden, this lightweight material is used to it water retention quality as it comprised of tiny air compartments on the exterior of the particle and not inside. It is more porous ad tends to allow better aeration and drainage quality, suitable for plants that thrive in well-draining soil. It has a large surface area, thus it is suitable for plants that require level of high humidity. It is also use to foster stronger root formation in rooting cuttings propagation. The down side, it may cause fluoride burn, which appears as brown tips on houseplants.   

Vermiculite

Vermiculite is a hydrated laminar minerals, also called as aluminum-iron magnesium silicates. It is processed with massive heat that expands it into accordion shapped pellets composed of multiple layers of thin plates. It will not rot, deteriate or mold andis endurable, odorless, non-toxic and sterile. It has becoming more widely accepted alternative for asbestos as insulation, but it seems its dust particles is also as dangerous to respiratory health. In gardening, this very lightweight material is mix with soil to improve structure, as it increases water and nutrient retention and aeration. it has superior water retention, but less aerating ability compare to perlite, hence is it an amendable choice for water-loving plants.

Dolomite

Dolomite, otherwise known as calcium magnesium carbonate (calmag), occurs as a type if limestone. It is widely used in industry as a construction aggregate, cement manufacture and metallurgical flux. In agriculture and horticulture, it supply calcium and magnesium and will increase alkalinity of soil. pH testing is recommended to ascertain the correct amount of liming, it may cause nutrient deficiencies to plant when added to already alkaline soils.    

These are just few of different soil additives that initial comes up when talking about starting a garden and improving soil structure.  This is far from endorsing any of these soil additives or products.  Proper ratio and application have been omitted to discourage just random application. The goal is to initially encourage awareness and stimulate critical thinking before utilizing or not of such products. These soil additives commercially manufacture have some wonderful claims from ability of aeration, retain water, nutrients and mineral that is beneficial as a food source for microbes. Bolstering maximum efficiency and convenience in gardening, but keep in mind most of these are minerals and needed to be mined thus are non-renewable. Others have been manufactured and have disquieting precautionary measure. So, before jumping the promise of convenience, look into the long-term benefits not only for just a garden but the whole-wider environment.  The old-school and simpler solution of adding organic matter, like compost and mulch, may not provide the instant gratification of a robust garden, but it is a much safer and  enduring solution in improving soil structure.

Is this gardening tips interesting? If you want to know more about ratio of application of different soil additives post your questions and inquiries in the comment section below, and do not forget to follow. If you find this article lacking, please share why and do post reactions, suggestions and corrections. And maybe follow to somehow help this blog post better content. Thank you!

As always keep it simple and enjoy your garden!

Reference

Kinkead, E.B., Sehbai, D.S. & Tunney. C.J, (Eds.). (1972) Modern Century Illustrated Encyclopedia.(Vols 9).  Austialia: McGraw-Hill far Eastern Publishers.

Filipino Style Chicken Soup – Tinolang Manok

This is an easy and healthy recipe inspired from the classic very Filipino ‘Tinolang Manok’. ‘Tinola,’ in Filipino language, Tagalog and Visayan dialects, is a soup-based dish served as an appetizer or main entrée in the Philippines. Just like wines in France or cheeses in Italy varies from region to region, same with this chicken soup-based recipe every region and Filipino family has its own version.  However, for this recipe is sticking with the simple and basic ‘tinola’.

This recipe is good for 2-4 servings

Preparation Time:             15 minutes

Cooking Time:                   25-35 minutes

Ingredients:

  1 thumb size           ginger - sliced to strips

3-5 gloves              garlic - chopped

1 piece                   onion - chopped

4 pieces                 chicken drumstick

5 cups                    rice water or water

1 piece                   chayote or ‘sayote’ or green young papaya– sliced in wedge

A hand full              siling labuyo leaves or malonggay leaves – stripped from soft stem

1 teaspoon             fish sauce or ‘patis’

                               salt and ground black pepper

Procedures:

1.  In medium heat and preheated pan with vegetable oil, sauté ginger, garlic, and onion less than a minute. Add a pinch of salt and ground black pepper, and stir until almost translucent about a minute. Then, add in the chicken drumsticks and let it brown for 2 minutes.

2.  Take out ginger, garlic and onion and let the chicken continue to brown and form a fond for 2-3 minutes, then turn the chicken and let it brown for 3 minutes.

3.  Add back the ginger, garlic and onion and add 5 cups or 1.25 liter of rice water or just plain water. Let is simmer of 10-15 minutes to thoroughly cook the chicken. May lower the heat if need arise.

4. Add chayote let it continue to simmer until tender for about 5-8 minutes. Do not let it over cook the chayote.

5.  Add siling labuyo or malonggay leaves and fish sauce (patis), simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Definition of Terms:

1. Rice Water - water that have been used to wash uncooked rice; Some elders claim that the starch from the rice helps thicken the soup; But it is a great effort to reuse scarce resource, like water.

2. Fond – French for ‘base’; commonly refers to the browned bits and caramelized drippings of meat and vegetables that are stuck to the bottom of a pan after sautéing or roasting. A by-product of Maillard chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugar under heat.

Is this food recipe helpful and/or interesting? If you think so, please do try the recipe and let us know how it is by leaving comments. If you want to know more about this recipe please leave questions below. Such information helps inspire, initiate, and create useful blog material. And please don’t forget to follow. If you find this article lacking please feel free to post your reactions, suggestions, and corrections. And maybe follow to somehow aid this blog to create better content. Thank you!

As always enjoy cooking! Itadakimase! Kain na!

Inspired by: 

Food Wishes. (2017, September 27). Cider Braised Pork Shoulder – Pork Stewed in a creamy Apple Cider Sauce. [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2017/09/cider-braised-pork-shoulder-and-by.html

Good Quality for Kitchen Essentials

Smart Way to Build a Functional Kitchen

Third set of kitchen essential will focus on the importance of good quality. Items and equipments in the kitchen should be of good quality that would mean it last a lifetime, which in a human lifetime is about 30-50 years. A thing that has a great quality will last more than one lifetime, where it would be passed on and utilized to its fullest from one generation to another. The ultimate money saver is when an item has fully depreciated, in accounting-financial term, and lasted a lifetime but very much functional and efficient.

The first kitchen essentials reflects the initial items one needs in a kitchen to get one starting not only just cooking but also appreciating good healthy food. The second set of essentials discuss versatility, a bonus it also to set up so one could cook, a basic but delicious meal, Carbonara. This current set hope to convey that good quality is important. Price tag and/or a known brand are not signs of good quality; it takes mindfulness and critical desertion with the help of information from material and manufacturing process use, honest reviews, verifiable experience of other and oneself in order to conclude that certain item is of good quality. Let us sharpen that sensibility with the following kitchen essentials.

1. Kettle

Kettle, or teakettle, is a type of pot used in cooking, specifically for boiling water. Classically it is made from metal, with main structures of a lid, a spout and a handle. Considering kettle will be used every day, functionality wise a lighter weight stainless steel is practical than a cast-iron kettle. Copper kettle is another light weight but quite tedious to clean, similar with a cast-iron. Hence such types are not ideal for daily use, but would be fine as a cooking ware collection, like a Japanese cast-iron kettle called Tetsubin [1].

Another quality I consider in selecting a kettle that has a circular structure with a heavier the bottom, as it will conduct more heat. A long thin spout kettle would be ideal for coffee drinkers who used dripper, like me, but I will forgo for more utilitarian purpose of a goose neck spout. Then, for the rest of the appearance it is all purely for aesthetic reason, preferring a more classic look would mean it will never go out of style and it would outlive modern trends.

Plastic components are a concern in anything that is subjected in intense environment, like heat or cold. These are the parts that break easily and/or deforms and making a kettle looks unpleasant and harder to clean, hence functionally, quality and beauty wise it is a great letdown. So, it is more preferably having no or limited plastic component as much as possible.

Owning a kettle would be a money and time saving measure as you can make your own coffee and minimize buying over-priced, waste accumulating and high-sugar content commercial coffee. Making your own coffee or tea will help in reducing garbage and increasing your savings. It will also help in predicting what kind of food you will be preparing in the future.

2. Dripper

This is a must for all the coffee drinkers aka caffeine addicts out there. A wide range of designs and princes are available.  An alternative item for  tea and/or non coffee drinkers would be a small metal deep cone-shaped fine mesh sieve with long hooks and handle  to strain tea leaves and herbs for making tea; strain seeds and/or clumps for making sweets, custards and other pastries.  

3. Paring knife

The essential 8 inches chef knife is meant to be use on the cutting board, the 3-3.5 inches paring knife is meant to be use off the cutting board, like for peeling, coring and the likes. One could still use it on the cutting board for small work, but it meant to be use for the hand [2].

4. Flatware

Flatware denotes to flat tableware, such as dishes and saucers made of metal, but it is refer especially to eating and serving utensils, such as forks, spoons and knives [3]. It is basic cutlery but made of stainless steel, compare to silverware that is made of or plated with silver. Stainless steel flatware is produced with different alloy quality described by percentage of chrome that range from 18/10, 18/8, 18/0 to 13/0 [4]. The first number represent chromium, which gives the flatware rust and stain-resistant qualities, while the second number refers to amount of nickel, as there is more nickel the shiner it is, mimicking the sheen of silverware. There have been speculations that 18/10 doesn’t exist and it is just a marketing strategy, if you want to know more about this issue, let me know from your comment below. Another factor to consider is the finish, pertaining the comfortable edges, and smoothness.

       

5. Dishware

These are dishes used for serving food, a wide range of variety based on function, on material and manufacturing process. Since this article pertain to essential choosing for the purpose of kitchen aesthetic and/or entertainment might be better covered in another article. Dishes material and process varies from ceramics, fine china, bone china, stoneware to glass, would depend on its availability and affordability. The very basic items one needs are dinner plate, salad plate and soup bowl, and maybe a couple of serving plate. For the basic design and size of dishware would depend on the number of housemates. White is classic and safe to assume it is lead-free, hence a lot who like it simple are partial to the brand Corelle.

6. Glassware

Glassware is another type of drink ware, together with a couple of microwavable mugs, these are few essentials to add on, starting with tall highball glasses and short old-fashioned glasses. These are everyday glasses like the highball or tumbler type could contain 240 to 350 ml, the more volume the better. It is ideal for drinks with lots of ice and volume, like sodas, iced teas, iced coffee, shakes and smoothies, while the short old-fashioned glasses are for fruit juices. Other glassware like wine glasses, beer glasses and the likes are collections that would be suited under barware.   

Good quality synonymous to durability. Kitchen essential should be made for everyday use, and with basic care should last a lifetime. However, with profit-oriented industries and corrupt politicians who aims to deregulate quality standard due to vested interest the honesty to manufacture good quality product is becoming rare. With great hope this post provided good information for better decision making and inspires ideas that could help in assembling and/or improving one’s kitchen.

Is this article or its subject matter interesting? If you believe it is and would like to know more, please let it be known and leave comments or questions below. Such information helps inspire, initiate, and create useful blog material. And please don’t forget to follow. If you find this article lacking please feel free to post your reactions, suggestions, and corrections. And maybe follow to somehow aid this blog to create better content. Thank you!

As always enjoy cooking!

Reference

1. California Academy of Sciences. (n.d.). Tetsubins: Iron Treasures of Japan. [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/anthropology/tetsubin/index.html

2. Hiroyuki Terada - Diaries of a Master Sushi Chef. (2017, July 9). How To Choose The Perfect Knife - 4 Things To Consider. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nTBEbMQBGQ

3. Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary (10^th ed.). (1993). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster. 

4. Crate&Barrel. (n.d.). Everything You Need to Know About Choosing Flatware. [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.crateandbarrel.com/ideas-and-advice/flatware-buying-guide 

The 10 Essential Professional Wardrobe Items

No matter what profession, career, and/or vocation one taken to avoid dressing like a tight ass prick every day, there always this one time that one need to dress formally and professionally. Perhaps may it be a first ever job interview, a meeting for bank loan, to secure documentation like passport in a government facility and/or simple formal occasion. There is no escape so it is better to be prepared than to be caught off guard.  

There are 10 simple, basic and versatile, thus making it essential, wardrobe items would ease the anxiety of vexing if one is under or over dress in a professional or formal interview, meeting and/or gathering. It is not recommended to buy everything in haste, this is just a heads up in case one is going window shopping and does not have these certain items. Always give some thought and time in finding the right size, fitting, design and style to suit one’s need, taste and comfort. Do not worry, one can still used these items in casual and informal occasions, all one need is a little imagination. 

10 Essential Items in a Professional Wardrobe

1. White Polo Shirt

A white simple well-fitted polo shirt makes everything look formal and put together, even if it is worn in a casually. Acquire a fabric that match one’s climate, example in tropical climate cotton is the best. It is light, soft and breathable but some wrinkle easily, which would be a setback for the next factor to consider, a fabric that needs no or minimal ironing. There are fabric-combinations like cotton-polyester that nice in a hot climate and wrinkle the leas, take time and effort to find it.

2. Gray Shirt

A gray semi-formal shirt, worn with well-fitted blazer completes the formal look. Neck line, rounded or v-neck, would depends on one’s face shape.  

  

3. Basic Black Dress for females and Well-Fitted Basic Suit for males

A basic black dress or a well-fitted suit alone is suitable in every occasion. With a few accessories it would create a brand new wardrobe hence it is versatile that it can be worn endlessly.

4. Slack

A well-fitted, comfortable black slack provide a formal setting whether it is worn with a white polo shirt or gray shirt with blazer and any combination.

5. Dark Blue Jeans

A clean pair of jeans paired with white polo shirt, or gray shirt, or any shirt with blazer present formality, more so if one act with politeness similar to Keanu Reeve in most recent movie interviews.    

6. Blazer

Invest in a well-fitted black blazer, an item that would make an informal shirt to formal. It is a versatile item would help put together a multitude of combination. Make sure the shoulder fits perfectly.  

7. Basic Flats for females and Loafer or Sneakers for males

Comfortable pair of shoes is useful on active and busy days.  These would receive the most wear invest a comfortable, good quality but not expensive pair.   

8. Leather - Ankle Boots for female and Lace-up Formal Boots for male

This is an additional footwear item for more professional meeting. There are heavy duty utility boots that look like as a formal boots, 

9. Leather Belt 

A solid good quality leather belt is to support slack or jeans. Preferable if it matches with formal shoes in color, material and metal accessories, to project a uniformed, snappy and clean look. 

10. Functional Bag

A light weight, medium size but heavy duty every day bag to place everything you need to survive in one’s work day. A comfortable shoulder strap would be helpful in securing a bag while both hands are needed to complete a task.

Final Thoughts 

These items are not vanity items, that is only be displayed on special occasion, nor a trendy fashion, that is short lived.  Before wasting hard earn cash on trendy fashion, invest on these items first. And since these items are worn and used the most, buy the best quality one can afford for durability and longevity.

For items to be unnoticeable of being used everyday, it is smart to stick with solid neutral or just black palette, and traditional or classical design. To present a clean formal and organized look closely match in color, texture and/or material of items like slack, belt and shoes.

Would like a comprehensively take on this subject? Please share your thoughts and leave comments, questions, reactions, suggestion and corrections below. It would inspire useful additional and comprehensive post. And please don’t forget to follow to help this blog to create better content. Thank you!

As always keep it amazingly simple and pretty. Enjoy!