Gardening Edition.
I used to be one. I am reformed, mostly. Gardening helped. There is a dude who has a website, and now a book, claiming to debunk gardening myths. He is full of shit and his lil minions are infiltrating reddit and other gardening forums. He *stridently* claims his research is correct in all cases. No YMMV, no “in some cases, get a soil test first”, just a concrete vomit of supposed garden “facts”.
This is the thing with gardening. There are multiple soil types (clay, sandy, acidic, loam ect). There are multiple climates (arid, sub-tropical, prairie et al). There are multiple USDA zones and subzones within those primary zones. There are different nutrient compositions in soil (calcium, potassium, nitrogen ect). There are different little creatures leaving their droppings in your soil. A soil with a high worm count has more worm castings than a yard with a lower worm count (again impacted by the size of said worms). Same with rabbits. Your dog and all the other neighborhood dogs like to use one spot of your yard as a toilet? The composition of that soil is different that soil ten feet away from it. Most yards have multiple microclimates. In my yard, I can grow items from zone 4 to zone 6, depending on where I plant. I have amended the soil in my many gardens at different times with different amendments. An accurate soil composition map of my yard would require at at least five soil tests.
And then we come to microbiomes. The smallest of creatures that inhabit your environment. One example? The amount and type of fungi impacts what and how well certain plants grow in your yard. The number of microorganisms is innumerable, yet they still have impact on your soil.
Do a soil test on my north garden and do a soil test five feet away, using soil from my neighbors dogshit and crabgrass covered yard. You will get different results.
So when Mr. or Mrs. WELL ACTUALLY wants to demand that eggshells won’t work in my garden, or that I don’t need nitrogen or whatever somesuch, I just can’t with these people. My yard is completely different from yours, so settle down and save your breath for the big learning opportunities. Gardening, if you are a curious and experimental sort like me, is quite fun. I want MORE people to garden, so let’s be encouraging, and not should all over the newbies over the the little things. Share your personal experience, be clear about the factors present in your yard and do not insist you know the result, especially after someone has already told you [ ] works for them. Suggest, do not insist or demand. Nobody will die, including the garden, if the size of the eggshells are too big. Let the gardener learn what is best for THEIR garden.
Grateful for:
1. The truth, even when it sucks to hear.
2. That squash stays good months after harvest. I made a winter squash casserole with a winter squash harvested two months ago. I still have a Tahitian and many little Butternut squashes left to use for Thanksgiving.
3. NAPS. Needed one yesterday, and got one. Uninterrupted. It was lovely.
Godspeed y’all.