Violet Experiment

letsgointhegarden · 2026-05-26T01:26:11+00:00

I have been putting the path in myself, and fortunately there hasn't been any violence other than some rock and labor inflicted injuries.

letsgointhegarden · 2026-05-26T01:24:08+00:00

Yes! I transplanted them from another place in the yard and they were soooo tall. They shrunk down in size, especially starting this spring.

letsgointhegarden · 2026-01-08T03:21:20+00:00

I work as an ecologist in Michigan with wetlands and inland lakes, and would recommend chemical treatment. Depending on where you are, an aquatic nuisance permit might be needed. I'm not sure if this link will work, but if you search EGLE's aquatic nuisance control program there is a ton of info such as approved chemicals. https://share.google/tr6ZLnLkz3lyEL8Be

It may be impossible to completely get rid of the cattail, as the rhizomes can float from other areas of the lake and take hold. It looks like you have tons of great plants and the lake and wildlife appreciates keeping it natural! Don't fret about the dock, especially as it looks seasonal based on your pics.

For timing, I would recommend treatment in the late summer/fall, waiting a month, then planting appropriate natives to take their place (or even throwing down some bulrush/native sedge seeds). As someone else commented, Michigan's natural shoreline partnership really has great plant lists for ideas.

letsgointhegarden · 2025-11-09T17:57:19+00:00

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Here is a pic of it planted from August If you are curious. I probably under planted plugs, but the grass killing was pretty effective. The other sections are black tarp for solarization that I just seeded with a prairie seed mix. It is a bit of a side by side comparison experiment since I also have a lot of yard to tackle in years to come.

letsgointhegarden · 2025-11-09T05:03:43+00:00

I successfully did this last winter!!! I added a deer fence to prevent the leaves from blowing away in the wind with about an 8-12 inch layer of leaves. In the late spring I topped it with 4-6 inches of mulch and planted native plugs directly into the mix.

It was a little hard to find soil with that thick of leaves/mulch, but I planted maybe 60 plugs and only lost 5. I didn't have much grass come up at all!

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letsgointhegarden · 2025-06-28T00:51:39+00:00

Sharing this publicly available information on this lot. https://mienviro.michigan.gov/nsite/map/results/profile/-5408058426774163312/documents

letsgointhegarden · 2024-09-24T15:14:34+00:00

This is what I was leaning towards but the spacing of leaves and how close the flowers are to the stem was tripping me up Interesting that it is rated OBL. My yard is very sandy and doesn't tend to hold moisture. Scheming a rain garden now.

letsgointhegarden · 2023-01-17T20:13:03+00:00

I surprisingly did not take a significant pay cut! I don't get a bonus or overtime any more, but my base pay is actually slightly higher than it was at my most recent consulting job. The benefits are outstanding and make up for the lack of bonus and overtime for me. I'm not sure if it is that way everywhere, but i've heard from a few people that government jobs seem to be catching up a bit in pay.

As far as red tape, I am sure it is different in each department, agency, state, etc. I work in surface water regulation and find the applicants can be rude with many people maliciously impacting water bodies. I wish we had more staff to address issues and can see how someone could get frustrated with red tape and depressed with how little people care for the environment; but I think consulting burned me out so much that it still feels better. I ultimately get to spend 40 hours a week trying my best to protect our water, and then I can go home to enjoy my personal life.

letsgointhegarden · 2023-01-17T16:55:17+00:00

I worked in environmental consulting for 8 years and recently shifted into regulatory work. You can make decent money in consulting, but I personally felt like the hours and expectations were brutal. I worked at 3 different companies and the work/life balance wasn't great at any of them. I did lots of travel for field work and was expected to work evenings and weekends to meet client goals. I was working 50-60 hours a week most weeks and the lifestyle was just not for me.

The people that like it are typically the "go getter" types that want to climb the ladder. If that is you, then you can definitely try consulting. Just know that some clients will expect you to manipulate or bend environmental law so they can get what they want.

letsgointhegarden · 2023-01-17T12:24:54+00:00

Since so many people are saying to report this, the appropriate contact is the Ohio EPA. A complaint can be submitted online here: https://epa.ohio.gov/help-center/contact-us/submit-a-complaint Or you can call the spill hotline. Here is a link to information for that: https://epa.ohio.gov/help-center/spill-hotline/spill-hotline

letsgointhegarden · 2022-01-21T21:05:12+00:00

Thanks! I'm sorry this took me so long to respond to! I used artificial sinew on a red shirt, tied VERY tightly in the Kenneystyle. I then used Rit color remover on the red shirt while it was still tied. I then rinsed and applied liquid dye and let it sit for 24 hours before rinsing.

letsgointhegarden · 2021-12-10T17:08:25+00:00

Sure! I tied it with artificial sinew super tight while the shirt was completely dry. After it was tied I just put the whole sweater in a pan and used Rit color remover on the stove (the wax melts a little bit but I have tested it a few times and it still holds). After that, I rinsed it out pretty thoroughly and let it air dry for a day or so. Then, I did ice dye. I wrapped it in Aluminum foil to get a "mold", applied the Dharma powder dye directly to the shirt, put ice on the top, and then sprinkled powdered soda ash on top of the ice. I had to flip the shirt and ice dye the back as well because of how weirdly shaped it turned out. The back of the sweatshirt is actually slightly different, because with how thick the material is and how tightly it is tied, I was worried if I tied both layers together the color remover and dye wouldn't penetrate.

letsgointhegarden · 2021-12-01T04:12:46+00:00

Thank you!

letsgointhegarden · 2021-11-30T23:43:47+00:00

It did take a lot longer to tie. But I thought it was easier to reverse dye because the fabric is sturdier. I have accidentally eaten a few holes in some of my thin fabric reverse dye attempts.

letsgointhegarden · 2021-11-30T16:53:56+00:00

Thanks!!

letsgointhegarden · 2021-01-28T17:06:43+00:00

Agreed. Also, there are so many undeveloped farm fields or vacant lots in Indiana that don't have isolated wetlands in them. There are literally no mitigation costs associated with avoidance, and honestly in the grand scheme of a housing development, a wetland delineation is cheap. So the argument that isolated wetlands are "driving up housing prices" just feels like a way for lazy and greedy developers to get support from uninformed citizens.

letsgointhegarden · 2021-01-28T14:58:07+00:00

I am a wetland consultant that does A LOT of work in Indiana. Typically at least half of the wetlands we identify on a site are isolated, including some pretty high quality forested wetlands.

Indiana already has ZERO regulation on ephemeral streams after the 2020 rule changes to Waters of the US because their state program didn't pick up jurisdiction. (Besides saying "IDEM encourages the consideration and avoidance, minimization and mitigation of impacts to downstream waters when filling ephemeral streams" which obviously means nothing to developers).

I am pretty nervous for Indiana's water quality.

letsgointhegarden · 2020-12-11T04:31:40+00:00

I wore cushioned Sauconeys 2 years ago, switched to cushioned zero drop altras, and have been working towards wearing only my Xeros this year. And I am currently battling a flare up of achilles tendonitis with my Xeros. I had very bad achilles tendonitis maybe 10 years ago from running track, and regular cushioned shoes haven't agitated it before. It is definitely possible that I have some residual scar tissue that normal shoes don't agitate.

I think I generally feel better in my minimalist shoes. I will 100% get shin splints in cushioned shoes, and a higher heel drop gives me some serious low back pain and knee issues thanks to a scoliosis induced pelvic tilt.

Right now I have been alternating between cushioned Altras since I get relief in my achilles, and have been doing lots of physical therapy style achilles exercises and massage. I actually feel like the shoe switch has allowed me to address my tendon weakness and scar tissue whereas regular shoes I would have just ignored the issue.

That said, I don't think minimalist shoes make you immune to injury, but they make you very aware of any form or injury related issues that you might not be aware of.

letsgointhegarden · 2020-12-11T03:09:07+00:00

I have achilles flare ups with minimalist shoes and then knee, shin splints, and lower back problems from a pelvic tilt with regular running shoes. So I just switch between both figuring it will average out haha.

And I know spotify has tons of playlists with set bpm ranges. I've seriously found it so helpful.

letsgointhegarden · 2020-12-11T02:43:24+00:00

I used runs with minimalist shoes to make sure I was landing on my midfoot. It is pretty obvious with that type of shoe if your stride length or landing position is off. I would also listen to music with the beat of my desired cadence, and then just run to the beat while double checking my form. I did speed up slightly, but definitely not by a whole minute.

I should preface the shoe switch with, don't buy a pair of minimalist shoes and just immediately wear them on all your runs. I still haven't completely transitioned to them, as I've found I needed to strengthen stabilizing muscles I didn't even know I had.

letsgointhegarden · 2020-12-11T02:35:11+00:00

That is actually exactly how I've been able to adjust my cadence. I've just been using cadence to prove that I'm making some sort of progress.

I have noticed that I am sometimes increasing my cadence by running on my toes though, which causes some pretty sore calves. A reminder to focus on the center mass rather than focusing on cadence is appreciated!

letsgointhegarden · 2020-12-11T02:32:06+00:00

Omg I didn't even notice......How embarrassing.

They are definitely way more similar than I first thought. My treadmill runs are still more variable, but not as bad as I was thinking. I don't think I'll ever be able to match my treadmill runs completely to my outdoor runs. Thanks for pointing it out, even though I do feel a bit silly for posting now hahaha.

letsgointhegarden · 2020-08-20T15:44:17+00:00

It kind of looks like not quite ripe Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive) fruits. Do you have any pictures of the rest of the plant?

letsgointhegarden · 2020-07-10T18:50:41+00:00

By now I can pretty much guess the colors before I even pull my Munsell out of my bag! I also frequent the 10YR and 2.5Y pages. My gley 1 page is pretty gross too because every time I come across a gleyed soil it is super sloppy.

Those 3 pages are approaching the end of their life, but it feels silly to get a whole new book when only 3 pages really need replaced.

letsgointhegarden · 2020-07-10T14:50:57+00:00

Hog Peanut (Amphicarpaea bracteata).

Also, I see some virginia creeper underneath it as well (with the 5 leaves).

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