I decided to rewatch an episode of Jekyll this morning. It's an amazing BBC series from 2007. Steven Moffat is a masterful writer. He has also written a couple episodes of the new Dr. Who series.
Jekyll is a modern day retelling of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with several very inventive twists and turns added. I couldn't even begin to guess some of the plot twists as the came.
I cannot recommend this series enough.
BBC Jekyll Website
Wikipedia Article
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Gardeners beware! The Scary Plant Container Story.
I meant to post this rather scary story earlier.
I will preface the story. We went somewhere around noon. As we left, I made the observation that I smelled some kind of smoke. It wasn't grilling. It was something burning.
The day went on. I stepped onto the porch around 7:30pm. I saw smoke coming off one of the self watering planters I built 2 years ago. WTF?
I looked closer. There was a layer of ash on top. The plastic under the rim was melted all the way around in an irregular pattern. I immediately grabbed my water hose, which I had connected from the washing machine water line last year. I flooded the container while my mind raced to understand what happened. I first thought it was a cigarette butt from upstairs. I then thought it could have been something some kids did. But then the thought of spontaneous combustion ran through my mind.
There had been red coal like bits in the soil, so I dug the soil out and spread it into other containers. I continued pouring water on it. I called a non-emergency fire department number and a policeman had a fire chief return my call.
None of my containers were in use. In fact, I was in the process of getting rid of the soil, because of the drought. It was going to be to grow anything. The drought is going to return.
Here is what happened. The container was in the sun. The soil that was deeper in the container was damp. It was 100 degrees in Athens, so it was hotter than usual. It held potting soil, which means it contained bits of organic material. Heat, steam, old plant roots, composting elements...the soil effectively spontaneously combusted. I later deduced that its placement was about 2 feet from an air conditioner unit. (I moved it over there to get it out of the way last week.) That meant there was a steady air current flowing over it.
I don't even want to continue thinking past that, but it could have been bad. Really bad.
I still sit here thinking....I've never heard of this kind of thing happening before. EVER.
The lessen has been learned and I'm spreading it to everyone I know who gardens in containers: Keep the soil wet and often and when they're not in use, keep them out of the sun. According to the fire chief, this process has burned down entire barns before in Clarke county.
I will preface the story. We went somewhere around noon. As we left, I made the observation that I smelled some kind of smoke. It wasn't grilling. It was something burning.
The day went on. I stepped onto the porch around 7:30pm. I saw smoke coming off one of the self watering planters I built 2 years ago. WTF?
I looked closer. There was a layer of ash on top. The plastic under the rim was melted all the way around in an irregular pattern. I immediately grabbed my water hose, which I had connected from the washing machine water line last year. I flooded the container while my mind raced to understand what happened. I first thought it was a cigarette butt from upstairs. I then thought it could have been something some kids did. But then the thought of spontaneous combustion ran through my mind.
There had been red coal like bits in the soil, so I dug the soil out and spread it into other containers. I continued pouring water on it. I called a non-emergency fire department number and a policeman had a fire chief return my call.
None of my containers were in use. In fact, I was in the process of getting rid of the soil, because of the drought. It was going to be to grow anything. The drought is going to return.
Here is what happened. The container was in the sun. The soil that was deeper in the container was damp. It was 100 degrees in Athens, so it was hotter than usual. It held potting soil, which means it contained bits of organic material. Heat, steam, old plant roots, composting elements...the soil effectively spontaneously combusted. I later deduced that its placement was about 2 feet from an air conditioner unit. (I moved it over there to get it out of the way last week.) That meant there was a steady air current flowing over it.
I don't even want to continue thinking past that, but it could have been bad. Really bad.
I still sit here thinking....I've never heard of this kind of thing happening before. EVER.
The lessen has been learned and I'm spreading it to everyone I know who gardens in containers: Keep the soil wet and often and when they're not in use, keep them out of the sun. According to the fire chief, this process has burned down entire barns before in Clarke county.
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