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kindredspirit Rank attained: Chlorophyll for blood

Joined: 10 Nov 2008 Posts: 2300 Location: Mid-west.
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kindredspirit Rank attained: Chlorophyll for blood

Joined: 10 Nov 2008 Posts: 2300 Location: Mid-west.
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tagwex Rank attained: Chlorophyll for blood

Joined: 23 Feb 2010 Posts: 5188 Location: Co. Wexford
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Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 8:00 pm Post subject: |
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That took a while! Just out of interest what the hell is Tufa Rock?
_________________ “It’s my field. It’s my child. I nursed it. I nourished it. I saw to its every want. I dug the rocks out of it with my bare hands and I made a living thing of it!”
This boy can really sing http://youtu.be/Dgv78D2duBE |
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kindredspirit Rank attained: Chlorophyll for blood

Joined: 10 Nov 2008 Posts: 2300 Location: Mid-west.
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tagwex Rank attained: Chlorophyll for blood

Joined: 23 Feb 2010 Posts: 5188 Location: Co. Wexford
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Posted: Sun Nov 03, 2013 9:52 am Post subject: |
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Well we learn something new every day. Now that i see it I have a vague recollection from an old Gardeners World programme. Plenty of water in that rock to sustain the plants.
_________________ “It’s my field. It’s my child. I nursed it. I nourished it. I saw to its every want. I dug the rocks out of it with my bare hands and I made a living thing of it!”
This boy can really sing http://youtu.be/Dgv78D2duBE |
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Good guy Rank attained: Chlorophyll for blood
Joined: 11 Feb 2013 Posts: 2593 Location: Donegal
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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2013 12:20 am Post subject: |
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I think I remember a very old Gardener's World (Geoff Smith?) where they made "tufa" troughs with a mixture of vermiculite, peat and a little cement, using a cardboard box as a mould.
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Sive Rank attained: Chlorophyll for blood
Joined: 18 Apr 2008 Posts: 1731 Location: Co.Wexford
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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2013 8:50 am Post subject: |
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It was Geoff Hamilton I think....he was wonderful and so inventive, showing gardeners how to make whatever they needed out of inexpensive materials. The BBC have never found his equal since.... none of the presenters have quite filled those gardening boots, however pleasant they have been.
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tagwex Rank attained: Chlorophyll for blood

Joined: 23 Feb 2010 Posts: 5188 Location: Co. Wexford
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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2013 9:05 pm Post subject: |
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Sive, we have been here before, no-one has or ever will fill Geoff Hamiltons boots.
_________________ “It’s my field. It’s my child. I nursed it. I nourished it. I saw to its every want. I dug the rocks out of it with my bare hands and I made a living thing of it!”
This boy can really sing http://youtu.be/Dgv78D2duBE |
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kindredspirit Rank attained: Chlorophyll for blood

Joined: 10 Nov 2008 Posts: 2300 Location: Mid-west.
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Good guy Rank attained: Chlorophyll for blood
Joined: 11 Feb 2013 Posts: 2593 Location: Donegal
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Posted: Mon Nov 18, 2013 12:22 am Post subject: |
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An interesting video. Thanks for posting the link. The tufa seems to form in a similar way to the "Flowstone" you see in limestone caves, though that is hard and dense. I don't suppose you could grow anything much on it.
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tippben Rank attained: Vegetable garden tender
Joined: 15 Jan 2011 Posts: 921 Location: north tipperary
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Posted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 2:39 pm Post subject: |
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I'm dubious. Is tufa mined responsibly, with regard to habitat conservation? I remember limestone pavements being destroyed for the rockery craze. Is it linked to the destruction of rare peat based habitats? Does anyone know?
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baabamaal Rank attained: Hawthorn Tree


Joined: 28 Jun 2012 Posts: 98 Location: Bog of Allen
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Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 11:23 am Post subject: |
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From a quick scan of d'interweb there doesn't appear to be issues about largescale habitat loss- the issue might be the removal of 'recent' tufa deposits in sensitive areas such as springs. The fossilised stuff seems to be fairly abundant and would be no more of an issue than gypsum removal. But that is only my uneducated opinion. Geoff's idea has been supersized however....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertufa
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inishindie Rank attained: Tree plantation keeper

Joined: 27 May 2007 Posts: 563 Location: inishowen Ireland
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Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 1:23 pm Post subject: Making my own |
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I'm having a go at the peat/vermiculite/cement/perlite/sand mixtures for hypertufa and having a bit of success I think. So much so I have set up a like and share page on facebook for someone to win one of the first made.
Enter here: https://www.facebook.com/hypertufapotsandcontainers
The pots seem light and strong but will need testing for a season, hopefully they will have things growing on them as well as in them!
It's easy to work with and can have as many air pockets as desired and manipulate the hypertufa to look like limestone outcrops.
I'm going to be trying wood shreds instead of peat too
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_________________ if you are interested in raised vegetable beds and veggie growing I have a new website - raisedbeds.net We're busy on social networking too and have over 12,000 members in the group. |
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Cedrina Rank attained: Hazel Tree

Joined: 27 Sep 2011 Posts: 9 Location: Dublin
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Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 2:48 pm Post subject: |
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Really liking those Inishindie, very attractive.
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Good guy Rank attained: Chlorophyll for blood
Joined: 11 Feb 2013 Posts: 2593 Location: Donegal
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Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 9:40 pm Post subject: |
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Beautifully done, Inishindie. I look forward to seeing some more planted up later in the season.
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