# And Now For Something Completely Mundane. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 26, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-for-something-completely-mundane/576095 "2011-03-26T22:25:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-for-something-completely-mundane/576095/1 "2011-03-26T22:25:59Z")
I went to the hardware store and bought 18 strawberry plants. I have one of those Topsy-Turvy things that I got a year or so ago, but by the time I thought to look for strawberry plants nobody had them. And I have a fire pit that I understand I can’t use anymore (for yard waste). I could clear out the growth and plant them there. I’m thinking I’ll use the Topsy-Turvy. Closer to the door, and less work. ETA: This is not a thread about me and my strawberries. . ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-for-something-completely-mundane/576095/2 "2011-03-27T00:27:32Z")
Strawberries are a great mulch, but they are slug bait. Why can’t you use your fire pit? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-for-something-completely-mundane/576095/3 "2011-03-27T00:30:27Z")
This sleepy little seaside village has been designated an ‘urban growth area’, which means no more burning of yard waste. We can have ‘recreational fires’, but no getting rid of branches and leaves. ‘Slug bait’ indicates I should use the Topsy-Turvy. Big nasty slugs up this way. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-for-something-completely-mundane/576095/4 "2011-03-27T00:42:44Z")
If you want to eat the strawberries, keep them off the ground. But they are good ground-cover; they’re perenials that leaf out early and last late. Waste fires are probably illegal in my area, too, but I tie the branches up when they’re green and let them dry into nice tight bundles. Then I mix the ashes in with the leaves to speed the composting. But I live in the North East and brush fires are not a big concern. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-for-something-completely-mundane/576095/5 "2011-03-27T00:46:04Z")
My dad had a strawberry patch that was probably about 60 feet long and four feet wide. They grew on the ground. (Well, a raised area behind a retaining wall.) There were always plenty – too many – strawberries to eat. Every couple of years he’d have the neighbours come over and take some plants home with them. They spread very well. In other news. I helped roomie take the camper shell off of her truck. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-for-something-completely-mundane/576095/6 "2011-03-27T00:47:23Z")
Do those topsy-turvey things really work? I’d really be interested in trying one or three. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-for-something-completely-mundane/576095/7 "2011-03-27T00:48:32Z")
Haven’t tried it yet. I think **Shayna** had one for tomatoes, and it seemed to work well. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-for-something-completely-mundane/576095/8 "2011-03-27T00:53:53Z")
Can’t you bale the yard waste into little compressed bricks of burnable stuff, and “recreationally” burn those? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-for-something-completely-mundane/576095/9 "2011-03-27T00:54:43Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Do those topsy-turvey things really work? > I’d really be interested in trying one or three. Tried it for the first time last year with a tomato plant. Despite loving care for two months, the plant died. This year we’re back to in ground tomato plants. They never fail. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-for-something-completely-mundane/576095/10 "2011-03-27T04:34:18Z")
I’ve grown tomatoes upside down for a couple of years now. Works great, but you do have to water more often. I’ve only grown cherry/plum varieties though. In unrelated, mundane news I successfully replaced the flushing mechanism in my toilet and this required only one additional trip to the hardware store. That’s a personal best, it’s usually at least two trips. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-for-something-completely-mundane/576095/11 "2011-03-27T04:43:24Z")
Ha! I replaced the innards of my toilet last year, and made _no_ additional trips to the hardware store! Worked the first time, too. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-for-something-completely-mundane/576095/12 "2011-03-27T05:19:42Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Ha! I replaced the innards of my toilet last year, and made _no_ additional trips to the hardware store! Worked the first time, too. You probably just did it wrong. Plumbing projects always require at least two trips to the hardware store. Electrical can be done in one, but not plumbing. ---
**Author:** ![JFLuvly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac91a4/32.png) [@JFLuvly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JFLuvly)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-for-something-completely-mundane/576095/13 "2011-03-27T15:48:56Z")
All you need to know to be a plumber: 1. Shit flows downhill 2. Don’t lick your fingers 3. Payday is Thursday Once you know these three rules you are a considered a journeyman plumber. And trust me it’s not hard to spot the apprentices. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-for-something-completely-mundane/576095/14 "2011-03-27T23:39:32Z")
> [@JFLuvly](#): > > All you need to know to be a plumber: > > 1. Shit flows downhill > > 2. Don’t lick your fingers > > 3. Payday is Thursday > > Once you know these three rules you are a considered a journeyman plumber. And trust me it’s not hard to spot the apprentices. Doesn’t ‘measure twice, cut once’ apply to plumbing too? I put two coats of paint on the spare bedroom floor today. Standard dark brown floor and deck paint matched the room colors just fine. I’m thinking about putting polyurethane over the paint. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-for-something-completely-mundane/576095/15 "2011-03-28T04:38:30Z")
You bought 18 strawberries? You know that they spread like weeds, right? 🙂 We transplanted one of the strawberry plants from our old house; it settled in and started putting out runners last summer, so hopefully we’ll get a whole patch going again in short order. Then it’ll be time to start netting them again to keep the damned birds out. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-for-something-completely-mundane/576095/16 "2011-03-29T01:50:12Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > You bought 18 strawberries? You know that they spread like weeds, right? 🙂 I hope so! (Though in the hanging thing, they have nowhere to spread to. I’ll burn that bridge when I come to it.) A squirrel dug up one of the seedlings. I’ve moved the plants inside for now. Roomie locked herself out today. I thought I’d hidden my hideaway key well, but I told her once exactly where it was. She didn’t find it. But she did find an innovative way to break in. She says she’ll fix the interior door she had to break. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-for-something-completely-mundane/576095/17 "2011-03-29T02:45:49Z")
My new dishwasher is installed. No, I didn’t do it. I’m not stupid. I’d probably flood my house if I tried to do it. It works really well. My dishes are shiny. There’s something to be said for appliances that are younger than the adults in the house. I want strawberries. Yum. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-for-something-completely-mundane/576095/18 "2011-03-29T02:47:40Z")
The little tab thingy says they’re ‘June bearing’, so it will be a little while – if they bear at all. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-for-something-completely-mundane/576095/19 "2011-03-29T23:40:34Z")
The strawberries are in the Topsy Turvy, and the Topsy Turvy is hanging from the patio roof. I used a bit of a mixed medium. The bottom of the planter got some old potting soil I had lying about. The soil from the seedling containers went in as I put the plants through the holes. Then I added new potting soil I bought Sunday, along with the plants’ ‘home’ soil. Pretty heavy now that it’s watered. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-for-something-completely-mundane/576095/20 "2011-03-30T02:33:29Z")
I have strawberries. I do not think they are domestic though. Or maybe at one point they were, but no more. They make teeny berries with lots of flavour. I assume they either are woodland strawberries, or they’ve reverted back to woodland strawberries–gone feral! They produce lots of healthy runners, though, so I’ve been able to capture some and start new plants in containers. Maybe one summer I’ll get more than 4 or 5 berries for myself (either the birds or the ug-slugs are getting them first.) I had chicken for dinner, and it’s drizzling. My cupboard doors are still sitting in the foyer, waiting for another coat of primer. They’ve been down since October. My household projects go much more slowly than other peoples’. :::end of mundane report::: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-for-something-completely-mundane/576095.md?page=2)