Posts Tagged ‘Balance’

I would warn you that I do not attribute to nature either beauty or deformity, order or confusion. Only in relation to our imagination can things be called beautiful or ugly, well-ordered or confused.
Baruch Spinoza (Dutch Philosopher of the 1600′s referring to the Tulip Breeding of the time)

Often spring comes and with it a good deal of Turfhead confusion about fertility. It may seem a simple reaction to whatever weather is or is not happening at the time. And certainly, warm or cool season climates have interesting spring weather and interesting challenges. That’s nothing new. So why all the questions, consternation, hand waving and intimate part length measuring that seems to go on every spring? I’ve tried to figure out what causes this and have a few answers.

(by the way, if you haven’t read Frank Rossi’s latest piece on not giving in and being true, I suggest you do that ASAP. Here is the link: Rossi’s True Piece)

Think you maybe remember those late season apps last year, but haven’t really done the math as to how much nutrient really went out? Buzzzzt. Wrong Answer.

1. Turfhead Can’t Or Won’t Remember Last Year (Or Years): I get it. Last summer or any number of memorable summers before it was, on some level, so bad that all you really want to do is forget. But the truth is there have to be some details that you must find a way through the pain and access now. In your efforts to keep your job via your spray rig, what actually went in (or didn’t go in) the spray tank? What went (or again, didn’t) go out in the spreader last fall whilst you were hooked to IV Jack Daniels in your office? Is this Spring’s weather really that different from Springs of the past? Yes, everyone says its different, but is it really and if so, how? I get your brain is fried. But there are and should be records for these kinds of things and its a good idea to do some work with them. Think you maybe remember those late season apps last year, but haven’t really done the math as to how much nutrient really went out? Buzzzzt. Wrong Answer. Don’t know if you have carryover N from last season? Bzzzzt. Wrong Again.

The need to get out there and do something if you’ve been locked in all winter is a strong force akin to getting salmon to swim upstream.

2. Turfhead Listens to Historical Gabbing Rather Than Flying By The Numbers: In making decisions about agronomy, timing has nearly everything to do with success. From our agricultural roots, when to plant and when to harvest are key decisions. But the farmers I know (or turfheads) who really get it, will listen to the tales of “never seeing it this cold” or “never seeing it this warm” at the coffee shop and head to their specific place of business to look at the real indicators. A soil thermometer doesn’t lie. You can package it any way you want into technology, but at the end of the day, that little soil thermometer, if it actually makes it out of the cupholder of your cart more than once a week, can tell you tons about what the real agronomic trend really is. Yes, the calendar is really nice for the planning of the 9-hole Couples Club’s Post Easter Ozzfest, but it won’t tell you if the greens may need some extra incentive to heal when you aerify 2 weeks prior to the event. Close your ears and open your eyes (and again) records. Most of what people say is just plain not accurate, just fueled with excitement or whatever.

3. Turfhead Just Can’t Stand It and Gives In To Performance Art: I get it. Painting tee markers and grinding reels and all that winter stuff just gets old. The need to get out there and do something if you’ve been locked in all winter is a strong force akin to getting salmon to swim upstream. And hey, you are tired of the sales monkey showing up all the time complaining about how slow it has been, so why not pick up that fertilizer a little early and get him out of your office and get yourself into a place of sanity on spreader or sprayer. That sort of thinking usually earns me a phone call or a dozen, wherein we figure out what to do as it snows on the 1/2 pound of N you just put out. There just isn’t any reason to rush into primo grade fertility. I guess this move right here is why I’m such a big advocate of some kind of dormant feeding and in most cases doing it with some carbon in the works. Because nature has this amazing trick of giving us what we need and not always what we want.

Let’s be all Zen and live in the now and what better way to show the world than to simply want more for all your grass children.

4. Turfhead Just Has To Change The Program: Doesn’t seem to matter is last year was complete boon or bust, a lot of us just want to change for the sake of change itself. I mean, gee Wally, you went to all those meetings and trade shows and seminars and they all had cool new stuff to talk about and so, why not try that new product you’ve never even seen before for your first applications. Oh and why trial with it, everyone else is using it, just rock the roll. Makes perfect sense to me. Of course that same thinking runs ships into icebergs, but hey, it’s only grass, right?

5. Turfhead Want More: Hulk Smash! This I get as well. Whatever success you had last year is last year. This is this year and this year is by Gopod gonna be better! Let’s be all Zen and live in the now and what better way to show the world than to simply want more for all your grass children. I get it. I do. This is typical “Type A” behavior. And there are so many of us out there. But the point is that this kind of agression, while being hard on shirts with nice logos when you turn all green and stuff, often makes for numbers 1-4 above to combine in a can of mental spinach that has you pushing for radical May conditions and opening yourself up to a radical summer of no love. There isn’t any reason to go to hard. We can and often we do, but that peaking too early thing has real disadvantages. When the Turfhead combines the Zen of being in the moment and the Tantra of holding back a bit, it’s usually a great combination.

Ok, so what’s the agronomy of this? The practical is pretty simple:

1. Go back into your records and make sure that you have accounted for every 100th oz. of fertility that went out last year, or didn’t (which is usually the case) and think about making some adjustments. Missing the key Potash app. Not so good.

2. Look at the historical weather as it applies to the weather you are having now and make honest assessment. What you will learn is that there are differences and if you can access exactly what they are, you can plan the key applications needed for the times they need them.

3. Soil Temperature doesn’t lie. A few hot days, a few cold days, but what are the soil temps doing? What’s the trend? Invaluable info.

4. Rushing things with Nitrogen rarely works. At the same time, not having any carryover can be a dark hole. Don’t know? Test.

5. Sorry, but spring isn’t the time to be trying something new wholesale large scale. Trials are good. But if you don’t have any experience with it, your spring temptation may lead to summertime disaster.

6. Observe. Things like clipping yield can tell you a ton about timing. Tie this observation into soil temps and historical info and you just might become Amish enough to not believe the hype.

I can’t find a decent picture anywhere of Joel Simmons and it’s too dark to take a good picture, so this will have to do. 

Joel is on a mission. He’s good at it and he’s taken way to much crap for understanding and going all in for a great thing. He’s saying things like “Give Me Humus or Give Me Death” and if you’ve followed anything that I’ve done or said over the years, you know that I believe in this and I live it as well. Joel and I have put our work into play at some pretty cool places and what we talk about and do works. It’s not pipe dreams or entertainment or just a way to sell stuff (oh by the way, neither of us has a Cushy University Deal, so RESULTS have had to count).

So once again, Joel is here, working and talking about Carbon Based Fertility. The Gloves are a little off. Here is something good to read from Joel as to why he is speaking up. And I don’t blame him because those of us in the field have kind of had it with being told that the things we are doing that are working aren’t working. Absurd. Really absurd. And it is such an affront to so many Supers who have worked miracles by looking at things a different way.

I’m stoked to hear Joel speak. I’ve heard it before and I’ll hear it again. I live it. So do my “A” players. That oughta be enough. But because a buch of the AOG thinks they know better because they just wanna be different…it’s not going to be.

This is the time of year when people find reasons to list what they are thankful for.

I’ve never been much for doing what everyone does. And I’m not real big on lists either. The creative types and Perez Hiltons of the world are apt to take the opportunity to list what they aren’t thankful for. Some of them don’t seem to be thankful for much of anything.

In further evolution of the species, a lot of people seem to be thankful for is the ability to miss the annual family show down. The option is to stand in line at Wal-mart all day Thursday for the Black Friday deals.

I’ve got something left over in my brain from Mad Magazine or something like that wherein I often think of things as Hot and Not . You know, kind of an ongoing brew of what’s really happening and what is to dislike.

Here it is in list form, because this blog won’t Vulcan Mind Meld as of yet:

Hot:

1. Apple Products. You can’t deny the innovation.
2. Foster The People. Great band, great guys, including my friend Sean Cimino on guitar.
3. Mini Cooper. If there’s ever a car for the future, the Mini has made a statement.
4. Phosphites. Nothing has made more of a difference in more spray programs.
5. Organic Fertilizers. Never a better time for choices and cost-effectiveness.

Not So Hot:

1. Professional Sports. Yes, you all don’t make enough money—so stop playing and go work in the chosen profession of your college major.
2. The Irrigation Industry. Control Systems=FAIL. (see #1 above for an option). Cost=FAIL (if we are ever gonna build golf again it has to be different).
3. Hybrid Cars. Sorry Prius and Voltheads, but #3 above and the TDI and small turbo engines from VW, BMW and Ford are winners without 900 pounds of battery cells to worry about.
4. General Managers. That’s right, ask for your Super to save the club another hundred grand.
5. Trade Shows. I’ve never really understood them, but even the big ones are on life suppport. Ever meet a vendor that likes a good trade show?

I’m pretty sure that neither one of those lists covers it. But it is a fun exercise to put your mind around. For most people the cold list is much easier than the hot list.

Personally, I have a lot to be thankful for and a lot that needs to change. Isn’t that always the case? Most of all, I’m thankful for the friends and clients that I’m close with. Those people who have embraced Turfheadism, not as a disease to be hidden from our “non Green” friends and unturfheadlike families are unique and wonderful. Who couldn’t be thankful for them and those like them (us)?

I’ve been a little quiet the last couple weeks…..

October was a blur of face melting insanity. If I told you how many hours I worked or how many miles I put on the vehicle, you’d never believe me. And I really don’t care to brag about it amidst a crowd of people that work a zillion hours themselves. Seems pointless. Let’s just say it was crazy busy and really, I like it that way. I don’t know how to do it any other way. Call it work ethic or call it not having a life, but either way, it’s me. 24/7 it’s mostly about work and it pretty much always has been. That state can have benefits and hassles and I know them well.

November crashed into me as if I was being fired on by the DeathStar. Literally, it felt as if my planet just exploded. It started with a little cough and a few small asthma attacks. And every day it built until finally, Photon Cannons at full power were unleashed at me and I knew I was just going to be sick. No big deal. Happens to everyone. Happens to me more often, it seems, but only because I’m out on the road and well…the road contains all kinds of germs and bugs and poisoned ice and clients with sick kids and well, you get the picture.

I’ve noticed my immune system getting weaker over the last few years, but this has been a bit of an eye opener. Sick turned into really really sick which turned into Pneumonia and it’s gotten way more complicated than you really want to hear about unless you are really into medical dramas. Let’s just say that staying home for a few days (or more) wasn’t a suggestion, it became a necessity. In other words: Body. Not. Working. A not so subtle reminder that I’ve been overdoing it for way too many months. And I guess home is better than the hospital.

I’ve talked to a few of you (that is, while I could still talk) and it seems I’m not alone. The bugs are stronger. The days longer. The pressures greater. The results are tougher.

So here’s my experienced reminder to you: Rest. Slow Down. Eat right. Do the right things. Rescue chemistry is just that. The weakened condition of the victim is much more worry than the overpowering invader of whatever bug you may have caught.

As for me, I’ll be fine. My lungs may never be the same after two tours of battle, and that’s a big price to pay. I’ll answer for that, somehow. And perhaps it’s time for me to stop talking about making some changes and actually make them. Not perhaps. It’s gotta happen.

If this is you and it resonates with you… good. If you are all good… good. If you don’t care or think you are a super hero…foul. Get some rest!!

After all…what do we Turfheads really do in the Winter? Right? (Not!)

It didn’t take long. I figured it was going to happen within a couple days, but indeed it was really just a couple hours.

And as a human monkey (and a turfhead to boot), I’m prone to mistakes and even, yes… failure. So when a young (and amazing) superintendent whom I did some soil tests for early in the year wrote me an email today it made for a really good moment of introspective guilt. I don’t want to violate the confidence of personal email communication, but I think he might not mind if I post a couple of sentences.

“I found your comments interesting and it must be very disconcerting to not have clients or people you’ve spent time helping return calls or emails.  I have had the same general experience in my dealings with you this spring and summer.”

Ouch. And I quickly responded with my admission of guilt and my utter cluelessness that I had somehow missed the boat with this particular super. In my mind, I had given someone I perceived to be a good thinker some space to think. And if I missed a call or an email, I honestly can’t remember. That’s really no excuse. And all I can do is offer to make it better.

In my mind, I had given someone I perceived to be a good thinker some space to think…

I knew, when I wrote my previous Zealot post, that I was sticking my neck out. I also knew that a lot of people who know me might be trying to figure out which one of the A, B or C  Supers that they are. And for sure, I never would want to write something like that to be spiteful. After all, Turfheads, above many other forms of life, have the ability to choose. And I respect that. Very much.

Along those same lines, I don’t think that anyone, in any part of any business really should have a sense of entitlement when it comes to respect. Respect is earned and it is a fire that must have fuel added to it by virtue of doing the right thing. So saying to a client, “I do and I do and I do for you and this is all I get”, probably is a way right out of having clients.

I don’t think that anyone, in any part of any business really should have a sense of entitlement when it comes to respect. Respect is earned and it is a fire that must have fuel added to it by virtue of doing the right thing…

Looking inside (way inside), whether I want to believe it or not, I’ve dropped the ball. A bunch. I have this habit of getting my head down, thundering away and keeping all the squeaky wheels oiled.  No matter how hard I work, or think I am working, now and then and sometimes more often, something gets by me. Never happens to you? Please. Sure, I could blame, my ADHD or my other multiple ailments, but in the end, good pitches sometimes get by me.

The email that I got today made me look inside and that’s good. And then I took a look at my rantings for yesterday and it made me understand that maybe I didn’t have the real story or (shudder) know everything.

In the case of Superintendent A, perhaps I did all I could do and that my work was appreciated. I’d like to hear that, but maybe I should trust that his net value is indeed figuring it all out.

Superintendent B may actually like me. And maybe what I should be doing is not really listening or even participating in the gossip.

Superintendent C, indeed has the right to seek out answers and again, it would do me well to remember that a friend is way more important than a client.

I also had to look at why all the angst and upset. Clearly things had been getting to me. And for me it comes from the fact that every day I get up and I want to help. I want to be a part of things. I want to be involved. It’s in my DNA. But I also had to look at the fact that I perhaps had let some opportunities to help slip by. I hope that by being vulnerable to put this out here, you might see the same. And I’m sure I might hear from some others saying “are you kidding… what about you?” or “were you talking about me?” I ’m honored and thankful for anyone who would care enough to write.

My email reminder today definitely helped me see that maybe I might spend some time looking at what I have and maybe less about what I have not.

Here is Spring and that means Summer has the throttle twisted in a pre-run burnout and is headed our way. Summer means all kinds of things to turfgrass managers. Long days, different grass types and their needs, kids out of school and their needs, long days, golfers, irrigation issues, long days and of course, long days. For almost all of us, it is make or break time.

Why am I talking about this now? I have seen clearly that successful summer survivors are always months ahead of the game as it comes to preparing. One superintendent who was always way ahead of the curve explained that if he didn’t start sending his turf “telegrams” way before the dog days, then the turf would never get the message. Brilliant. Think about it, when the environmental stress of the Spring is low, you have control of how and what kind of pre-stress conditioning to implement. The need for accuracy isn’t as great. It’s a great time to experiment a little and see how far you can take things. It’s an important time to plan and be real about what your current situation is.

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One hit on the inhaler. Nothing. Second hit. Nothing. I can’t catch my breath, can’t stop coughing. I feel my knees getting weak. Mouth open. Hit number three. Nothing. This is it. I’m gonna freaking be the only human monkey capable of being stupid enough to die at the medical clinic. Thinking. I really don’t want to do this in public.

I duck into the mens restroom. Stall is open. Grab a big hunk of wall. Hit number four on the Albuterol. And I finally sort of get a breath. One more. Then another. I stumble/shuffle out of the building, looking, I’m sure, like a large unshowered coughing spitting Sasquach. In my car and all I can think to do is drive the 10 min. home and never ever visit a medical facility again. It didn’t seem so bad, going in for a chest Xray and 15 min. later, it seemed like I wasn’t going to make it home. Ever. Read the rest of this entry »