As much as I hate the end of the season because I no longer have a garden full of fresh tomatoes and veggies, I do get excited about turning all the waste into fresh compost for next season. I figured I might as well show off a small indoor compost project that I'm working on. Typically the smallest size pile for traditional thermal composting is 1 yard, but I'm going to use about half of that amount once it's all chopped up and pressed down.
its come to my attention that many "organic" soil gardeners are gaining interest in what soil really is and how plants naturally grow..so i thought sharing some detailed information on the rhizosphere & interactions within; would help others possibly gain a better understanding on how to really work with the microbes were aiming to culture, instead of buying into the blindly applying "all in one" inoculate trend..
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Now, Fast forward another month and the pepper plant in our mix has produced dozens of 6-10" long solid thick walled and juicy peppers. But the plant on the right is finally starting to produce!!! We added some gypsum and chicken manure with worm castings... not a lot, but enough to make a difference. The plant on the right started to actually green up and grow after we added out stuff.
Here are the photos when I decided to Fix the soil on the right because it was not doing well at all (Competitors Soil Mix)
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Thanks to Patrick over at Gil Carandang's Website for this awesome recipe. To get the full article visit GilCarandang.com
How to Make:
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Agricultural Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate - CaSO4) is one of those rare materials that performs in all three categories of soil treatment: an amendment, conditioner, and fertilizer.
Soil conditioners, such as gypsum, are seriously undervalued compared to fertilizer usage. Dr. Arthur Wallace (Ph.D. Soil Science and Plant Nutrition) and Dr. Garn Wallace (Ph.D. Bio-Chemistry) of Wallace Laboratories in El Segundo, CA, U.S.A., believe that if soil structure ain't right, then nothing is right.
Lets look at it from the plants point of view. The bottom-line question here is AVAILABILITY. How much calcium sulfate (nutrition) is available to the plant to meet its gypsum requirement when it needs it? The same is true with the soil. If it does not get gypsum when it needs it, the soil may compact, prevent water and air penetration, lose its leaching ability and become saturated with salt or other excessive elements harmful to plant growth and health. Then the plant suffers from bad soil conditions.
Poor soil structure is a major limiting factor in crop yield. The bottom line to the many benefits of gypsum is higher yield at a minimum cost.
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Here are 6 examples of growing styles that all claim to have the solution to better food, but do they?
Excerpt from "The Ideal Soil"
#1 The worldwide Organic agriculture movement and its various offshoots have so far only offered simplistic solutions, mostly one simplistic solution: add more organic matter to the soil. This is the school from which this book’s authors come, and most growers with whom we work are organic growers. ―More organic matter is a step in the right direction if the soil is low in humus, but does little to address nutritional deficiencies, especially mineral deficiencies. Yet it is fiercely defended and proclaimed to be ―the answer for everyone everywhere. Is it? No. While essential, soil biology and organic matter are only a part of what makes a healthy soil and nutrient dense crops. Nature is not simple, and simplistic one-size-fits-all answers are not going to solve the nutritional and environmental crises we face.
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I first started using Neem oil because it was recommended to me by a friend as a natural method. Then when I went to the gardening store I was told that I might want to purchase some other type of bug spray because the employee had heard that Neem was systemic. I was new to gardening and asked the girl working there what she meant. She indicated to me that I would ultimately be eating the Neem oil because bug poisons would go into the plant and become part of it. I was worried, but also trusted my other friend so I went ahead and bought the bottle. I laugh now, but I was really concerned, standing there at the gardening store thinking about how Neem might get into my body somehow and hurt me. Fast forward 5 years and I am using Neem Toothpaste, Neem Mouthwash, Neem oil with coconut oil for cuts and rashes after hiking and a million other uses. It smells, but I've grown to love the stuff and have found much cleaner and more potent sources since I first started using neem from the gardening shop. Now, I also like to use Neem cake/meal in my home garden and in my house plants.
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The Exchange Capacity of your soil is a measure of its ability to hold and release various elements and compounds. We are mostly concerned with the soil's ability to hold and release plant nutrients, obviously. Specifically here today, we are concerned with the soil's ability to hold and release positively charged nutrients. Something that has a positive (+) charge is called a cation, pronounced cat-eye-on. If it has a negative charge (-) it is called an anion, pronounced ann-eye-on. (Both words are accented on the first syllable.) The word "ion" simply means a charged particle; a positive charge is attracted to a negative charge and vice-versa.
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This is a follow up to our previous Blog Article on July 16th titled, "Light green and no growth, a trial at soil correction."
Here are the photo's as of July 16th
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You may have noticed that I don't carry certain popular items and there is good reason for that. I'm not here to impart my beliefs on you, but to share information openly and honestly so that you can make the most educated decisions possible. Nowadays it's easier to find out what is in your opiate based prescription pills than it is in your food. When people tell me they're vegan and only eat organic, I sometimes wonder if they understand how most organic fertilizers are made. I would tell them, but I don't want them to starve to death. (For the record, I eat organic as often as possible, but homegrown is the best!)
Lets work our way through the pile of waste products first, and don't forget to check the labels on your favorite bottle of organic fertilizer!
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