Bokashi update!

I've been very impressed with my bokashi! When ever I have kitchen veggie scraps I add them to a 5 gallon bucket and sprinkle a cup or so of bokashi overtop. I then cover the bucket with a lid. Once the bucket is full, I add it to my commercial composter. I now have thousands of worms and the compost quickly turns into soil.

Bokashi, EM and mycorrhizal update

I filled my first bucket of veggie scraps and bokashi. I then added it to my sealed composter. In less then 3 days the temperature in the composter became very hot and I saw the pile decrease in size by at least half. Now, 2 weeks later, the temperature has come back to normal but the pile has attracted lots of worms and other beneficial insects. I am so impressed with how the bokashi put the compost into hyper drive!

My roses that I added mycorrhizal too are looking very healthy. The few carpet roses that did not receive this treatment started getting blackspot. I sprayed my EM onto the infected leaves and a few weeks later lots of new growth have began and the blackspot is virtually eliminated.

See below for a great link on composting and sheetmulching!

http://podcollective.com/fora/viewtopic.php?t=628

Why flowers have lost their scent: an interesting, disturbing article!

WHY FLOWERS HAVE LOST THEIR SCENT
By Geoffrey Lean
The Independent
April 20, 2008

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/why-flowers-have-lost-their-scent-812168.html

Pollution is dulling the scent of flowers and impeding some of the most
basic processes of nature, disrupting insect life and imperilling food
supplies, a new study suggests.

The potentially hugely significant research -- funded by the blue-chip US
National Science Foundation -- has found that gases mainly formed from the
emissions of car exhausts prevent flowers from attracting bees and other
insects in order to pollinate them. And the scientists who have conducted
the study fear that insects' ability to repel enemies and attract mates may
also be impeded.

The researchers -- at the University of Virginia -- say that pollution is
dramatically cutting the distance travelled by the scent of flowers.
Professor Jose Fuentes, who led the study, said: "Scent molecules produced
by flowers in a less polluted environment could travel for roughly 1,000 to
1,200 metres. But today they may travel only 200 to 300 metres. This makes
it increasingly difficult for bees and other insects to locate the flowers."

The researchers -- who worked on the scent given off by snapdragons -- found
that the molecules are volatile, and quickly bond with pollutants such as
ozone and nitrate radicals, mainly formed from vehicle emissions. This
chemically alters the molecules so that they no longer smell like flowers. A
vicious cycle is therefore set up where insects struggle to get enough food
and the plants do not get pollinated enough to proliferate.

Already bees -- which pollinate most of the world's crops -- are in
unprecedented decline in Britain and across much of the globe. At least a
quarter of America's 2.5 million honey bee colonies have been mysteriously
wiped out by colony collapse disorder (CCD), where hives are found suddenly
deserted.

The crisis has now spread to Europe. Politicians insist that CCD has not yet
been found in Britain, but the insects have been declining here too, and the
agriculture minister Lord Rooker has warned that "the honey bee population
could be wiped out in 10 years".

The researchers do not believe that they have found the cause of CCD, but
say that pollution is making life more difficult for bees and other insects
in many ways."

Comfrey and other gardening developments!

JDH has inspired me to add a new, long over due, post. So I will talk about a very dear plant: comfrey!

Comfrey is very high in calcium, potassium, phosphorus, Vitamin A & C. All this great nutrition is for the soil, although I understand the young shoots can be eaten. The best way to add this nutrition to the soil is to add comfrey leaves to the compost pile. The green leaves are high in nitrogen which quickly breaks down. Many people have complained that the underground tubers are invasive and will take over garden areas; I have yet to see this as I tend to pull the leaves often, controlling the plant. Leaves are pulled away from the stalk, as if you are pulling a piece of celery away from the main stalk. If the stalk is cut off, there is a tendency for the stem to rot which may affect the whole plant.

I've been dividing the comfrey in late winter and slowly using it to create a border between the lawn and the garden. The other plant that is a good divider is clover. Depending on the climate Crimson clover will die in the winter and will have to be replanted in the spring. The crimson flowers are a huge draw for the bees and love them almost as much as they love comfrey's purple flowers.

This year I've tried a number of new gardening ideas:

1) Mushrooms. These are the legal kind! Shitaki mushrooms can be grown in your own backyard and this is what I am attempting. I purchased a number of mushroom plugs from (you guessed it!) a mushroom grower! I had to cut down a living alder, drill numerous holes, place the mushroom plugs snuggly into the holes and cover with melted beeswax. The 4 foot logs (I made 3 mushroom logs) are then placed in an area that is moist and gets very little or no sunlight. I placed evergreen bows over them and made sure that they would still be able to get rained on as moisture and shadows are important. Now I just have to wait for 6 to 18 months and if luck has it, i will start to harvest shitakis! The log should continue producing mushrooms twice a year for 3 years. Stay tuned.

2) EM. I purchased a bottle of EM (Essential microorganisms) and have begun the process to extend the liquid by adding organic molasses, water, sea salt, rock powder and ceramic powder. This mixture needs to stay warm for 4 weeks. The mixture is then used as a good organism to fight bad microorganisms, fungus and is a great composting agent! My main goal for EM is to use it to create my own Bokashi. No, bokashi is not another kind of mushroom but rather a composting technique.
Once my EM is 'extended' I wil then mix wheat bran and EM, more molasses and allow this mixture to ferment. Once fermented I will add this mixture into my kitchen veggie cuttings. I will cover the veggie scraps with this 'bokashi'/wheatbran/EM mixture. This allows the veggie scraps to ferment rather than decompose. Decomposition attracts flies, and can cause odor. Fermentation avoids this. Once fermented I will then add this all to the compost pile. Worms love it! Plus it introduces essential microorganisms to the soil. A good healthy plant begins with a good healthy soil!

3) Mycorrizal fungi. I'll have to double-check to see if I am spelling this correctly. Mycorrizal fungi has a symbiotic role with roots of plants. It's the same technique as innoculants people use for growing peas and beans. I'll post more about this in another post.

Organic fertilizer!

Most chemical fertilizers and pesticides, herbicides & fungicides kill the micro-organisms living in the soil. Many people call 'living soil' the "Web of Life".

Micro-organisms help the roots access the nutrients in the soil. Having these micro-organisms attract other insects which attract ground beetles, birds and frogs. A living soil is rich in life; worms help break down organic material, as do many insects, and create wormholes which increase drainage. Their castings can be measured in the tons per acre! By applying well-composted compost on top of the soil every spring and fall encourages all these life forms to interact and grow. By using chemicals, most of these lifeforms are killed which creates a domino affect throughout the 'web of life'.

Unfortunately, mainly in the last 50 years homeowners have been told to buy numerous amounts of chemicals and fertilizers. Many of the fertilizers leach, quickly past the roots and onto the watertables and out into our lakes and oceans. We were shamed to have nothing less than a lawn that you find on a golfcourse green.

Today, more and more people are ripping up their lawns and replacing them with edible and indigenous plants that have been bred and acclimatized to their region. Starting with these disease-resistant, hardy plants is an important step in creating a healthy garden.

The first step to having a healthy garden is having great healthy soil. This means to add compost at least once a year, in the spring. Green cover crops are grown to ensure no 'bare' spots are left over winter. Green crops can build the soil with nutrients and organic material as well as stop the disease and pest cycles that occur when the same vegetable are grown over and over in the same location.

Rotate your crops! Divide your yard or property into sections and grow similar plant families in each plot. Many of the plants have different nutrition needs, so many people start one plot for the heaviest feeders, that need the most nutritious, high pH soil. Ther lowest quality soil in one of the beds otr location is devoted to plants that are 'light' feeders or plants that can give back to the soil, like the legume family (peas, beans, vetches, broadbeans). Or potatoes or buckwheat can be grown in these poor soil conditions. If growing potatoes make sure the conditions are more acid and do not add lime. Potatoes are a great way to convert a lawn into beautiful soil, ready for whatever your planting scheme is.

I lay down straw (not hay which has seeds) directly over the lawn. I put down a good 3 to 4 inches. Then I cover the straw with 3" of soil and then place the seed potatoes on top of the soil. I then cover the potatoes with another few inches of soil, and then cover the soil with another 4" of straw. As the potatoes begin to poke up through the staw I lightly cover the new growth with more straw. I continue doing this throughout th growing season. In late August, I can start reaching through the straw to pick the amount of potatoes I need. It is important to allow the roots get any light as it will turn the tubers green, which is toxic. Always cut off any 'green' part of a potato before preparing it for food.

In the early fall, I remove all the potatoes and quickly plant winter rye and a winter vetch. In the spring, these plants will take off, so unless you want to leave the soil fallow for another year, I would cut the plants down and gently hoe them into the soil. In a few weeks, plant a new crop, like peas or fava beans. All the grass and weeds will be converted into a beautiful rich organic material, attracting many beneficial insects and worms.

Many of todays organic growers rely on great compost, while others make their own organic fertilizer. This is a very simple and inexpensive way, especially if you buy the 'ingreiants' from a farmer's feed supply company. You will need to buy organic Alfalfa meal, kelp meal, dolomite lime, garden gypsum, and calcium carbonate.

Mix together: 4 parts of alfalfa meal, 1/2 part of dolomite lime, 1/4 part gypsum, 1/4 part calcium carbonate and 1 part of kelp meal. Some people substitute the kelp meal for rock phosphate or use 1/2 part kelp meal with 1/2 part rock phosphate.

Apply 1 cup per 10 sq. ft. Buy your ingrediants in minimum 50 lb. bags. Garden centres will sell an organic mix or these ingrediants in small 5-10 lb bags but the cost will be a lot more expensive.

This post is getting long so I will add one more point before I sign off:

Attract beneficial insects! Plant feverfew, borage, fennel, parsley, shasta daisies, sedums, elderberries; plants that have small flowers. Allow these plants to go to seed too. These plants attract ladybugs and numerous other insects that attack pests.

Have a water source, like a small pond or a dish of water and lay burlap so the insects and bees don't drown. In the Fall, leave some leaves in a pile and hollow dry stems, with rocks, sticks or ornaments that allow these insects to over-winter.

A Walk in the Park.

Yes, even Cityboy Farmers need recreation! Yesterday, I took my two pals out to our neighbourhood park.