CompostaBlog

Organic gardeners all know compost is fantastic stuff. But now, there’s something even better and that’s compost tea. If you start with a good compost you’ll have a versatile elixir for all your garden needs.
Compost tea helps prevent foliage diseases and at the same time increase the nutrients to the plant and shutdown the toxins hurting the plants. It will improve the taste/flavor of your vegetables. So why not give this tea a try either by buying it or brewing it yourself. You won’t believe the results!

Four ways that good bacteria work:

Help compete for the nutrients

Dine on the bad varmits

Help produce antibiotics to use against the varmits.

They shove the bad varmits out.

Compost tea that is correctly brewed has a wealth of microorganisms that will benefit your plants’ growth and health as well as the soil that they live in. Compost tea can be considered yogurt for the soil. The microorganisms living there are both good and bad. What the tea does is make sure the good guys win by introducing helpful bacteria, fungi, protozoa and beneficial nematodes.

Harmful bacteria lives best in soil that does not have good air circulation. Good bacteria lives best and will thrive in soil that is well ventilated with oxygen. This is where a good compost tea, made the right way, comes in. When you have well oxygenated compost you automatically get rid of 3/4 of the bad varmits. Also by using harmful insecticides or chemical fertilizers we reduce the number of beneficial microorganisms in the soil.

Plants produce their own energy and food and half of that goes to the roots and some of that goes into the surrounding soil and guess who gets that? Correct, the good guys, and then it turns into a beneficial cycle.

The following is taken from the internet and shows compost tea is becoming a force in gardening.

National Organic Standards Board Compost Tea Task Force Report April 6, 2004 Introduction In 2003, the National Organic Standards Board convened a Compost Tea Task Force to review the relevant scientific data and report their recommendations on ‘What constitutes a reasonable use of compost tea?’ The Task Force was composed of 13 individuals with knowledge and expertise in organic farming practices, organic certification, EPA pathogen regulations, compost, compost tea production and analysis, plant pathology, food safety and environmental microbiology.

Throughout their discussions, members consistently acknowledged the growing interest among certified organic and conventional growers to use compost teas, and the need to develop effective biologically-based tools to manage plant fertility, pests, and diseases.

A primary reason for producing compost tea is to transfer microbial biomass, fine particulate organic matter, and soluble chemical components of compost into an aqueous phase that can be applied to plant surfaces and soils in ways not possible or economically feasible with solid compost.

Article Source: Sustainable Living Articles

It is becoming more and more obvious these days that we need to recycle as much as we can, and anyone with a garden has a head start and can make a great contribution. To many novice gardeners, including myself, this subject can be somewhat difficult to grasp; but in fact it is really straightforward - there are just a few very simple rules:

You need a compost bin, and the type you decide on rather depends on the size of your garden, but there are a couple of options:

A purpose built plastic bin purchased from a garden centre, not too expensive; and you just fill up from the top and a few months later, you can take compost from a small hatch at the base.

Alternatively, if you can wield a saw and some nails, you can make a wooden slatted enclosure, one metre square - or you can buy them ready made - and cover it with a piece of old carpet to keep the worst of the weather off.

What you can compost:

- all uncooked vegetable and fruit peelings
- teabags, tea leaves and coffee grounds
- egg shells
- dead flowers from the house
- and from the garden, soft prunings
- spent bedding plants, dead leaves, lawn mowings
- spent compost from hanging baskets or containers
- some dryer materials such as shredded pape
- rabbit and guinea pig bedding.

The only thing you have to be careful about is to mix different types of material; if you have too many grass clippings in a big mass, they will turn soggy and slimy, or if there is too much paper and prunings, it will be too dry. So keep an eye on it, especially if you are using the wooden enclosure, and mix it with a fork occasionally.

What NOT to compost:

- all meat products and bones; bread, cooked food - these will attract vermin
- dog or cat waste
- woody material - which takes too long to compost
- weeds - these can ‘infect’ your compost with their seeds
- anything that is non-biodegradable.

And because you won’t always feel like taking a trip to the compost heap when it’s wet or cold or every time you peel vegetables why not keep a lidded container by the back door which you can fill up and then make the trip to the compost bin every one or two days?

Over a period of time - 3 months to 1 year, depending on conditions - all this matter will have broken down into lovely dark brown crumbly compost, which you can fork into your beds and borders. It makes an excellent soil conditioner and can be used as surface mulch, helping conserve moisture and discourage weeds.

You can also convert fallen leaves into wonderful compost. Rake up any leaves from your lawn - you may have to do this several times over the autumn - and collect them from the borders. Put them all into a black waste sack, sprinkle with water, put a few holes around the sack with a fork, tie the top, and leave it in a corner for about a year. What you end up with is known as leaf-mould.

Fran Barnwell is a self-taught gardener, learning through experience in her own garden. Fran understands the difficulties that face new gardeners, and has written The Ultimate Guide to Gardening for Beginners, a successful eBook that helps anyone new to gardening to get started, explaining the basics in easy to understand terms. To find out more and to sign up to receive a free series of articles, go to http://www.NewToGardening.com

Article Source: Sustainable Living Articles

Ant season is on the horizon.

As the ground warms up in the spring, ants who have been dormant in the earth during the colder weather warm up and come to the surface. Queen ants fly off to find new nesting areas…and before you know it, ants are back in our world.

While ants play an important roll in the ecosystem, it is no picnic when they become pests in our world.

But all too often, when people have a pest problem they run to the store and buy a can of toxic pesticide, come home and spray the pest.

Whoa! Let’s step back and take a look at handling ant problems using a least toxic approach.

Perhaps I should first define “least toxic approach.” This term means you try to solve the insect problem with the least toxic material. If that doesn’t work, then you try something a little toxic but not as toxic as poison. You keep trying to solve the insect problem using progressively more toxic substances until you find something that works. Using this approach, the solution to your insect problem can range from doing nothing to spraying toxic insect killer, if that is the only thing that works.

Why should you bother with a least toxic approach? For one thing, studies are beginning to reveal the serious side effects of the overuse of toxic pesticides in our environment.

Did you know that evidence suggests a risk for some types of cancer and even genetic damage from exposure to pesticides?

And perhaps worst of all, children are especially at risk.

Why wait until science finally makes a direct link to damaged genes and pesticides? By that time, the damage could already be done to your genes and those of your children.

You can help protect yourself, your children and our planet by doing your part to be a good steward of our environment right now. One way to do that is to adapt a least toxic approach to pest problems…and that’s what our article series on getting rid of ants is all about.

Chris Wells is the author of How to Get Rid of Ants: 137 Non-Toxic Ways to Get Rid of Ants Using Common Household Items and Products, an 88-page book chock full of non-toxic solutions to ant and insect problems. Go to http://www.howtogetridofants.com for more information.

Article Source: Sustainable Living Articles

These are some of the elements that must be considered in order to really get the maximum potential out of your greenhouse or sunroom: the type of greenhouse you want whether it be a cold house, portable greenhouse, hobby greenhouse a greenhouse kit or a large or a mini greenhouse, the greenhouse construction and it’s foundation type, which greenhouse equipment you will need, which type of greenhouse covering or glazing is best suited to you, and the type of watering, humidity control, heating and air circulation systems that are best suited to your sunroom or greenhouse gardening needs.

First Decide Whether you Want to have Cold House or a Heated Greenhouse. A cold house is the simplest of greenhouses, it is not equipped with any artificial means of heat and thus the growing season is shortened when the outside temperature drops below freezing. It is not possible to grow frost sensitive plants between late fall and the middle of spring unless you provide heat (which would not make it a cold house!). A cold house does extend the growing season from that of the outdoors by trapping the heat from the sun during the day. And it provides a cozy respite for you to work away from the elements of wind and rain, it also protects plants from these same elements too. When you install a heater into your cold house it becomes a true greenhouse and it transforms the hobby of gardening into a year-round hobby. The minimum temperature required to grow greenhouse plants through the winter is 45° F (7.2°C), so be sure to allow for this extra cost for heating to be included in your monthly budget. Also, be sure that when you begin planning for your greenhouse construction that you build it as near as possible to your house as this will reduce costs for digging and installation of electrical wires (and plumbing if you need that too). It is also better for quick access during the winter months if you have your greenhouse closer to your house.

Watering Needs for Greenhouse Plants

As it does not rain inside greenhouses watering is a very important thing for greenhouse owners to remember! But, watering inside a green house is not just as simple as just watering your greenhouse plants everyday. Within soil there are small open air pores that roots depend on for supplying them with nutritious gases. When you water your plants these small air spaces get filled up with water and it, in effect, causes suffocation for roots. When roots suffocate, plants wilt and the most common reaction by gardeners for wilting plants is more watering! Just remember that the watering needs inside a greenhouse are different from the watering needs of your outside garden. Because the green house environment is enclosed a fair amount of moisture does get trapped and thus, less watering is usually required. The best rule for watering plants in your greenhouse or sunroom is: always check the soil before you water, if the soil is dry then you should go ahead and water. And, remember that plants, just like people, do not like being watered with cold water. For plants the ideal water temperature is between 65°F and 80°F (18.3°C and 26.7°C). Anything above 80°F (26.7°C) is too hot!

There are many different alternatives available for watering your greenhouse plants. Among your choices are irrigation systems, drip system, misters, water sensors and a gardener’s best friend the good old watering can. Irrigation systems are wonderful for those periods of time that you plan on being away; there is nothing worse than coming home to dead plants in your green house because your best friend forgot to water them while you were away! A good selection of all of these watering systems is available at online gardening and greenhouse supply stores.

Selecting the Right Seeds and Plants for Your Greenhouse

When it comes to selecting seeds and plants for your greenhouse the biggest deciding factor is your personal choice! You will need to set up your greenhouse interior to accommodate the types of plants that you choose though. For example if you choose to grow plants that require a trellis you will have to install some trellises. Some examples of plants that grow well with a trellis are peas, runner beans, tomatos, cucumbers, watermelon, winter squash, nasturtiums, passionflower, bougainvillea and sweet peas. Some crops are harvested only once and then they are done; for example onions, carrots and radishes. Other crops that need harvesting many times; for example leaf lettuce, strawberries, broccoli and brussel sprouts should be placed in easy to reach places, like at the edges of beds.

Buy a good book on greenhouse gardening so as to learn about the different temperature, water, humidity and pH level requirements of different plants and then make your final selections of seeds and plants. A greenhouse gardener’s book will also help you with the best layouts for your plants and seedlings.

Cid Bus has been an executive in the Hospitality Industry for 15 years. Also a graduate of the NY Restaurant school,and co owner of a catering company. A competitive long distance trail runner x-country skiier, and “green thumber” they can be tracked down at their bed and breakfast Fish Creek House in Southwest Montana

Article Source: Sustainable Living Articles