The dilemna of the fall cover crop is finally solved

I usually plant a fall cover crop in September and spent some time trying to decide which plant to use. I planted Berseem Clover several years in a row and had good luck with it. It puts a lot of nitrogen in the ground when tilled under and doesnt grow so high as to be unmanagable. However, one winter the temperature dipped down to ten degrees and it all died out, leaving the ground bare and vulnerable to leaching and erosion.

Fava beans are very good ground cover. The fix nitrogen also and are hardy down to 10 degrees. Another plus is that they break up nicely when you till them under. However, they sometimes grow as high as six feet tall which makes them difficult to till unless you weed eat them first.

Vetches are legumes and excellent nitrogen fixers. They should be innoculated before sowing. The one reason I stopped using them was the diffuculty in tilling in the spring. They grow tall, sometimes five feet tall and twine around the prongs of the tiller, making it bind up. So much time is spent stopping and unraveling the vines before continuing the work. I think weedeating first would help, and then letting the crop dry and wilt before beginning to till.

That has been my experience with cover crops. This year I'm taking a chance and using Territorial Seeds fall mix which includes vetch, rye, Australian peas, and clover. I'm hoping that some of negatives will balance each other out like the the difference in cold tolerance, and so I will end up with a good crop to till in in the spring. Territorial Seed has a good selection of different cover crops and a great fall catalogue.

At Fall cover crop

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Organic produce is proven healthier!

This article from Prevention Online magazine makes the point that the nutritional value of produce farmed commercially has been declining for years and continues to do so. The reason for this is that commercially farmed produce is not stressed. It is given food and water to encourage fast growth and large fruit. In the process, the nutritional value drops. Organic grown vegetables grow at a more natural rate and because they are stressed, they produce phytochemicals,

Using USDA data, a study found that broccoli, for example, had 130 mg of calcium in 1950. Today, that number is only 48 mg. What's going on? The researcher believes it's due to the farming industry's desire to grow bigger vegetables faster. The very things that speed growth -- selective breeding and synthetic fertilizers -- decrease produce's ability to synthesize nutrients or absorb them from the soil.

"By avoiding synthetic fertilizers, organic farmers put more stress on plants, and when plants experience stress, they protect themselves by producing phytochemicals," explains Alyson Mitchell, PhD, a professor of nutrition science at the University of California, Davis. Her 10-year study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry showed that organic tomatoes can have as much as 30 percent more phytochemicals than conventional ones.

Not only healthier, but organic produce tastes so much better.

So keep up the mulching, composting, and organic fertilizing! And if you can't produce all your vegies, visit the local farmer's market where you can probably get organic produce more cheaply that in the store.

At Prevention Online

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A big bowl of strawberries is a feast for the eyes and the palate

I love strawberries fresh from the garden and eat them for breakfasts on buttered toast or for dessert. They really demand a lot of care. This wet spring has started some fungla diseases on my plants that have never been seen before. I have "strawberry scorch" and my neighbor has some "grey rot". Nonetheless I just picked a quick half gallon of berries and will be eating them for the next few days.

These two fungal diseases can't be cured by organic spray. The disease site I use mentions copper or sulpher spray to eliminate the infection. My grandkids are coming and I'm not about to spray something on the plants that is a heavy metal, so I will use my regular method, which is to pick off dry dead leaves which carry the fungus. Some of the plants are so scorched I think I'll just dig them up. Then fertilize! The organic gardeners solution to most pests and diseases is just that simple. Feed the plants well; the strong and slightly more resistant will live and be the better for it. The really best way to fertilze is to dig a little composted manure around each plant and pick the weeds while you are there. It's time consuming but you will be rewarded with lush healthy plants and tons of berries.

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Organic Gypsum does seem the best buy

A few blogs ago, I talked about buying gypsum to help break up the heavy clay in my garden and I mentioned that since gypsum was a mineral, it seemed unnecessary to buy organic gypsum. A knowledgeable friend of mine has corrected this misconception. He says gypsum from China could have all kinds of contaminents in it and so it is better to buy American and organic to be sure.

Just wanted to make sure to clarify this error of mine which was posted in a previous blog. Here's more information of the use of gypsum as a soil additive.

"Gypsum alone has profound beneficial effects on soil because of its chemical effects. Gypsum is used to improve sodic soils, to create more favorable solute concentrations in soil, especially after leaching with heavy rainfall, and even to correct subsoil acidity. The combination of gypsum and organics can result in biological improvement of soil more than can organics alone. This is an extremely important aspect of soil quality. The combination of gypsum and water-soluble polymers, including with organics, can maximize the improvement of physical properties to soil. The chemical, biological, and physical properties of soil when improved together with gypsum, organics and water-soluble polymers constitute a triangle for major spoil improvement.

The gypsum triangle results in better quality soil - chemically, biologically and physically. The need for gypsum and other amendments is urgent in the Intermountain West and other arid and semi-arid areas. Gypsum contains both calcium and sulfur; each is an essential plant nutrient; however, calcium does much more than its role as a plant nutrient. Without it in a soluble form, soils would not be tillable. Without it in soluble or exchangeable form, other plant nutrients would not function properly. Soils usually contain considerable calcium in the soluble and exchangeable forms. Some soils also contain large quantities of calcium in the form of lime, but that form is not readily available to plants nor can it improve soil when existing as lime. When soil pH is over 8, the calcium in soil is not soluble enough to be of maximum value for either plants or soil. Large crop responses can be obtained to gypsum when soil pH is high and even under other circumstances."*

*THE GYPSUM, ORGANIC MATTER, POLYMER TRIANGLE
Arthur Wallace Wallace Laboratories
365 Coral Circle, El Segundo, CA 90245

So I'm taking back my generic gypsum and trading it in for some organic gypsum.

At Espoma Organic Traditions Garden Gypsum - 5 lb Bag #GG5

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Earthworm castings have mulitple benefits for your garden

If you are trying to reduce your dependence on chemicals and grow healthier garden crops, then earthwom castings will help you do the job. Earthworm castings are terrific fertilizers and also have some natural protection against fungal disease. A whole spectrum of nutrients are found in the castings that you cannot get with an chemical fertilizer.

The castings are usually made using red wiggler earthworms who digest organic material and excrete these tiny pellets filled with the right stuff. This end product is "super humus" which is extremely fertile top soil properly conditioned for best root growth, containing in rich proportion and water soluble form, all the elements required of the earth for optimum plant nutrition because they contain rich proportions of water-soluble nutrients. Worm castings allow plants to quickly and easily absorb all essential nutrients and trace elements in simple forms, so plants need only minimal effort to obtain them.

Another point in favor of earthworm castings is the high concentration of beneficial bacteria and microbes added to them by the earthworm in the digestive process. These microscopic creatures help different elements of the soil work in conjunction with each other to create healthy, working soil that provides the best possible atmosphere for optimum growth. Another benefit is the ability to improve soil structure. It allows for excellent drainage in soil so roots don't become waterlogged or develop root rot, while also increasing the soil's water retention capacity as they contain absorbent organic matter that holds only the necessary amounts of water needed by the roots and their shape allows unnecessary water to easily drain.

Worm castings are also an effective way to repel white flies, aphids and spider mites & any pest that feeds on plant juices. According to recent studies, applying earthworm castings to the soil around your plants increases the production of a certain enzyme that is offensive to these insects.

So what's not to like here. A perfect fertilizer, soil conditioner and pest controler!

At Wonder Worm Worm Castings - 10 liters

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Beneficial Nematodes kill 230 species of bugs

If your plants start to droop and wilt but have plenty of water, these beneficial nematodes may be the answer. They work on soil dwelling and wood boring insects which are hard to see.

• These microscopic insects will seek out and destroy over 230 kinds of harmful insects, including cutworms, armyworms, rootworms, weevils, grubs, fungus gnat larvae, and many more.


• They are completely safe for people, pets, and the environment, and are compatible with other beneficial insects.


• Beneficial nematodes are shipped live in the box


• They are completely compatible with beneficial insects such as ladybugs, lacewings, and praying mantids and do not harm earthworms.


• They are completely safe for people, pets, and the environment

At 7 Million Live Beneficial Nematodes-Kills over 230 Bugs

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Composted Chicken manure is a great fertilizer and helps build soil

I used to use steer manure which sold cheaply in sacks of 40 lbs. for, well, once upon a time, 99 cents. I used it for years thinking my garden was organic and at some point realized that the fertilizer came from stock yards, where the cattle were crowded together, fed inorganic feed, and given antibiotics so that my organic garden was not at all organic.

Now there are all kinds of organic fertilizers on the market, both steer manure and chicken. I prefer the chicken manure as it's a little higher nitrogen. You can get bat guano which is higher nitrogen, and now I'm thinking there is no way that bats eat badly. That has to be organic. I tried blood meal which is supposedly organic, but then it must come from cows fed organicly. There is another problem with blood meal. In my local, it attracts small animals, like racoons and squirrels, mice, who dig up the soil to get at the very meaty smell of blood. I stopped using it although it is very high nitrogen and acts quickly.

So my last trip to town I bought E.B. Stone Organic Chicken Manure for use on the heavy feeding crops like corn and tomatoes. Some people say tomatoes don't need much feeding, but I find they do much better, more disease resistence and larger fruit with lots of fertilizer.

E.B. Stone has been in business for almost 100 years and they have a full line of plant food for both garden and indoor growing. I like their understanding of organics:

"gardening organically is much more than what you don't do. When you garden organically, you think of your plants as part of a whole system within Nature that starts in the soil and includes the water supply, people, wildlife and even insects. An organic gardener strives to work in harmony with natural systems and to minimize and continually replenish any resources the garden consumes. Organic gardening, then, begins with attention to the soil. You regularly add organic matter to the soil, using locally available resources wherever possible. And everyone has access to the raw ingredients of organic matter, because your lawn, garden and kitchen produce them everyday. Decaying plant wastes, such as grass clippings, fall leaves and vegetable scraps from your kitchen, are the building blocks of compost, the ideal organic matter for your garden soil. If you add compost to your soil, you're already well on your way to raising a beautiful, healthy garden organically."

At EB Stone

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SF Mayor discovers the difficulty of trying to be green

Donning hazmat suits and carrying compost, activists with the Organic Consumers Association paid a visit to Mayor Gavin Newsom at San Francisco's City Hall yesterday. Their grievance? Since 2007 the city has been giving away bags of "organic biosolids compost" to residents to use in their backyard, community and school gardens. But it turns out that the compost is anything but "organic" if you go by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's definition of the word. The compost actually contains sewage sludge.

Biosolids is really just a clever way of saying crap, and the water that went down with it -- it is the byproduct of the water treatment process. And the compost that was given to San Franciscans came from nine counties, which are home to oil refineries, metal container manufacturers, foundries and electronics manufacturers, Jill Richardson writes. Which means there's the potential for the compost to be a noxious soup of chemicals, metals, pharmaceuticals, bacteria, parasites and more.

Definitely not the kind of thing you'd want to be planting your food in. Although using sewage sludge on farmland is not a new or uncommon practice. Richardson writes that in 1992 the Environmental Protection Agency reclassified sludge -- it went from being a hazardous waste to a fertilizer. Which conveniently helps out treatment facilities that are left trying to find ways to dispose of a whole lot of sludge after wastewater is treated. Currently about half of all sludge is applied to farm fields.

And while there are documented cases of animals dying and people being made ill from that very practice, it is still fine by federal and state laws. But it doesn't fly by with the USDA's organic standards. San Francisco's choice to label the compost "organic" has really got residents steamed. Richardson writes that the city claims they meant "organic" not to connote the USDA's program but that it instead "referred to the scientific definition of organic matter as in containing significant amounts of organic carbon." Hm, I'm guessing that might not have been immediately apparent to all the gardeners who hauled away sludge-laden compost. And in a city full of greens, the city almost certainly knew better.

Organic Consumers Association is calling on Newsom, who ironically was named the country's greenest mayor by Organic Style, to stop the "toxic sewage sludge giveaways."

At SF Mayor Green

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Spring Lawns Alive - All-Natural Fertilizer gets your lawn off to a good start

Ah, it was a lovely spring day today. Temperature was 64 and the sun was bright and warm. The garden was still too mucky to work in, so I decided to mow down some of the lawn that has grown high in the last few days. As I've mentioned before, my lawn is not monoculture but is a hodgepodge of whatever will grow, lots of dandelions, plantain and other weeds as well as clover. I like it that way. I fertilize it in the spring and am getting ready to work on the dry dead part of the lawn.

I know some people like to use ammonium sulphate. It's quick; it's easy; it's effective, at least in the short run. But if you have young children or pets who play in the grass, I think it's better to use organic fertilizer. Organics will also help build up soil microorganisms which make for healthy soil. This Garden's Alive product can be broadcast spread.

• produces rich green color.


• improves soil structure.


• increases resistance to disease and insect pests.


• makes more vital nutrients available to grass.

A 20 lb. bag is $27.95 and covers 1000 to 2000 square feet.

At Spring Lawns Alive

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