Living organic soil from start through recycling

[ClackamasCootz]

That's what gives artisan breads their flavors - enzymes and increased fungi colonies.

Bread Baking 101

BTW this Corn Bread includes chopped hominy for texture. Use this bread for grilled-cheese sandwiches with Velveeta 'cheese food' and you'll never miss Twinkies going away...

LOL

CC

 

[cyat]

Hey Coot,
wondering if you alternate neem and spinosad sprays, and what dose per gal of neem do you recommend?

 

[Gascanastan]

That's what gives artisan breads their flavors - enzymes and increased fungi colonies.

Bread Baking 101

BTW this Corn Bread includes chopped hominy for texture. Use this bread for grilled-cheese sandwiches with Velveeta 'cheese food' and you'll never miss Twinkies going away...

LOL

CC

Madness.....

I got sick of Twinkies @ 17 when they started tasting like industrial mechanical lubricant and candle wax..."Hey,these aren't organic man"

 

[Gardens Keeper]

I always try to use a good amount of mycelium in my breads, heh.

For those interested in getting their insect on here is some good info on Rove Beetles. They do bite, but its not too big of deal and they are not really aggressive in my opinion. I have actually found these in my soil before (and been bitten) just did not know what they were.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in272

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Hey Coot,
wondering if you alternate neem and spinosad sprays, and what dose per gal of neem do you recommend?

cyat

I use 4 tsp. of neem oil, emulsified with 2 tsp. of Pro-TeKt to 1 gallon of water and I add 1/4 cup of aloe vera juice before spraying the plants.

Shake the tank after you add the aloe vera to activate the Saponins to make things foamy or something close.

CC

 

[ClackamasCootz]

I got sick of Twinkies @ 17 when they started tasting like industrial mechanical lubricant and candle wax.

When the Twinkie story broke a couple of weeks ago one of the news web sites had a list of the 37 ingredients used in Twinkies.

Talk about a toxic waste dump!

CC

 

[Gascanastan]

Rove beatles rock it...on an extreme level. I believe if you have an ongoing compost pile they will naturally find it....considering they are in your region. Not sure if they would eat a Twinkie or not....

I have not had any arrivals since building my pile,but she's a young pile.

 

[Gardens Keeper]

I am definitely going to add them to my normal bug collection I find these amazing as well and of course they eat pollen as well as thrips and almost every mite you can think of:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in639

I am guessing they are a good food source to keep the Rove Beetles around longer and propagate much faster. We will see Oh, the things that get us excited...I just love being able to watch Aliens vs. Predators everyday in my garden who need Ultimate Fighting Championship when you got these massive wars going on. Talk about good kickboxing...lol.

 

[Gascanastan]

I am definitely going to add them to my normal bug collection I find these amazing as well and of course they eat pollen as well as thrips and almost every mite you can think of:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in639

I am guessing they are a good food source to keep the Rove Beetles around longer and propagate much faster. We will see Oh, the things that get us excited...I just love being able to watch Aliens vs. Predators everyday in my garden who need Ultimate Fighting Championship when you got these massive wars going on. Talk about good kickboxing...lol.

I have used predator mites w/success a few times. You really have to get to know them if you want to have them around and working.
Most people who buy predators usually buy them when they already have a massive infestation....then when somewhere in mid-flower they go to release them and see little success at controlling the damage before it's time for chop they claim it as ineffective.
Got to be on the ball early and get the breeding population of predators going...and they work. ..in parable mites are like prostate cancer..gotta get that shit early boys~

 

[Gardens Keeper]

Yes, if you are not using enough to combat the problem you are not going to win. Most of the time I see people say they have not had success they use predators that aren't mobile to combat mobile predators or use predators that only stay on a certain area of the plant and not in conjunction with others that stay on many different areas of the plant. Research must be done. I.E. lady bugs are not going to win vs fungus gnats...They cannot get to the root ball or even in the soil.

Some mites stay high on the plant some stay low. Some predators stay on the outside of the soil only or are too big to get into the root ball while others go everywhere! Do your research! I swear I have not had to use a single chem in several years, but for when my colonies collapse or I do not have money to buy new predators at a new location. Sometimes spraying is cheaper, but I've always found predators 100x's more effective with no second guessing whether or not they worked.

Also, since neem seed, karanja seed, DE, and crab shell meal are in a lot of people's mixes you need to make sure these do not effect the predator you are trying to use. Neem and Karanja are really a much more cost effective way to control a multitude of predators, but also kill certain beneficial so careful if you tend to rely on beneficials like me. Nematodes and low dwelling predator mites especially stand almost no chance in the mix at the beginning of this thread or in mixes with DE that you let dry enough to allow it to work. (http://www.neemfoundation.org/neem-articles/neem-updates/impact-of-neem/neem-in-nematode-management.html)

I live in a bug hell hole so I tend to use alternatives to DE, Neem, Karanja, and Crab Shell meal. When I use those I still get fungus gnats! I have no idea how to contain them, but I am going to try (and 3 different types of mites and several thrips also all year here) all year around. Usually the mites never come around with those amendments and a neem spray, but there is a low dwelling thrip that none of that seem to effect and the damn fungus gnats are just impossible without hypoaspis miles /shrug. To me having 100% buffer against crop failure works so I just stick to what works for my region. I am trying to find a way to use the mix in this thread that will contain the fungus gnats because I can just use spinosad on the thrips, but it just did not work last time when I was experimenting and this is winter, lol...

 

[Durdy]

I work at a Bakery making artesian sour dough breads. our culture is 20 years old. I've never used or even heard of diastic malt powder. We use barley malt in some recipes, are they at all similar?

The majority of the breads we make are just flour(of varying kinds), water, yeast culture (cultured for 2-3 days before use) and salt at varying ratios with some added goodies here and there(rosemary, olive oil, barley malt, ect ect).

 

[MileHighGuy]

For cannabis you are probably better getting soil/compost from a wild grass or weed area. More liklihood of the correct mycorrhizal fungi, etc.

Please everybody don't make a habit of this unless you find an area scheduled for development. There is a reason why the forest does not need fertilizer.

Wild Grass, Elk Dung and Cow Pie were all right in the same area. I was excited about the variety of Aspen Leaves to pine leaves.

I barely took any and was careful to sample several areas... if all goes well this mix will be in use for a very long time.

I figure I'll add about 5 gallons of this to my big ol pile and all will be well.

I also added a tiny bit to my compost tea tonight.

4 gallons water
1/3 Cup Molasses
1 cup Compost and EWC mixed
.5 cup Forest Duff Stuff
2 Teaspoons Fish Emulsion

Now in about 48 hours I'll be using this brew on my soil

 

[ClackamasCootz]

I work at a Bakery making artesian sour dough breads. our culture is 20 years old. I've never used or even heard of diastic malt powder. We use barley malt in some recipes, are they at all similar?

The majority of the breads we make are just flour(of varying kinds), water, yeast culture (cultured for 2-3 days before use) and salt at varying ratios with some added goodies here and there(rosemary, olive oil, barley malt, ect ect).

Durdy

Diastatic Malt = Barley Malt

CC

 

[QuentinQuark]

QuentinQuark

Gypsum - Calcium & Sulfur
Epsom Salts - Magnesium & Sulfur
Sul-Po-Mag - Magnesium, Sulfur and Potassium

All are mined mineral compounds and are 'approved for organic food production'

For a soil already mixed then using Sul-Po-Mag may be your best option as it's water soluble though it takes a bit of coaxing to get there.

Add 1 tablespoon to 1 gallon of water. Shake it around several times over a day or so and you'll have most of the crystals dissolved. A cheap, cheap air pump (like under $10.00) and an airstone helps by getting the crystal pieces to bounce around. Walmart, Target, etc. have these toy air pumps so there's no big investment required.

Do not hi-dose - excessive Magnesium will put your soil into a tailspin - big time.

CC

Thank you kindly CC. I've decided to scrap coco coir as the inert base, stick to peat.

 

[QuentinQuark]

A friend just told me they've been using barley as a cover crop in their outside garden. Plant, Grow, cut down, and leave it where it is. Been thinking about doing some in my raised beds. any inputs or suggestions about this idea?

...I would assume the height of the barley may present a problem indoors...outside yer fine.. I know vetch and rye grass stretched a bit inside,I had to keep cutting it back. Crimson clover seems about right for an indoor.

I'm certain he was talking about outdoors... hehe cover crop indoors. Although I did watch a bio-intensive vid recently that mentioned a cover crop that was super short, like 4 inches. If anyone's interested let me know and i'll track it down and pass it along.

 

[QuentinQuark]

Crustacean Meal

I wouldn't spend too much time on the crab meal. Getting neem meal into your soil mix is far, far more important.

KIS Organics sells organic neem meal in any amount you need and they have a solid deal on shipping charges. They are also the go-to source for neem oil (certified organic)

CC

CC, all I see on the website is neem cake, is that what you're talking about?

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Durdy

The reason that I used the term 'diastatic malt' is for those who want to try the power of barley enzymes and using this name at a home brew store the folks there would direct them to 'diastatic malts' vs 'non-diastatic malts' all of which are made by germinating/sprouting barley seeds.

For bakers the highest amount of enzymes is the goal so that after the barley is sprouted it goes into an oven at a very low temperature for the 'malting cycle' thereby keeping as much of the enzymes intact as possible. For this type of barley malt it's more about drying it than anything else so that it can be ground to a powder that you've used at the bakery.

In the beer world the germinated barley is roasted and different 'malts' will have different roasting times and temperatures. This roasting caramelizes the sugars giving you a variety of flavor profiles to choose from. At a certain point the roasting kills the enzymes and the sugars in the grain are converted to Maltose. These are referred to as 'non-diastatic malts' in that paradigm.

The easiest way though is to simply sprout raw barley seeds, soak the sprouted seeds for a couple of days, drain and dilute and apply to the soil. The potential enzymes playing major roles in maintaining soil health are – amylase, arylsulphatase, β-glucosidase, cellulase, chitinase, dehydrogenase, phosphatase, protease, and urease. These are found in most grass seeds - wheat, rye, barley, kamut, spelt, etc. Legumes are another source to consider using.

HTH

CC

 

[Gardens Keeper]

Yes it is often called cake.

 

[ClackamasCootz]

CC, all I see on the website is neem cake, is that what you're talking about?

In the USA the term most often used is 'meal' - around the rest of the world the term is 'cake' - I have no idea why that is.

LOL

 

[QuentinQuark]

Quentin - Are there any Local Worm Guys that you can contact and ask them to ship a batch for you?

Google and Look for people that sell worms for bait or anything besides the bagged stuff... it might save you some money and be really good stuff.

Here is the first google result for worms in ontario Canada.

http://www.wormcomposting.ca/

Thanks for the tip.

I have been watching kijiji but the worm sellers on there are pretty flaky, never email you back etc.

I send a message to the wormcomposting.ca people, asked them what the worms are fed and how fresh the castings are, if they're sprayed/sterilized etc. Will post here when I hear back.