Posts tagged as:

Nutritents

Using The Ordinary To Cultivate The Mysterious Power Of Beneficial Indigenous Microorganisms

August 26, 2010 Compost

Lisa M. Hamilton reports on RodaleInstitute.org,
Like a cut-rate magician, Philippine farmer and scientist Gil Carandang teaches farmers how to use cheap vodka, generic brown sugar, milk, rice and local soil to harness local microorganisms as invisible workhorses on their farms.
Who wouldn’t be suspicious? Right from the get-go this workshop is promising cure-all concoctions that bring [...]

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Why Compost Tea Gets A Bad Name

August 22, 2010 Compost

Some scientists and college professors criticize and put down the use of aerated compost tea. Why? First they analyzed compost tea that was made with inferior brewers that didn’t aerate (inject oxygen) the brew enough. Then they analyzed tea that was brewed using inferior compost that had manure in it with the possibility of creating [...]

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Deep vs Shallow Organic, And Why Gardeners Need To Know The Difference

August 14, 2010 Compost

Colleen Vanderlinden writes on the PlanetGreen.com site,
Eliot Coleman is an organic farmer, author, and agricultural innovator. He farms, year-round, in Maine, thanks to systems he’s developed for taking advantage of certain plants’ ability to grow even in the most frigid temperatures. In his latest book, The Winter Harvest Handbook (a fabulous read, by the way) [...]

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Feed the Soil, Not the Plants

August 8, 2010 Compost

Jared R. McKinley reports on the DrWeil.com News site,
The concept of organic gardening is NOT new. In fact, the use of chemical fertilizers and poisons are the new concepts, which really became the norm over the course of the twentieth century. Why did we start using such chemicals? To make a long story short, we [...]

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Some Trees ‘Farm’ Bacteria To Help Supply Nutrients

July 30, 2010 Orchids

The web site ScienceDaily.com reports,
Some trees growing in nutrient-poor forest soil may get what they need by cultivating specific root microbes to create compounds they require. These microbes are exceptionally efficient at turning inorganic minerals into nutrients that the trees can use.
Researchers from France report their findings in the July 2010 issue of the journal [...]

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Tomato Tutorial For Confused Growers

July 29, 2010 Organics

resh picked, locally grown (preferably in your backyard) tomatoes are probably one of the best tasting items any foodie can eat in the late summer months. If gardeners in Alaska can grow tomatoes, gardeners anywhere can grow them. Jeff Lowenfels writes about growing tomatoes in Alaska in the Anchorage Daily News,
As a result of all [...]

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Organic Agriculture’s New National Resource for Farmers And Ranchers Brought To You By eOrganic

July 19, 2010 Environment

This new national resource, created by the eOrganic Community of Practice, is for farmers, ranchers, agricultural professionals, certifiers, researchers and educators seeking reliable information on organic agriculture, published research results, farmer experiences, and certification. The current content is focused on general organic agriculture, dairy production, and vegetable production. The content is collaboratively authored and reviewed [...]

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Bacteria Flee When Relatives Start Dying

June 30, 2010 Compost

A new study related to the soil food web shows living bacteria starting fleeing when relatives start dying in nearby colonies as Indiana University News Room reports,
The deaths of nearby relatives has a curious effect on the bacterium Caulobacter crescentus — surviving cells lose their stickiness.
Indiana University Bloomington biologists report in an upcoming issue of [...]

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Manure Provides Higher Returns Than Chemical Fertilizers, Economist Says

June 29, 2010 Environment

From Sciencedaily.com,
No significant differences in corn yield were found between organic and chemical sources of nutrients, but a Texas AgriLife Research economist said manure generates higher economic returns than anhydrous ammonia.
Dr. Seong Park, AgriLife Research economist, recently had his research published in the Agronomy Journal. The work was from studies he conducted in the Oklahoma [...]

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Gardening Companies’ Sponsorship At Music Festivals

June 13, 2010 Environment

The Growing Edge post yesterday highlighting Gardener’s Supply Co. sponsorship of the Bonnaroo Victory Garden is just one example of gardening companies’ sponsorship of music festivals. General Hydroponics (Reggae Rising, Muddy River Jam Festival) and Technaflora (Bonnaroo, All Good Music Festival, Moe. Down Festival and Phish Tour) both sponsor and have display booths at music [...]

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