Category Archives: Compost
Best Tools for Spring Gardeners
There are two effective tools I use in the spring for annual bed prep.
One saves my back. The other turbo-charges my seedlings.
And here’s the link for more info on the Broad Fork I use.
Here’s the Link to get in on this spring’s Food Gardener’s Video Workshop!
Seed Catalogs. Here’s how to use them!
This is the time of year people receive their seed catalogs. Many of the choices made here can lead to success or failure in a home food garden. This video will give you a quick overview on how to approach ordering seeds for your organic garden.
It’s the best time of year to sit back and start planning next year’s garden. So we’ve got a GREAT new gardening workshop series coming up. Keep an eye on your email for our new tutorials and a discount on the video training series we will release in the coming weeks!
Compost-Powered Water Heater
How to avoid aminopyralid in your garden. IMPORTANT
By: George Monbiot
Have you spotted a strange curling disease in your home-grown veg?
Poisoning by the pesticide aminopyralid is once again affecting small producers and amateur gardeners. I am taking action on their behalf.
The effect of aminopyralid on vegetables. Photograph: John Mason
Growing food, for reasons I haven’t quite got to the bottom of, is an intensely emotional process. The satisfaction I get from harvesting a good crop bears no relationship to any value that crop possesses. I take more pride in my fruit and vegetables than in any of the work I do. When the slugs mow down my seedlings, or my watering system fails, or blight knackers my tomatoes, it throws me into a depression which sometimes lasts for days. Continue reading
Be Careful Where you get Compost, Mulch and Manure
Source: Mother Earth News
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| This pea plant shows the cupped leaves that indicate the soil contains damaging levels of a potent herbicide. |
Last fall, our report on manure, hay and compost contaminated with Milestone herbicide (aka aminopyralid), made by Dow AgroSciences) told of 2008’s tragic summer in the United Kingdom, where thousands of gardeners lost their tomatoes, beans and other sensitive crops to manure and hay laced with this potent, highly persistent herbicide. This year the problem has hit home, with U.S. gardeners, organic farmers and commercial growers reporting damaged or lost tomato crops from Milestone contamination. (Aminopyralid is also sold under the brand name of Forefront.)
Why now? “We had the perfect storm to set up the situation,” says Dr. Jeanine Davis, associate professor of horticulture at North Carolina State University and author of several recent extension service advisories about Milestone’s persistent toxicity.
The drought caused animal owners to buy hay trucked in from other areas, and at the same time many people created new vegetable gardens and bought contaminated compost, or hay to use as mulch.”
Davis is now receiving notices daily from growers and extension agents across the country who are seeing vegetables damaged by manure, hay or compost contaminated with Milestone. Tomatoes are highly sensitive; symptoms including curled, cupped leaves and wilting new growth are often misdiagnosed as a virus or disease problem. Continue reading