Comments on: Composting

By: Alfred

Alfred — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:36:26 +0000

Great article. Just wanted to point out a concern on using cow and horse manure. Many of the non-alfalfa hay producers, at least in the south, use herbicides wich contain picloram (Grazon P&D) or a deriviative such as Clopyralid, or aminopyralid (Grazon Next). These are very effective broadleaf herbicides BUT they have an incredible residual effect even after being processed through livestocks digestive track. We tested 7-10 year old dry cow manure that was cleaned out of some working pens. All the cows were grazed on pasture treated with Grazon P&D plus fed hay fro mfields treated with same. We rototilled 4 inches of this old manure into a vegetable garden – it looked wonderful. It took us almost 9 months to figure out what was happening to our tomatoes, beans, peas, and peppers. All these plants had distorted and disfigured leafs, stems, etc. First thought was a virus. Later we did a bio-assay and found out it was the residual effect of picloram. Incredible after all this time and after being digested. Manufacturer claims it does not have such a long residual but legumes, tomatoes and others from same family are very sensitive. Also be careful when using hay as mulch or buying compost from questionable sources. If in doubt start some tomato or pea seeds in 4″ pots; use three without the compost or hay and six containers with the questionable compost / hay. Watch for disfigured leaves / stems. Hope this saves someone the heartache we witnessed. Happy Gardening. AgVerra – Growth As Nature Intended(tm)

By: aquaponics

aquaponics — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 06:46:51 +0000

Fantastic freshly picked tomatoes from my aquaponics garden, delicious. Every survival plan should include a garden and the aquaponics helps put it in less space and vegetables grow so fast.

By: Marc

Marc — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 00:54:58 +0000

Great site for the urban gardener.
A word of warning about the type of woods used to build your compost bin. The picture at the top of this post shows a compost bin made up of old shipping pallets. The re-use component is great but there is possible contamination issue. Pallets are often made of wood treated with pretty nasty chemicals such as pesticides, anti-fungals, etc. Using these for composting presents a risk of the chemicals leaching into your compost and then making their way onto your dinner plate.
The same thing goes for using material like old fence posts.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:33:16 +0000

How would I start and maintain my barrel planter? I was given one but am unsure of how to use it.
Thanks for your time, I love your site!