Re: more about soil: was re: Vegetables Without Vitamins - Rhonda

[Guest guest]

you

might also need lime or calcium, rock dust, other nutrients,

etc....it's

really a huge list.

Hi everyone

I'm still a bit new here, but thought that this might be a good time

to mention 2 books I've checked out at the library and read

recently. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but...

Fateful Harvest, by Duff (finalist for the Pulitzer Prize)is a

very good book on chemical fertilizers and the harm they do to the

soil, crops, animals and humans. As it's put on the back of the

book, " This is Brockovich squared. " Talk about scary! And this

isn't an isolated incident, it's not even just national, it's global.

I mention it here because of the possible need for lime or calcium,

etc in your own backyard veggie gardens. This book is about

industrial waste (hazardous waste) being recycled (legally) into

fertilizers, complete with many, many heavy metals. BTW, doesn't

crushed egg shells add calcium to the soil? I'm using them mixed

into the soil for the tomato plants to help with blossom end rot.

And I'll bet they add other goodies to the soil too. The shells are

from local free range chicken eggs.

The other book is Fast Food Nation, by Schlosser and is an

expose on the beef industry and the making of french fries.

These two books go hand in hand for exposing the truth about chemical

fertilizers, agri-business and the very real need to buy or grow

organic. Even if your organic produce isn't quite as nutritious as

it used to be, it's still the best choice out there. And even in a

post stamp sized back yard you can grow at least some veggies. We

have about 160 sq ft of garden beds and have tomatoes, potatoes,

onions, 3 different kinds of peppers, squash, green beans,

cantaloupe, pickling cukes, plus we have 3 mature blueberry plants in

containers, plus 12 more 2 yr old plants that by next year will be

producing blueberries, plus wild blackberry vines along the back

fence. Now, I know this isn't enough to sustain us. But it's just

the 2 of us now and I'll put up some of this at season's end.

There's something very gratifying about growing your own. The rest

we get from the local organic grower's outdoor market and the health

food store. I know(!) that it's higher in nutrition than the

commercially grown, and more than that we are avoiding the possible

heavy metals from the chemical fertilizers used on cropland across

the USA.

Rhonda

[Guest guest]

if you were me, what would be your next step? if you give me a list of

things to do to get optimal soil, I'll probably just feel overwhelmed

and

maybe do nothing.

,

We are doing 2 things for our veggie garden that don't take much

effort...

1. We are applying crushed egg shells from the free range chicken

eggs we buy from our local organic grower's market. The eggs have

beautiful dark yellow-orange yolks, so have lots of Vit A and

probably have plenty of calcium and other minerals in the the

shells. Each morning I rinse out the white from the shell and set on

a paper plate on top of the refrig to dry out. They go in a bag till

I have the time to pulverize them in the food processor. Makes a lot

of noise and shell *dust*. I put several handfuls in the planting

hole where my tomatoes are being transplanted to. I'm not totally

sure on this, but I think they are supposed to add calcium to the

soil, and help to prevent blossom end rot. I know it won't hurt the

plants as I've done this before with success.

Anyway, it's not very overwhelming to save those eggshells from

breakfast and apply to your soil.

2. Also, we gather bags of oak leaves in the fall from the

neighborhood before the recycling trucks come to haul them away.

These can be incorporated into the soil in the fall and are then

broken down sufficiently enough to plant in the Spring. Any leftover

leaves can then be used as mulch to protect from the summer heat.

Leaves come from trees whose roots grow deep into the soil and

hopefully will contain much nutrients. Or that's my theory anyway.

Hope some of this helps. The main thing is to just get started.

Even if it's only a little plot at first. Then you can add more

later. We are renting and so our yard is small. The first areas to

be done were two 4 x 4 raised gardens. The lumber was given to us by

a friend who was going to throw out the 2 x 12s! 3 years later, we

now have about 160 sq feet of veggie garden. And lots of containers

of colorful roses and perennials. A real cottage garden look. If

you are buying your home, you'll have the satisfaction of adding more

each year and watching it grow into something wonderful!

Rhonda

[Guest guest]

>2. Also, we gather bags of oak leaves in the fall from the

>neighborhood before the recycling trucks come to haul them away.

>These can be incorporated into the soil in the fall and are then

>broken down sufficiently enough to plant in the Spring. Any leftover

>leaves can then be used as mulch to protect from the summer heat.

>Leaves come from trees whose roots grow deep into the soil and

>hopefully will contain much nutrients. Or that's my theory anyway.

If you have chickens, another method is to move a coop over

some patch (grassy or otherwise) and feed the chickens in that

patch. Throw straw in there every few days. They will eat the bugs,

and kill the grass. It's a great way to raise chicks (they can't go

free range til they are big enough the cat won't eat them) or meat

chickens (by the time they are big enough that the cat won't eat

them, it's about time for the freezer).

By the time a couple of months are over, you have a nice thick

layer of stuff. Throw some bricks or wood around it, add a

layer of dirt, let it sit for a bit, and voila! new garden area.

Another quick and dirty way to make compost is to half-bury

a trash can in the ground, with no bottom. Toss stuff in there

and put a lid on to keep the critters out. When it gets full,

add some dirt to the top and let it sit for awhile. The worms

come in from the bottom and eat stuff. You can put these

right in the garden, if you want, and when you remove the bin

the nutrients are right there in the soil. I'm not sure about

the plastic the can is made from though.

In Europe I hear the tradition was to just bury garbage right

in the garden, between the rows. Just dig a hole and bury it.

The worms come to eat the garbage. Just bury it deep enough

to discourage rats and cats and dog (I do this with bones, no

critter has dug them up yet).

-- Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

....It's a great way to raise chicks (they can't go free range til they are big

enough the cat won't eat them) or meat

chickens (by the time they are big enough that the cat won't eat them, it's

about time for the freezer).

I was visiting a small property recently that had a mother hen with 5 little

chicks that were roaming around loose in the yard. I said 'but wouldn't the cat

get the chicks' and the answer was that the mother hen tells the cats what's

what - in no uncertain terms.

Cheers,

Tas'.

[Guest guest]

>I was visiting a small property recently that had a mother hen with 5 little

chicks that were roaming around loose in the yard. I said 'but wouldn't the cat

get the chicks' and the answer was that the mother hen tells the cats what's

what - in no uncertain terms.

>

>Cheers,

>Tas'.

Yeah, I think if you have a rooster and a broody hen things are a lot

easier! We've thought about it, but the roosters scared the

kids too much (and us, for that matter) ... they attack, and their

spurs were right at eye level for the kids. If we make a chicken

pasture and keep them in it we might change our minds.

The cat sure doesn't mess with the chickens though. The feral

cats don't either.

-- Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

>>>The cat sure doesn't mess with the chickens though. The feral

cats don't either.<<<

I think the biggest worry around here would be Tasmanian Devils - these ones

http://www.tasmanian-devils.org/ not these ones http://tazworld.com/ . But I'm

sure the chickens will be OK if they're locked up at night.

Cheers,

Tas'.

[Guest guest]

>I think the biggest worry around here would be Tasmanian Devils - these ones

<http://www.tasmanian-devils.org/>http://www.tasmanian-devils.org/ not these

ones <http://tazworld.com/>http://tazworld.com/ . But I'm sure the chickens will

be OK if they're locked up at night.

>

>Cheers,

>Tas'.

Is " Tas " perhaps short for " Tasmanian Devil " ? There was a great

cartoon character of one!

The coyotes get some of our chickens now and then, and we

have to lock them up when one is hanging around (they will

get them during the day too). In some parts of the country

the alligators get them.

-- Heidi Jean