Rosemary Dip

For those of you fortunate enough to have fresh rosemary, this is a must!

Now doesn't this sound good?

Rosemary Dip
2 cups Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Rosemary flowers or flowering tops, chopped
1/2 cup Walnuts or Hazelnuts, finely chopped
1/4 cup heavy Cream
1/4 teaspoon Salt
Pinch Sugar
Crackers

Allow the cream cheese to soften; add the Rosemary flowers or flowering tops, nuts, cream, salt, and sugar. Blend together with a wooden spoon;chill. Serve with crackers.

Having Faith

You know that tomato plant I was really starting to fear wouldn't do anything? Well, he has friends! We have tomatoes! Those little suckers sneaked up on me and man we're just proud of them. I called my father almost immediately and told him and he boasted that he'd picked five today. Well, I'll see his five with my two organically grown any day!

This little guy was getting a spray down with kelp and DE when we noticed he managed to hide the fact that his blooms turned tomatoes sometimes last week.

I'm pleased as punch. I should have never doubted my poor tomato plant. Now if only I could get the bell pepper to do more than look like a tiny blade of grass.

More on Kelp

Why good soil is so-o-o important

You'll want to share this bit of wisdom with all your friends: Healthy soil is the



How ocean plants help earth plants

Seaweed, which originates from the ocean's garden, is one of the best materials for an earth garden. For one thing, kelp helps stimulates soil bacteria. This, in turn increases fertility of the soil by humus formation (which feeds on the bacteria), aeration and moisture retention. Let's look at some other ways that kelp helps:

Seed germination is improved

Fruits and vegetable have a greater nutritional value

Plants develop more extensive root systems, which means healthier foliage, flowers and fruit

Plants have a greater resistance to nematodes, disease and pests.



Where, oh where to find seaweed

If you live near the ocean, then you have it made. By the truckload or bucket, any amount of kelp is a bonus.

Seaweed also comes in a variety of commercial products, as a liquid kelp extract, as a dried kelp meal or blend. Kelp, for example, is the main ingredient in PlanTea, the patented, organic plant food in tea bags. After brewing a batch of PlanTea, you can use it as a concentrate or diluted as a foliar spray. Each 3 x 4-inch tea bag makes 5 gallons of foliar spray.

How to apply seaweed

You can apply fresh kelp directly to the soil (some people suggest rinsing it to remove the sea salt, but for the past 20 years I've never found it necessary). Arrange it as a 2 to 4-inch mulch layer or include it in the compost pile. Seaweed decays quickly because it contains little cellulose. What's nice too, is that you don't introduce weed seeds with seaweed mulch.

You can also apply kelp as a liquid fertilizer at the base of plants to reach the root zone, add it to a drip irrigation system or as a dilute foliar spray. In recent tests at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, soil sprayed with a seaweed solution had 67 percent to 175 percent more roots than untreated soil.

To make your own liquid kelp, add a couple handfuls of seaweed to a 5-gallon bucket of water. Stir the concoction daily for a few days, then strain and dilute it using the ratio of 1 part kelp liquid to 2 parts water.

Any sprayer or mister will work, from hand-trigger units to backpack models. The best times to spray are early morning and early evening, when the liquids will be absorbed most quickly. Spray the tops and bottoms of leaves until the liquid drips off the leaves.

According to Rodale's All-New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening, sprays of seaweed extract can help prevent plant diseases. "They work by improving the overall health of the plant." Such foliar sprays (liquid fertilizers sprayed on plants) are up to 20 times more effective as a way to supply nutrients when the soil is poor quality or when roots are stressed from transplant shock or suffering from extreme heat and drought conditions.

As people become more sensitive to environmental issues, the need for organic gardening methods plays a critical role in our health and the health of the planet. The use of kelp--a natural, renewable gift from the ocean--helps us with our efforts in the garden. What could be nicer?

From http://www.plantea.com/seaweed-kelp.htm

Vinegar in the Garden

Grow beautiful azaleas: Occasionally water plants with a mixture of two tablespoons vinegar to one quart water. Azaleas love acidic soil.

Kill grass on walks and driveways. Pour full strength on unwanted grass.

Kill weeds. Spray full strength on growth until plants have starved.

Increase soil acidity.

In hard water areas, add a cup of vinegar to a gallon of tap water for watering acid loving plants like rhododendrons,gardenias, or azaleas. The vinegar will release iron in the soil for the plants to use.

Freshen cut flowers. Add 2 tablespoons vinegar and 1 teaspoon sugar for each quart of water.

Prolong the life of flowers in a vase. Add two tablespoons of vinegar plus three tablespoons of sugar per quart of warm water.Stems should be in three to four inches of water.

Neutralize garden lime. Rinse your hands liberally with vinegar after working with garden lime to avoid rough and flaking skin.Clean pots before re-potting, rinse with vinegar to remove excess lime.

Fertilizers

In the world of growing sustainability making your own fertilizers is a good idea. Its a simple thing and much more fulfilling than running down to the local market and buying something that can actually burn your skin if you leave it in contact with it for too long.

I found this article on Kelp and Fish Emulsions:

How do you make homemade Fish/Seaweed Emulsion?

WHY FISH AND SEAWEED PRODUCTS?
As you may know fish emulsion, fish meal, seaweed/kelp meal, and liquid seaweed/kelp are some of the most powerful natural fertilizers and soil amendments in the world.
NOTE: For those organic gardeners who prefer vegetarian soil amendments, you can skip the fishy ingredients, it's not necessary. There is plenty of NPK in alfalfa meal and other grains that you can use.

Most commercial fish emulsions are rated NPK = 5-1-1. Most commercial liquid seaweed sprays are rated NPK = 0-0-1.

Even though these NPK ratings to a novice may seem low, there are lots of important trace elements, growth hormones, disease control, and organic matter in these products.
Fish Emulsion is mainly used for its quick high organic nitrogen and available soluble P and K benefits as a foliar feed. Fish Meal is mainly a great soil conditioner and great bacterial food to help feed the soil microherd. Even though there may be 4-5% organic N, 1% soluble P, and 1% soluble K in fish emulsion, there may be up to 6-8% total N, and 2-3% total insoluble P or K in it, that gets broken down later by the soil microherd. Most commercial fish products are made from the trash products of the menhaden fish. This fish is a relative of the herring, sardine, and anchovy fishes. Most commercial fish emulsions contain up to 5% sulfuric acid in order to preserve the fertilizer on the shelf, but also it supplies needed sulfur to the plant and soil. Most economical fish products do not contain any fish oils in it, which supply extra beneficial soil fungi. Most also do not contain much fish bones which supply extra calcium.

Seaweed/Kelp has a low NPK = 0-0-1. However, just like the fish products and all other natural fertilizers, there are more insoluble NPK nutrients and other trace elements in the product than meets the eyes. There may be up to 1-3% total N, 1-2% total insoluble P, 3-5% total insoluble K in seaweed products. The real benefit of seaweed is not in its NPK amounts. Seaweed/kelp can contain 60 trace elements, many growth hormones, and disease control properties in it! Basically every nutrient that any surface plant can ever need! If seaweed products are mixed with high N products like fish, you have an excellent complete natural fertilizer and soil amendment that will supply every NPK and trace element need of the soil and plant. Seaweed and other algae plants are some of the most powerful plants on earth, or should I say in the ocean. Seaweed is also an excellent food source for beneficial fungi in the soil.

WHY MAKE IT HOMEMADE INSTEAD OF BUYING IT COMMERCIALLY?

A. It's cheaper to make most natural fertilizers and soil amendments in large quantities.

B. There are some nutrients that you get from homemade versions that are not in most commercial brands. For example, commercial fish emulsion since it is processed from trash fish, will have less fish oil, fish bones, and proteins than fresh fish parts or canned fish in a homemade brew.

C. Aerobic bacteria and fungi are essential to hot composting, disease control, and soil health. In commercial fish emulusions there no little to no aerobic bacteria in the containers. If there were any growing and living in the containers, the bottles would explode on the shelves! Homemade brews always will contain more beneficial microherd than most commercial brands.

HOW DO I MAKE A HOMEMADE BATCH OF FISH/SEAWEED EMULSION:

You can use the following suggestions to the other suggestions in the Organic Gardening forum FAQ's on Compost Tea recipes when you brew these fish/seaweed foliar sprays or soil drenches.
You can use fresh fish parts or any cheap canned fish. The juices, sauces, or oils in the can can be used to breed beneficial microbes and supply extra proteins in the tea, so use it.

(NOTE: If you use canned fish products, you may want to let it decompose mixed with some finished compost, good garden soil, etc. in a separate closeable container for a few days before using. Since most canned meat products contain preservatives, this will guarantee that the good microbes in the tea will not be killed off or harmed in brew making.)

You can use any fresh or dried seaweed. Fresh seaweed has more N in it, but that really isn't important for seaweed teas. You can buy fresh or dried seaweed at most oriental grocery stores. Seaweed decomposes better if chopped up or liquified first in water before brewing.

If you are using fresh fish, you need to compost it separately in a 5 gallon closeable bucket. Fill bucket 1/2 full with extra browns like sawdust, leaves, or straw. You can add molasses to the fishy mixture in order to build up microbes in order to speed up decomposition. The sugars will also help control odors too. Open the bucket and stir the fishy paste daily or every other day in order to get air in the mix for better decomposition and better aerobic microbial growth in the emulsion. Let this paste rot for at least 1-2 weeks. The browns help control offensive odors and absorb organic nitrogen from the fish so that it is not leached out or evaporated.

Since commercial fish emulsions contain sulfur in the form of sulfuric acid, if you like you could add 1-2 tblsp of Epsom salt to the mix for extra magnesium and sulfur. Or to mimic the acidity of sulfuric acid and add extra trace elements you could add 1-2 tblsp of apple cider vinegar to the mix. NOTE: Recent studies have shown that unsulfured molasses or dry molasses powder is best for faster microbial growth in tea brewing.

You can now safely take the decomposed fish paste from the 5 gallon bucket and add it to your regular hot composting piles or add it to your special compost tea recipes. The more vegetable or fruity organic matter that you add to fishy compost the better you remove the offensive smells and the more trace elements you add to your compost and teas. This of course is optional.
You can add molasses or brown sugar to your teas also. Sugars are high carbon substances that not only can cause speedy microbial growth, but also sugars are an excellent natural deodorizer.
At this point you may want to decide whether you want to make a simple tea or an aerobic aerated tea for your needs.

When you make fishy tea, you need to add the seaweed at brewing time. Let it brew for at least 1 week, stirring every few days. If you decide to brew it aerobically with an air pump, try up to 3 days, or until the brew has a "yeasty" smell, or has a foamy top layer on the tea.

You can apply this fish/seaweed emulsion at a dilution rate from 1:1 to 1:5 ratio (5 gallons of tea to 25 gallons of water).

If you like, you can add a few drops of mild liquid soap per gallon as a wetting agent to get better coverage as a foliar feed at application time. (NOTE: If you are concerrned that using soaps may harm the beneficial microbes in your teas, you may want to just use liquid molasses, dry molasses powder, fish oil, or yucca extract as a spreader-sticker.)

You can use this tea as a foliar feed or as a soil drench or both. Soil drenches are best for building up the soil microbial activities and supplying lots of beneficial soluble NPK to the plant's root system and the topsoil texture. Foliar feeds are best for quick fixes of trace elements and small portions of other soluble nutrients into the plant through its leaves. Foliar feeds are also good for plant disease control. Foliar feeds work best when used with soil drenches or with lots of organic mulches around plants. You can poke holes in the soil around crop roots with your spade fork, to get more oxygen in the soil to further increase organic matter decomposition and increase microbial activity in the soil.

Remember all your homemade fertilizers and soil amendments can be as diverse and unique as you are. So have fun and keep composting!

Happy Gardening!

Entered by CaptainCompostAL

In conjunction with this, I've read that a lot of gardeners have huge successes with Comfrey tea. Just fill an empty water butt with comfrey leaves and let them decompose, topping off every 6 weeks or so. After a couple of months it produces a very dark, thick liquid which we dilute with water (about 40:1) and use as a feed. It also smells, but not quite as bad as the 'comfrey tea'.