As you can see, things have gotten a little out of hand in the garden. However, I just take the borderline invasive growth as a compliment. I know that I'm providing a more than suitable organic environment for these plants (weeds included). I've harvested numerous peppers--jalapenos, bell, and chiles-- and there is much more on the way. I recently picked a few ripened tomatoes, but I have yet to sample them. The corn that is done is mighty tasty, but I'm still waiting for some of it to mature. I'll type more when I have some time. I need to go weed and water!

Picture Update

Just thought I'd share some highlights from the garden this week. 

Late cucumbers are better than none at all.

Jalapenos ripening up

Strawberries on the way.

Heads have appeared!

Chile peppers

Tassels

Catnip

Compost Tea: A Gardener's Best Friend

I just thought I'd share a good compost tea recipe for those of you who might be interested in putting the information to good use. It's easy to make, its easy to apply (you can even dilute your initial batch heavily since you won't microbial life instead of liquid nutrients), and it works wonders on plants. It can applied as a foliar spray, a soil drench, or it can be strained and used in a pump sprayer. If applied as a foliar spray, one should wait until the sun is down and the plants are in shade, as the microbial life cannot withstand direct sunlight and high temperatures.

Here's a simple recipe and "how to" for a 5 gallon batch. Everything that is not listed as optional is an absolute must.

• 5 gallon water: • reverse osmosis (RO) water, rain
water, distilled, etc
• 5 teaspoon unsulfured black strap molasses:        
Be sure to use only the unsulfured
variety. This is because sulfur kills microlife, especially
fungus (unless it's elemental sulfur in very
small ratios).
·5 teaspoon liquid fish fertilizer (2-3-1) (optional):
Fungus and bacteria both love fish ferts and go nuts
reproducing when it's included.
• 5 cup earthworm castings (vermicompost) or
good outdoor compost: Vermicompost provides
humates, enzymes, protozoa, nematodes, bacteria, fungus,
trace elements, secondary and primary nutrients.
• 5 teaspoon kelp meal (optional)

This recipe should suffice for most vegetable gardeners as it will foster high bacteria populations. Most, if not all, vegetables prefer a bacterially dominated soil and will always respond kindly to a helping of compost tea.

Step 1:

Worm castings and compost not shown.

Gather materials-- bucket, air pump (a 10+ gallon aquarium pump will do), tubing, air stone, worm castings or compost, and any other amendments you may want to add.


Step 2:
Add everything and give it a good stir.

Step 3:
Aerate for 24 to 48 hours stirring every once in a while.
 
 

Rain!

Rain is a relatively simple phenomenon that many people take for granted. However, I'd be willing to bet every gardener/farmer in the area does a rain dance every morning in an attempt to better their odds . Yes, rain showers in Illinois have been few and far between lately, and that's why it's imperative to cash in on these occasions. Collected rain affords the organic gardener a plentiful supply of chlorine-free* water that can be used for making compost teas and normal waterings. I'm happy that I finally got a rain barrel hooked up so I could reap the benefits of the momentous occasion.

I'll post some compost tea recipes and perhaps a little "how to" in the near future. For now, I rest.

*Chlorine kills the microbes present in compost (and soil) and inhibits them from multiplying.

50 gallons of overflowing goodness

Recent Pictures

Before

After Mulching

                              

Red Bell Peppers

Early Girl Tomato (?)

Jalapeno Pepper

Unknown Tomato that found its way to the garden

Garden Journal

This blog has officially been transformed into a journal for this year's organic garden, which (thank god) is in our back yard. Last year the garden was located on some family owned property and suffered from being so far away from me and a water source.

This years garden currently consists of the following: (~16) True Platinum sweet corn, (9) four-fifty muskmelon, (3) Hale's best cantaloupe, (3) strawberry plants, (8) Stupice tomato, (2) store-bought tomato plants, (2) Jalapeno pepper, (1) Tobasco hot pepper, (2) red chile pepper, (6) Sugar Baby watermelon, (2) regular watermelon, (4) Bush Champion cucumber, (8) Nutri-Bud Broccoli, Catnip, and Zinnias. I'm probably forgetting a couple things but you get the idea.

Most of the plants were started from seeds that were directly sown in the garden, but some are store-bought. I did not have the luxury of starting plants inside this year, so some are still a little young.

I transformed a portion of our back yard into a small garden beginning in April. Sod was torn, soil was tilled, peat moss was added, compost was added, fencing was established, and seeds were sown.

Every aspect of the garden is completely organic; by this I mean that I am utilizing true living organics, which in its most basic form means teaming with the beneficial microbes in soil. Instead of using bottled chemical fertilizers (which devastate microbial life) or bottled organic fertilizers (which aren't truly organic), I rely solely on the immense biodiversity present in compost and naturally maintained soils. The only "fertilizers" I have used are in the form of compost teas and natural soil amendments. However, these things do more for the microbes in the soil than the plants themselves. It is the microbial life that does all the hard work for me. As long as they are kept happy, they will keep the plants happy. This might seem foreign to newcomers, but there is plenty of science to back this up.

Plants produce root exudates which are basically signals of nutritional requirement for microbes in the soil to react to. When a plant sends a signal, the microbes respond in delivering whatever the plants desires, such as higher levels of nitrogen (mostly produced by beneficial bacterias) or perhaps phosphorous (mostly delivered via fungi) in the fruiting season. By feeding the microbes instead of the plants with organic goodies such as alfalfa meal, neem meal, soybean meal, fish hydrosolate, kelp meal, and a plethora of other amendments, they are more than ready to produce whatever my plants desire.

I regularly water with compost teas, which, in their most basic form, consist of earthworm castings or compost, water, and an energy source. These teas allow the beneficial microbes in worm castings and compost to multiply (with constant aeration) so that they can be introduced to soil in high numbers, establishing biodiversity.

Lastly, this project is a movement of mine towards self-sufficiency so that I can decrease my dependence on mass produced, factory farmed, nutritionally deficient food that we as consumers are force fed. 

Now that I've given you the basics, here are a couple pictures starting from the beginning of the season. I'll post more recent pictures very soon!