How not to be a salt farmer or a wasteful grower tips

[budnoob3]

Hi,

I read a lot online about various growing methods and nutrient regimens and can’t help but notice how expensive it can be to folllow most of the guidance. It would do us all well to look back to the past and gain understanding of how it was done before you had the option of running to the store or clicking on Amazon to find your favorite organic soil, nutrients, etc. I hope to create a place where we can share the information that’s been handed down generation to generation and even some more modern DIY solutions that can save you $100s if not thousands of dollars.

Tip 1:
When it comes to organic gardening and preparing your soil, aside from the well known use of using compost, amendments, and drainage materials as well as worm castings, did you ever not think, why am I spending hundreds of dollars on worm castings when worms can be harvested for free or bought for a fraction of the price? That’s right, worms generate their own body weight in casings on a daily basis so why not colonize your garden or containers with worms, it’s also a great idea to add worms to your compost piles. I generally start with a group of 10-15 worms in a 10 ga container for example and they manage their own population based on size of their environment so no worries about having too many or too few. Plus by having a constantly replenishing supply of casting you’ll never have to buy a bag of castings again as long as you can keep them above 40F year round. The other benefit is it will prevent you from having to continually buying new soil. I still use perlite get to buy way less because what I have already accumulated will never go bad, so I only get when expanding the garden or raised beds.

Please share your thoughts and feedback. Stay tuned for Tip 2…..

 

[bluter]

nice post brother.

i'm curious - do you own your own home or some land ? organics are always far more achievable when you have those circumstances.

 

[Bill284]

Hi,

I read a lot online about various growing methods and nutrient regimens and can’t help but notice how expensive it can be to folllow most of the guidance. It would do us all well to look back to the past and gain understanding of how it was done before you had the option of running to the store or clicking on Amazon to find your favorite organic soil, nutrients, etc. I hope to create a place where we can share the information that’s been handed down generation to generation and even some more modern DIY solutions that can save you $100s if not thousands of dollars.

Tip 1:
When it comes to organic gardening and preparing your soil, aside from the well known use of using compost, amendments, and drainage materials as well as worm castings, did you ever not think, why am I spending hundreds of dollars on worm castings when worms can be harvested for free or bought for a fraction of the price? That’s right, worms generate their own body weight in casings on a daily basis so why not colonize your garden or containers with worms, it’s also a great idea to add worms to your compost piles. I generally start with a group of 10-15 worms in a 10 ga container for example and they manage their own population based on size of their environment so no worries about having too many or too few. Plus by having a constantly replenishing supply of casting you’ll never have to buy a bag of castings again as long as you can keep them above 40F year round. The other benefit is it will prevent you from having to continually buying new soil. I still use perlite get to buy way less because what I have already accumulated will never go bad, so I only get when expanding the garden or raised beds.

Please share your thoughts and feedback. Stay tuned for Tip 2…..

Alternate water source has saved me a fortune.
I pump straight from a trout stream.
Saved me $60.00 a month in water and sewer costs.
Rain barrels and mosquito dunks are another way to go.


Stay safe
Bill284

 

[budnoob3]

Alternate water source has saved me a fortune.
I pump straight from a trout stream.
Saved me $60.00 a month in water and sewer costs.
Rain barrels and mosquito dunks are another way to go.


Stay safe
Bill284

I do exactly the same, stream out back and rain collection

 

[budnoob3]

nice post brother.

i'm curious - do you own your own home or some land ? organics are always far more achievable when you have those circumstances.

That’s a long story but yes I do have access to land but I’ve been doing this a long time and had the benefit of a grandpa that had an amazing garden since I was small, and he raised chickens etc. and taught me a great deal. I’ve done all of this whether it be an apt, my own house and land or friends/family property.

 

[Azimuth]

There are a number of us that keep compost piles and worm bins. I make my own nutes from plants I mostly grow in my garden, and my own soil using those inputs. Lots of ways to get it done.

 

[budnoob3]

Hi,

I read a lot online about various growing methods and nutrient regimens and can’t help but notice how expensive it can be to folllow most of the guidance. It would do us all well to look back to the past and gain understanding of how it was done before you had the option of running to the store or clicking on Amazon to find your favorite organic soil, nutrients, etc. I hope to create a place where we can share the information that’s been handed down generation to generation and even some more modern DIY solutions that can save you $100s if not thousands of dollars.

Tip 1:
When it comes to organic gardening and preparing your soil, aside from the well known use of using compost, amendments, and drainage materials as well as worm castings, did you ever not think, why am I spending hundreds of dollars on worm castings when worms can be harvested for free or bought for a fraction of the price? That’s right, worms generate their own body weight in casings on a daily basis so why not colonize your garden or containers with worms, it’s also a great idea to add worms to your compost piles. I generally start with a group of 10-15 worms in a 10 ga container for example and they manage their own population based on size of their environment so no worries about having too many or too few. Plus by having a constantly replenishing supply of casting you’ll never have to buy a bag of castings again as long as you can keep them above 40F year round. The other benefit is it will prevent you from having to continually buying new soil. I still use perlite get to buy way less because what I have already accumulated will never go bad, so I only get when expanding the garden or raised beds.

Please share your thoughts and feedback. Stay tuned for Tip 2…..

Tip #2
Hmmm, I wonder what might be a a good source of calcium or potassium? Well I could go out and spend money on these fancy bottled nutes, or say to myself hey you dumb dumb, don’t egg shells have a lot of calcium, or bananas and banana peels have a lot of potassium? These things aren’t just great sources for the compost pile, grind em up and help feed your worms, beneficial microbes etc. Worms love garbage, generate castings, and if you’re a plant worm poop is delectable - more accurately the microbes that help convert that poop to the beneficial nutrients love it. So when you say to yourself “eat poop and die” that’s exactly what you want for your plants, fruits and vegetables. More to come

 

[budnoob3]

Tip #2
Hmmm, I wonder what might be a a good source of calcium or potassium? Well I could go out and spend money on these fancy bottled nutes, or say to myself hey you dumb dumb, don’t egg shells have a lot of calcium, or bananas and banana peels have a lot of potassium? These things aren’t just great sources for the compost pile, grind em up and help feed your worms, beneficial microbes etc. Worms love garbage, generate castings, and if you’re a plant worm poop is delectable - more accurately the microbes that help convert that poop to the beneficial nutrients love it. So when you say to yourself “eat poop and die” that’s exactly what you want for your plants, fruits and vegetables. More to come

More on nutes, newbie mistakes etc to come.

 

[Azimuth]

There's been some discussion on the boards about egg shells not being the best source of calcium due to a protective coating that makes them very difficult to breakdown, at least in any reasonable time frame.

Dolomite lime and bone meal (especially fish bone meal) seem to be the go-to's for organic calcium.

 

[budnoob3]

There are a number of us that keep compost piles and worm bins. I make my own nutes from plants I mostly grow in my garden, and my own soil using those inputs. Lots of ways to get it done.

Please feel free to add your knowledge here!

 

[bluter]

There's been some discussion on the boards about egg shells not being the best source of calcium due to a protective coating that makes them very difficult to breakdown, at least in any reasonable time frame.

frying the shells breaks the bonds and it becomes available much quicker. it can also be dissolved in vinegar after frying and used as liquid nute.

 

[bluter]

That’s a long story but yes I do have access to land but I’ve been doing this a long time and had the benefit of a grandpa that had an amazing garden since I was small, and he raised chickens etc. and taught me a great deal. I’ve done all of this whether it be an apt, my own house and land or friends/family property.

was just a hunch. guessed you may have a deeper agriculture connection.

 

[Azimuth]

frying the shells breaks the bonds and it becomes available much quicker. it can also be dissolved in vinegar after frying and used as liquid nute.

I do the WCA -Water Soluble Calcium and use it in my grow. This round I'm trying a similar mix but using dolomite lime in place of the eggshells.

I've not heard the take on the frying of the shells breaking the bonds, but they do come out the other side more brittle so maybe that's part if the process?

 

[budnoob3]

frying the shells breaks the bonds and it becomes available much quicker. it can also be dissolved in vinegar after frying and used as liquid nute.

That’s exactly right, it takes time to break down and not necessarily a quick fix, but it does break down, especially when the worms are included in the garden and not just a separate worm farm. Over time your balance will improve and you don’t have to worry about over feeding as many do. I generally grind everything in a ninja blender dedicated to gardening after they’ve been in standby at least 6 weeks or so.

 

[SmokingWings]

I toss the egg shells and banana peels on the compost pile. Then I use a commercially made product that has what I want and is ready to go for the plants.

It will take those shells up to two years to start releasing enough calcium to be of any good and probably a month plus to get the potassium and phosphorous out of the peels. One of the group members was into figuring out how to get the most out of organic sources of minerals and nutrients. She came up with methods for extracting calcium from egg shells and it still was not a quick process. The fasted method seemed to involve grinding up the shells and then frying or baking them. Then they had to be steeped in a some sort of solution. Same sort of thing for the banana peels. She came up with methods to get the nutrients out of the peels in a matter of several days but it took some effort on the part of the gardener.

 

[budnoob3]

I probably shouldn’t have specified egg shells as a start, there are many other things I grind or mix as well like raw almonds, yogurt, old cheese etc.

 

[Azimuth]

I toss the egg shells and banana peels on the compost pile. Then I use a commercially made product that has what I want and is ready to go for the plants.

It will take those shells up to two years to start releasing enough calcium to be of any good and probably a month plus to get the potassium and phosphorous out of the peels. One of the group members was into figuring out how to get the most out of organic sources of minerals and nutrients. She came up with methods for extracting calcium from egg shells and it still was not a quick process. The fasted method seemed to involve grinding up the shells and then frying or baking them. Then they had to be steeped in a some sort of solution. Same sort of thing for the banana peels. She came up with methods to get the nutrients out of the peels in a matter of several days but it took some effort on the part of the gardener.

Yeah, those processes are straight out of the Jadam garden book. The eggshells get mixed into vinegar, the banana peels into water with microbes.

 

[bluter]

Yeah, those processes are straight out of the Jadam garden book. The eggshells get mixed into vinegar, the banana peels into water with microbes.

my grandma used to use it all, mushed, crushed, broken, fried, etc for the flower garden. she considered it too nice for the veggies lol.
my mom learned from her and does the same. teas and composts.

 

[budnoob3]

More on nutes, newbie mistakes etc to come.

Tip 3:

What did they say? You need cal-mag? Don’t want to wait two years? Do you happen to have any flour laying around? Guess what, not only does it have calcium and magnesium, it’s chock full of nitrates too and also helps keep some pests at bay. No, don’t put 20% flour in your soil mix, just a light sprinkling every 3 to 4 weeks is more than sufficient. I could be full of it but my soil has been running fine for over 5 years (would be close to 20 yrs by now if I didn’t move so damn much) with my worms and Organics with occasional amendment recharges, more on that later.

 

[budnoob3]

There's been some discussion on the boards about egg shells not being the best source of calcium due to a protective coating that makes them very difficult to breakdown, at least in any reasonable time frame.

Dolomite lime and bone meal (especially fish bone meal) seem to be the go-to's for organic calcium.

Keep in mind if you’re not replacing your soil every round time becomes much less of a concern. Granted, year 1 and 2 require faster break down, but year 3 and forward you are golden if done right. Less is always more and don’t hesitate to rotate. This year might be flower, next might be hot pepper, and so on.