Last week's lessons

Compost Piles

We've been on a compost binge the past week. We can't stop cooking up some compost! And it really is a lot like cooking. First you set down a base layer of hay, sprinkle on the okara (nice and smelly tofu leftovers we pick up free from a tofu factory downtown...looks a bit like Parmesan cheese would in giant world), put a layer of poo (horse manure), next add any weeds or grass clippings, some magic cumphrey leaves (shhh! secret ingredient), a good dousing of water, a pinch of ashes to taste, another layer of hay, and begin again! I have learned a couple of times what nutrients each of these layers adds to the compost...but I've never had a pen handy to write it down...hence the reason I can't tell you what any of these do.

When building a compost it is best to make it as square and flat (as opposed to a dome) as possible so that the heat building up inside is spread throughout a larger area. During the hot summer it is helpful to have the top of the compost slightly concave so that water doesn't roll off the sides. During the winter when it rains a lot it is better to have the top slightly convex so that the excess water rolls off. There is soooooo much to learn about compost but this is the basics that I know right now. You can also build compost to have certain nutrients to benefit specific crops if you want.

Lettuce Transplanting

Last week we transplanted the lettuce seedlings I seeded about a month ago. They're so cute. Here are all the steps involved. Read ahead if you find it boring.

1. Weed the bed completely.

2. Rake flat.

3. Dig 3-4 trenches with a hoe. They don't need to be too deep, but make sure they are straight.

4. Put compost in the trenches (or sea soil if you don't have compost). You can also sprinkle in ashes if you have some.

5. Heavily water! Tons and tons of water...the soil should be fully saturated.

6. Dig holes about a full hands width apart. Stagger them between rows.

7. Pull out the seedling from the tray and place in the hole.

8. Pack dirt around the seedlings and press down.

9. Water around each seedling.

10. Set up some sort of irrigation...we use a drip system.

11. Cover with remay!

Wow. That is way to easy and simple for me to bother typing it. Oh well.

Compost Tea

Compost tea is exactly what it sounds like. It is used to foliar feed (spraying on leaves of a plant) certain plants to provide extra nutrients and prevent disease. It is really good for tomatoes, squash, and corn. You wouldn't want to spray it on crops like lettuce because you eat the leafy part.

In a 5 gallon bucket mix together:

1/3 bucket full of compost (best if it hasn't been fully broken down because it will still be full of useful microbes)

1/4 cup unsulferized molasses

1 tsp kelp concentrate

Water up to 3" from the rim

Stir it well. Put an aquarium bubbler thing in for 48 hours to aerate it. Stir each morning. Strain and dilute 1:10 and spray on crop. Lastly, cut crusts off mini sandwiches and serve with biscuits.