Soil & Health
Association of New Zealand Inc (est 1941) Healthy
Soil - Healthy Food - Healthy People |
New Zealand's leading source of information on Organics & Sustainable Living
Levin Branch Newsletter - April 200701-04-2007ORGANIC GROWING NEWS Newsletter 238 - April 2007 For our April meeting we return to Common Property for a follow-up to our October visit last year. Six months later, the growing season we looked forward to is winding down in the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. But even while the last of the summer’s crops are being harvested, the great circle of life continues, and we begin to turn our thoughts to preparations for next spring. After a look at the state of the fields and general discussion about the vagaries of the season past, we will be having a compost-making demonstration. This is the ideal time of year to make a heap, with abundant materials available. Compost is at the heart of the organic garden, whether it be on a home or farm scale, and is central to the Soil & Health philosophy. The meeting starts at 1.30pm. A $2 gate includes afternoon tea, and we will have a sales table with produce and plants. Gum boots are advised, and you may like to bring gloves if you want to help with the compost. See page 3 for directions. AGM AND MEETING AT TONY ROBINSON’S Over thirty people, including members of Farmers Unlimited, attended our March meeting and AGM at Tony Robinson’s “Rambler’s Flowers” in Levin. After the AGM, Tony talked about his latest venture with bio-active compost tea. Tony brews his Bio-Gro certified tea in commercial quantities, with the aim of recreating and reactivating the soil biology. A soil survey is the first step in creating a program suitable for a specific property. The presence of various weeds and an examination of the soil structure can yield a lot of information, and laboratory analysis can also be used to determine available nutrient levels and ratios. Compost making is the key to creating a good soil biology. Depending on the nature of the soil to be treated and its intended use, the compost can be made to be either bacterially or fungally dominant. Protozoa in the compost work to release nutrients and make nitrogen available. Tony starts with about 20 litres of compost or vermicast which has been made to contain as much biological material as possible. This is put into a “big tea bag” and immersed in 2,000 litres of water. Food is added to help the micro-organisms multiply, including humic acid, hydroslaked fish, seaweed powder, some molasses or sugar and some lime flour for chelating. Dry or liquid inoculants can also be added, to control nematodes and other pests and diseases, to fix nitrogen and to make phosphate more available. Protozoa are introduced in meadow straw, and some equisetum or casuarina added for their high silica content. The brew is aerated for 20 to 24 hours while temperature, pH and brix are monitored. When it is ready, extra ingredients can be added to activate the soil’s own bio-mass, with a preference for bacterial or fungal activity as required. The tea is applied in the early morning or the evening, within six hours of brewing. Dew or light rain are beneficial. Application rates vary. A dairy farm might take four applications a year, starting at 150L/ha and decreasing to 100L/ha. On cultivated land, where fungi are destroyed by the constant disturbance to the soil, up to 1200/ha might be required annually, starting at 300-500L/ha. The cost is about $1.20 per litre. Tony says to consider the first two years as a “capital works program”, building up the life in the soil until only a six-monthly maintenance regime is required. Some properties that have had four or five applications are now starting to show the results. For the home gardener, Tony recommends simply building a good compost heap. Wood chips from tree prunings are great, but not fresh sawdust as it needs too much nitrogen to break it down. Make sure you add calcium, eg through lime or blood and bone. Don’t turn the heap too much. Toadstools and mushrooms are a good sign. When the compost is ready, cultivate the soil and work the compost lightly into the top 50mm. After a couple of weeks cultivate again lightly, then leave for another week before planting. The soil needs time to work on whatever we add to it. Now is the ideal time to lime your garden beds, so that the soil can work on it over winter. Tony says that calcium should be considered as a principal nutrient in its own right and not merely to adjust soil pH. SEARCH AND YOU WILL FIND… Synthetic Biology – In the past five years, the science of genetic engineering has made great strides – using lifeless chemicals they can now create viruses, which technically are not “alive”. But soon they expect to create bacteria which are definitely alive. From there it is a short step to making new forms of life. Rachel’s Democracy & Health News, No 895 February 22, 2007.
MOON PLANTING GUIDE – MAY 2007 Full moon 2nd; last quarter 10th; new moon 17th; first quarter 24th. Between first quarter and full moon favours maximum growth of the flower, fruit or seed bearing part of the plant. The best days for sowing or planting broad beans, cauliflower and strawberries, and winter annuals like alyssum, calendula, pansies and forget-me-nots are the 1st and then from the 27th to the 31st. Between full moon and last quarter, root growth is most vigorous. Plant garlic and any bulbs, corms, tubers and rhizomes on the 3rd, 4th, 7th, 8th and 9th. Between last quarter and new moon is not good for planting. Pull weeds and prepare the garden for planting trees, shrubs and roses during this period. Between new moon and first quarter favours growth of leaf crops. Plant lettuce and cabbage and sow green manure crops on the 20th and 21st. BIODYNAMIC FIELD DAY IN MARTON The Manawatu Biodynamic Group and the Central District Organic Growers Group invite you to attend a Field Day on Sunday 22nd April at 1.30pm at the property of Derek Hanson, 535 Pukepapa Road, Marton. Derek is a sheep, beef and cropping farmer who has been using organic and biodynamic methods of farming for a number of years. Alan Palmer from the Institute of Natural Resources at Massey University will lead a discussion on soil and how best to manage this precious resource. Alan was involved in the study that is referred to in biodynamic circles as the Reganold Report. This was a study whose proper title is “Soil Quality and Financial Performance of Biodynamic and Conventional Farms in New Zealand”. This study compared biodynamic and conventional farms and found that biodynamic farms “… had better soil quality than the neighbouring conventional farms and were just as financially viable on a per hectare basis.” For further information phone Joanne Turner (06) 329 0943 |
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Soil & Health
Association of New Zealand Inc (est 1941) Healthy
Soil - Healthy Food - Healthy People |
