oladulce
Super Nomad
Posts: 1625
Registered: 5-30-2005
Location: bcs
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Fertilizer Recipes and healthy soil?
Fruits and vegetables are in limited supply where I live and lettuce is non-existent even at the nearest Super Ley 3 hrs away. My husband has made me
some rabbit-proof, gopher-proof (at least pest (resistant I hope) planter boxes and I'm going to try to grow some things-
lettuce, green onions, bell peppers, and 3 types of watermelon are the seeds i have to start with.
The soil I'll use is from the desert out back and it's a fine polvo that's not coarse and sandy, but drains well. I'm guessing there are very few
nutrients in this dirt and definitely no visible organic matter.
I'd appreciate any suggestions on how to supplement the soil or maybe I just need to add fertilizer periodically?
My neighbor mixes horse manure and earthworms, runs water through the mixture and uses the "tea" on his garden edibles and ornamental plants.
I understand there's an earthworm salesman in the nearby pueblo and I should be able to find horse poop at a rancho but I wouldn't know anything about
ratios and how long the manure needs to age, etc.
I'm not absolutely against starting to compost our table scraps, but the ants here are a royal pain in the butt and we are on constant patrol to keep
them at least out of the house. I hesitate to start collecting a pile of food for compost because it would be a full time job to keep the ants (and
mice) out. There aren't any leaves or other type of plant material available that I could add to balance a compost pile.
I'm open to any suggestions for the edibles as well as my palms and ornamentals, and it does not have to be 100% organic. I'd like to be able to find
the ingredients here in BCS.
I've been reading some garden forums, but you-all are more familiar with the local elements and environment.
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DianaT
Select Nomad
Posts: 10020
Registered: 12-17-2004
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Are you anywhere near where Mesquite trees grow? We are in the sand dunes and as suggested by the locals, we mix in dirt taken from beneath the
Mesquite trees. It has to be mixed well or it can be very clay like.
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Bob and Susan
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8813
Registered: 8-20-2003
Location: Mulege BCS on the BAY
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Mood: Full Time Residents
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miracle grow is sold at home depot
...just have a truck load of dirt brought from a nearby farm
use that
you're retired now...
you will have way to many other things to do then make "mulch"
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Paula
Super Nomad
Posts: 2219
Registered: 1-5-2006
Location: Loreto
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Ola, the first time I started saving scraps for compost I used a covered pan on my kitchen counter to collect them. I put in fruit and veggie
scraps, egg shells, and coffee grounds. It was disgusting, smelly, full of little flies, and occasionally maggots. We kept a tall plastic pickle keg
out in back, drilled with holes for air and emptied the putrid mess into it, where it became even grosser. But after sitting untouched for the
summer, it produced a mix that is good for our plants.
I've modified my kitchen process a bit, and no longer add any fruit pieces-- they are just too sweet and attractive to critters. I take the filter
and grounds out of the coffee maker and let them dry out a bit before I dump them, and I no longer use the covered pan. I don't use cooked veggies,
only raw trimmings. I just put them in a plastic veggie bag on the counter, and empty when it starts getting in the way. Without the fruit and
uncovered, it is bug and odor free, and the bin out back is better too. We do have ants back there, but we always have-- the little tiny ones. But
they don't often come into the house, though they are all over our lot.
We'd love to know where to buy earthworms! Can they live down here?? We've assumed this desert is just too tough for them
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mulegemichael
Super Nomad
Posts: 2310
Registered: 12-24-2007
Location: sequim,wa. and mulege
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Mood: up on step
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Hey, beachgirl and i started and unique composting technique this past winter and it worked great...i used to take our compost out to the garden and
chop it into the soil with a hoe, then wait a few weeks for it to rot ...no more...we now accumulate a few days of compost in the house, (eggshells,
coffee grounds, salad trimmings, etc), place it into a blender, add a bit of water and blend it into a slurry....this we add to ALL of our plants,(or
areas to be planted), and it's almost immediately contributing to the soil...the difference in the areas where we've added this mixture and where we
havent are remarkable...and over time the "fluffiness" of the soil where it's been added is night and day...no more long stinky containers of rotting
veggies in our kitchen...we're actually considering hard wiring a garbage disposal outside perched on a 5 gallon bucket...just dump our stuff in and
chew it up....a very cool compost system
dyslexia is never having to say you\'re yrros.
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oladulce
Super Nomad
Posts: 1625
Registered: 5-30-2005
Location: bcs
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The Garden Web forum has lots of good info but I need to remember that contributors may be purists and really into the details of gardening.
They discuss compost as a science with green and brown matter in specific ratios and pH blah blah.
Paula and mulegemicheal, it sounds like you guys have had success applying your organic matter without making it age for long periods of time. At
least it would give the soil some substance.
I just remembered my poop-tea making neighbor said he stopped using fruit peels and fruit scraps too Paula and says he doesn't have smell or fly
problems anymore. I'll try and find out more about the local earthworm operation.
Diana i can't think of any mesquite trees very close by, but we could take the dune buggy up a few arroyos and go looking. Hmmm
The next task for BigWooo might be to make the poop-tea distillery apparatus. Might as well give it a try. I need to find out how you know the manure
has aged- based on color or when you can toss it like a frisbie?
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Bajahowodd
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9274
Registered: 12-15-2008
Location: Disneyland Adjacent and anywhere in Baja
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Highlight and Paste to Get to the Story
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-malibu-fertilizer19-...
[Edited on 4-19-2010 by Bajahowodd]
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Nan&D
Nomad
Posts: 137
Registered: 2-28-2010
Location: Bahia Asuncion
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I keep all veg/fruit/egg shell etc scraps in a bucket in the fridge until it's full, and then dig a hole where there will be something planted sooner
or later, dump it in, and cover it back up. We do this with fish guts too. The hole has to be deep enough so dogs don't dig the stuff back up.
After a wall was built around the yard there was a pile of dirt left, so I'm experimenting with just digging the fresh compost into that. Way easier
digging!
Horse manure is great--when it's really dry and old and doesn't smell you can use it right away mixed with soil.
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