Wednesday, 25th May, 2022
The Day’s hand-picked ideas, tips to better grow Vegs, and meet people you should know.
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1
Build your own Johnson-Su bioreactor
"There is more than one way to increase microbial activity in soils, but a method gaining momentum with farmers focusing on regenerative principles is applying a microbial inoculant made using a Johnson-Su bioreactor. Johnson and his wife Hui-Chun Su created the system to produce a fungal-rich compost that can be used as a microbial inoculant. The aim was to mimic what happens to dung and organic matter on prairies in a system that doesn’t require farmers to have grazing animals on farm”— Yes this sounds dangerous at first. And Geeky. I must learn more about the science on this, apparently resulting in only 15% of Nitrogen needed to get similar results in conventional systems.
2
Organic Gardening isn’t without challenges
"Growing healthy fruits and vegetables without using chemicals in a natural approach protects both the consumer and the environment. This is not difficult to achieve on a small scale, where individual plants can receive much attention." — A good summary of does/don’t - and learn more about natural, organic fertilisers you can make at home.
3
Dandelions hit the road
"Dandelions are much more than just pesky weeds. They lend their greens to salads and can be transformed into wines and other botanical beverages. Now, the yellow-flowered plant has become the key ingredient in a new venture: rubber tires. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company announced a new initiative to accelerate the use of natural rubber made from dandelions instead of relying on latex made from rubber trees—sourced primarily from tropical ecosystems—that comprises 90 percent of the current natural rubber market" — so next time you see one, you can eat it or bring it to your local garage for processing.
4
People you should know
Heavy Metal Theme Garden: "My theme garden process steps beyond typical themes like butterfly and moon gardens (though those are nice!). This process instead shows how to design a garden about anything (really)” see how it’s done for Heavy Metal with papergardenworkshop.com/blog by Lisa Nunamaker who teaches budding designers about the beautiful world of garden design and landscape graphics. — I didn’t know this garden theme even existed but that’s definitely my style of Garden!! - and Lisa shares a great design process you can use for your own theme.
5
Never a dill moment
Young forever: "The most anti-aging raw food according with science is: durian fruit and the germ of raw sprouts - Explanation: the germ part of sprouts contain the highest level of spermidine of any food (plant or animal). For those that are not allergic to wheat, there is a cheap food called raw wheat germ that has the highest level of spermidine of any food. It is also inexpensive. The food industry removes the germ on wheat flour because it has fat and oxidizes, which gives a short shelve time to the product. Other foods contain spermidine but at a much lower level. Cosmetically, it is reported that spermidine brings back the color of aged hair. It also regrows hair and makes it thicker. The age-protective effects of increased spermidine intake are in line with the paradigm that a decline of spermidine concentration upon aging is not only causally linked to reduced health- and lifespan, but that it might be reversed" — that scientific research is interesting. I help you grow Microgreens for maximum nutrients-rich Vegs intake already, and never been keen on sprouts due to increased risks of bacterias but maybe it’s worth reconsidering Sprouts?? (better than Durian fruits anyway!)
+ An entire weekend in the garden: "Now this hasn’t happened for ages, but nothing was going on this weekend. No cinema, no bell ringing, no seeing family. It was just me in the garden for the entire weekend. Obviously there was the usual shopping and household chores to do, but most of those were done on Saturday morning. It was then just me and my plants….it was beautiful." — I love reading other Gardeners’ progress (Claire's Allotment here) and I always learn something new. Love her beans & cucumber arches!
+ 4 Genius Africa-Led Solutions Tackling Food Insecurity: "The theme of this year’s Africa Day — "Strengthening Resilience in Nutrition and Food Security on the African Continent" — couldn’t be more urgent. Celebrated on May 25, but also throughout the entire month of May, Africa Day is meant to honor the founding of the Organization of African Unity in 1963 and provide opportunities for realizing the full potential of the continent and its diverse cultures. Africa is one of the world’s many breadbaskets, home to powerful agricultural producers and hundreds of millions of smallholder farmers who anchor their communities and fill grocery store shelves thousands of miles away. The World Food Programme reported that hunger in large sections of Africa could increase by 20% — affecting 174 million people — if the Russian invasion of Ukraine doesn’t end soon.” — it’s great to see the 4 innovations being promoted as solutions: solar-powered cooling, zero-waste food buses, pest control mobile app and Aquaponics. Having access to enough Vegs is one thing, but having nutrients-rich Vegs is quite another; that’s why I share the skills to grow enough Vegs for your family including with an Aquaponics smart greenhouse.
6
Bottom of the compost pile
Clay isn’t all bad news: “The best way to improve clay soils is to mix organic matter well with existing soils. Bark, sawdust, manure, leaf mold, compost, and peat moss are among the organic modifications commonly used to improve soil compaction — soothing to read how to love a clay soil. Until I complain about drainage again.
+ Beginner’s guide to Composting: "Compost helps produce healthy soil, healthy food, healthy humans and less food waste. Aside from improving soil quality, composting also helps lock up carbon in the soil. First, compost creates humus, which consists of long chains of carbon atoms that last a long time in the soil. When compost is added to soil, the soil becomes healthier with improved structure and increased biological activity. This means the plants growing in soil with compost become healthier and their capacity to photosynthesize is increased so they can capture and sequester more carbon from the air and store it in the soil. The cycle continues: When you eat healthy food from healthy soil, you can use the food scraps to make more compost” — if you have an obsession about making compost, read on!
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Anthony - Veg Geek