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Re: SQFT Digest - 13 Apr 1997 to 14 Apr 1997

I have alway gardened organically with the Square Foot System. It is too
easy to hand pick bugs or use an insecticidal soap, beneficial nematodes,
beneficial insects, row covers and hand weeding combined with mulch in the
square foot system. To rely on inorganic
fertilizers or insecticides seems like a foolish way to waste my money and
kill the planet as well as the beneficial organisms I have tried so hard to
maintain in my garden.

If things start yellowing and you feel like turning to inorganic methods,
then stop, take a deep breath and apply a foliar appl. of fish emulsion
(quite inexpensive when you
follow the directions or use compost or manure tea. Since you are a chemist
you know how chemicals can affect our systems -- ecological and biological
-- after long term and cumulative exposure.

You may want to join the Organic Gardening List. They'll help by giving
great suggestions and support. And I and other OGers on this list will be
happy to help you out as well.

>anyone else out there choose to garden their SFG's organically?  i'm not a
>screaming fanatic (and have been awfully tempted by the boxes of fertilizer
>when things start yellowing a bit) but i prefer to garden as organically as
>possible.  funny thing is is that i'm a chemist...i guess i've just learned
>that there is an appropriate use for chemicals, and i feel it's *not* on my
>foods.

We do this, or chop veggies up really small with a chef's knife. And this
is the best thing to do for a worm box so the worms don't have to wait so
long for the food to start decomposing. Just be careful, in your compost
pile, to make sure you have plenty of "breathing space" since the puree
won't leave a lot of air holes if you use it too often.

>BTW-  i've been playing around with my compost pile alot lately, and you know
>what i "discovered" which should speed things up...i threw all my w/e
>supply of
>kitchen scraps in the blender, pureed with some water, and poured it over my
>compost pile.  first, this  reduced the volume of scraps significantl;y (more
>room left in the compost pile).  second, it's definately maximizing the
>surface
>area of the scraps for easy decomposition (BTW:orange and banana peels were
>pulverized in no time!!).  anyone else ever do this???  i would think it would
>lend itself really well to worm bins (which i haven't gotten around to trying
>yet)

--Peace,
Natalie

Natalie McNair-Huff
Gardening Organically in Tacoma, WA Sunset zone 5; USDA Zone 7/8
Publisher/Editor Mac Net Journal http://www.blol.com/web_mnj/

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