Teaming With Nutrients by Lowenfels - My Review

To make an analogy of this book -  If this were a book about the mechanics of a car, it would start out with the types of plastics used throughout the vehicle, as well as a description of the process used to make these plastics.    You would learn about hardness of metals their melting temperatures, and various formulas including the process used to make each type of steel.

For example, he breaks the creation, and movement 10,000 different proteins down to an electrical interaction involving electrons and sunlight, and describes the process of storing energy in the phosphate bonds of ATP (adrenosine triphosphate) molecules.

Lowenfels says right up front to simply read on, and don't take notes.  He says the lingo will eventually become understood, and that the entire journey should be fun rather than a laborious process of memorization.  So I continued to read, and trust that I would begin to comprehend the details of the amazing process's involved with plant life.  

Still I was looking forward to getting out of bio-science boot camp.  Have faith it will get easier and come together.  Lowenfel uses the information from the beginning over and over so don't skip it.  By the end I felt comfortable with what I have learned.   The more I learned the more interesting it became. In fact I intend to read the book over again from the beginning, or at least the first few chapters.

I'd highly recommend Teaming With Nutrients, but I'd suggest reading Teaming With Microbes first.  The two books give the reader a full understanding.  

This lecture 'Jeff Lowenfed's Soil Food Web'  will give you an idea about what is in the first book, but it's by no means a substitute.  His lecture is captivating and filled with humor.

Other good videos from the same YouTube channel can be found here
https://www.youtube.com/user/MycorrhizalAppl/videos

Construction of 8 Watt Earthan Beds

This video shows the construction of my Earthan Beds using an extremely quiet 8 Watt General Hydroponic Air Pump, and four individual air lift pumps.  Watering from below the dirt provides the perfect moisture with very little evaporation, and makes gardening easy.  The beds will remain moist for a long time even if you are away and the sump tank runs out of water.

The economy and dependability of the air lift pumps combined with recirculating water are so appropriate during this era of water, mineral, and energy shortages.

Earthan Beds provide the advantages of bioponics or aquaponics with real dirt where the soil web is allowed to flourish. 

Nutrients can be supplied by eco-friendly methods such as urine or weed teas.  5% of the natural gas we suck from the earth goes into making fertilizers.  Phosphorous is becoming harder to come by and some estimate our reserves will be exhausted within 50 years.  Urine contains amply amounts of nitrogen, phosphorous and many other trace minerals.  Less than a century ago none of the nitrogen was supplied by petroleum. Instead microbes made nitrogen available to our plants. The aerated water circulating through rocks you see in these beds provide the perfect environment for nitrification.

Return to natural resources.  Grow your soil and your plants will take care of themselves,

Essentria_IC3

Essentria_IC3
http://www.envincio.com/essentria/product-dload/Essentria_IC3_PIB.pdf
This product uses an Octopamine Blocker which is a lot like adrenaline to an insect.  It over excites their nervous system and kills them.  I became interested in this product when I had a severe outbreak of ants in my aquaponic green house.  While it is safe for mammals and fish I would worry about using it around crustaceans.   It is broad spectrum so you must also be careful not to kill beneficial insects like ladybugs and bees.

I used this product in my house and green house.  I did find one dead cockroach in the garage where I dumped a very large amount of Essentria_IC3 mixed at the lowest recommended strength of 1/2 oz per gallon of water.   This same ratio did nothing to the ants and aphids I wanted to kill.

I then mixed 6 oz per gallon (the maximum recommended dosage) and sprayed heavily in the green house, and on a heavy infestation of aphids on my cabbage. Once again the product failed to kill anything including the aphids which received a heavy drenching.  I waited 5 days and then mixed the Essentria_IC3 at  96 oz per gallon.  Sixteen times the recommended strength.   The good news is it did not harm the fish and it did kill the ants.  The bad news is it destroyed many of my plants and the aphids have increased.  It may be a better herbicide than it is a pesticide.

I would not recommend Essentria_IC3.  It's was ineffective in my green house and garden.  The smell is horrid, and required that I air my house out for two days when mixed at the lowest ratio.

Will You Support Monsanto's Organic Varieties?

I have mixed feelings about Monsanto right now.  Breeding better varieties by crossbreeding has long been accepted whereas using enzymes, bacteria and viruses to genetically modifying genes has had a lot of us concerned, and calling for an all out boycott of Monsanto and other biotech corporations.

For me it's not so much that I fear their food, but more that they are not required to keep those genes contained and isolated, and when they escape they are legally allowed to claim ownership of plants infected by their Frankenstein genes.   It seems obvious to me this law was bought and paid for. So much for logic in our legal system,

Here's where is gets troublesome. Monsanto also breeds better varieties the same way it's always been done, but they are using their knowledge of genes to select only the offspring that they wish to propagate allowing them to create superior varieties thousands maybe millions of times more efficiently than traditional crossbreeding. 

I have to say this is brilliant, but here's where I find trouble brewing.  Monsanto is likely to use the same laws that allow them to detect their genetic patent in plants that are accidentally infected (pollinated) by these varieties.

I would love to show my support for Monsanto's crossbred varieties, but not if it will hasten their ownership of every seed and plant on Earth.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2014/01/new-monsanto-vegetables/

Nutrient Imbalance

Nate Storey has done it again!

Figuring out nutrient imbalance is in my opinion the most difficult thing about aquaponics.  Nate really lays it out in an easy to understand method for us to determine a course of action when our plants begin to look a bit peeked. I would post the link  to the KEY he has developed for diagnosing these problems right here, but I feel that you should go to Nate's site and find his offer.   When asked to register just do it.  You will be pleasantly surprised.

Videos by Nate's

Phoshorus
Iron
Calcium
Potassium


Below is another article that may interest you.
My Quest for Natural Macro and Micro-nutrients

Worm Farm - Small Tote System

A few days ago I started raising worms in a small tote system.  This video appears to have some very good ideas that improve upon the traditional tote worm farm.

I will soon be making these modifications to my farm, but I will cut the bottom out of the base and place the unit on a shallow tray.  This way I can simply pick the tote up to harvest the castings rather than scoop them out of the side.

Peeling a Pomegranate

I'm in the planning stages of establishing a small fruit tree orchard.  Any advise would be welcomed.  One of the trees I most wish to plant is pomegranate.  Many people don't like pomegranate because they are so much trouble to eat.  If done incorectly they will stain your counter and clothing, but there is a method which this lady passes on in this video.