G.R. and P.C's Agriculture Thread...

[Starfish]

Originally posted by Problem Child
Seriously trying to hijack this thread now
GR, my hothouse flower...

As a Crop Science major at school, I was force-fed the evils of organic farming and taught how wonderful commercial chemical feritlizers are.
I still realize there is no way that we could hope to keep up our current rate of production in agriculture without chemical fertilizers, but I think just like in the area of energy production with things like wind and solar, we need to keep encouraging organic farming as much as we can to reduce our use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
In my job we build vineyard equipment for winegrape growers in some very liberal coastal counties of California, and more and more laws are bring passed restricting the use of pesticides, especially. Combine this with the fact that oil prices directly influence fertilizer prices, and that some pesticides take more than ten years of testing before they are released for use, and you can understand why a lot of farmers are doing everything they can to use as little of these products as possible. They have turned away from the old mindset of spraying every bug and weed to understanding that having a balanced ecosystem within their vineyards is healthier and less expensive than waging total war on nature and trying (unsuccessfully) to make her do EXACTLY what you want.

Now if I could only get rid of the fucking earwigs in my garden *sigh*



PS never heard of earthjuice or superthrive...they're fertilizers?

Oh so true............
The state of New York has outlawed the use of any pesticides now, and are emplementing the most innovative technology in the agricultural wine industry... (big crop in upstate NY, Seneca area). Malathion is being pulled from the shelves, finally, now that they did their, after the fact, testing to prove that, indeed, it was killing off honeybee populations at a staggaring rate.... Which means it was also killing off butterflies and other pollenators.


And there is this.......
Resistance! Oh god! The horror! (well NO shit, sherlock! It's called aquired immunity! That is why people don't drop off like flies when the flu hits, like they did even 300, 200, and 100 years ago.)
With the biological resistance many pests and pest plants have aquired over the years, there is a desperate need for alternative methods..... That is where IPM (Integrated Pest Management) come in.
When were you in school???
My education is very current and it is amazing what they are teaching now, as opposed to 10 years ago, even.

We focused on alternative methods of pest management.
Organic methods where fully covered and we were made to have to study them as deeply as every other topic in Horticulture/Agriculture.

Just so you know, I am a biology student, however the concentration of my education is in Botanical Horticulture. I will do my graduate studies in Ecology, so as you see, I am trying to be as well rounded in my feild as possible.
I am required, in my state, to carry a Restricted Use Applicators License, buy I have never use it, nor will I. I just have to be certified because I will sometimes have to deal with spill diagnosis and clean up. Gots to know my phytotoxicity ratings.

Earthjuice and Superthrive are organic fertalizers.
I don't use Earthjuice, but have friends who do, and it works well.
I use bat guano, Epsom salt (magnesum sulphate) which my roses love, alfalfa pellets, compost and Superthrive....

Superthrive is not a N-P-K fertalizer. It is a concentrated blend of naturally occuring growth hormones (rooting and vegetative stimulators) with B vitamins.
The shit is a miricle worker. I will link you to their site, but it is confusing and hard to read. They don't give order info...... You have to go to HydroFarm.

Go here... This place carries a lot of this stuff. They will have Superthrive.

Hydrofarm

I have to try and find the addy for the Superthrive Co. site.....

 

[Starfish]

Didn't you see this PC????

AM I in a warp with the Californians.....

Maybe I should make a thread to Renegade, and he'll get it in 16 hours????

 

[Laurel]

Dealing With Morons

This idiot woman I used to work with told me (when I told her Manu & I gardened organically using biological pest controls) "I don't trust organic food. Who knows what they put in it?"

 

[Problem Child]

sorry GR. I've been outside all day dousing my yard with petrochemical based fertilizers and shooting earwigs with my .30-06.... j/k

I was in school about 10 years ago now. We had a few classes in organic methods, but they were not stressed. California is the number one Ag state in the U.S., and our education was geared to get us jobs with the large farming companies and service companies here. Organic is just not compatible with large scale commercial farming, and that's where the jobs are. Ironically though, at least in the wine industry the large corporations are the ones experimenting with using fewer chemicals, mostly because they have the R&D budgets to justify it. If they can prove it's cheaper to mow weeds than to spray them, they will invest in the expensive equipment to do it.
The flip side of this is that the family farmer is the one more connected with the land, but is making so little money he doesn't feel like he can gamble even one years crop on some experimental method.
The resistance problem is definitely there and will only get worse. Vegetable crops are the most heavily sprayed because they have to have a perfect appearance for the consumer. An iceberg lettuce crop gets sprayed with insecticides about once a week during its 50 day growing period. The insects just get stronger and stronger, so new pesticides have to be developed and on it goes, endlessly.
American farmers are addicted to chemical fertilizers and pesticides, because they have allowed them to drastically increase their crop yeilds and stay in business. Farm prices have basically stayed static over the last 25 years, but production costs have risen dramatically right along with the cost of everything else in society. Pesticides and fertilizers have really allowed a lot of farmers to stay in business, and that's why they are not going to give them up any time soon.

 

[Ally C]

Re: Dealing With Morons

This idiot woman I used to work with told me (when I told her Manu & I gardened organically using biological pest controls) "I don't trust organic food. Who knows what they put in it?"

What did she think 'they put in it'? Organs? I've met people like this. They appear to live in a place called The Majority. It's a big place.

 

[TinaG13]

Re: Dealing With Morons

This idiot woman I used to work with told me (when I told her Manu & I gardened organically using biological pest controls) "I don't trust organic food. Who knows what they put in it?"

OMFG! LMAO!! That is just too damn funny! Sometimes ppl can be so ignorant.....hehe

 

[Mortto56]

Hello All!

I do alot of gardening here at my house.
I grew up on a farm,and learned alot of tricks from my grandpa.

Very seldom do I use commercial fertilizers,or weed control products.

You would be surprised how products you have around the house works in gardening.

Things like dishsoap,ammonia,cayenne pepper,beer,and the list goes on.

I also have found that planting things that attract birds,helps with bug control.Plus I keep Gardner Snakes in my yard.They help keep mice and small rodents away.

I try to go as natural as I can.But there is times when I have to use commercial products.In these cases "LESS IS MORE!"

If you want to learn more about household items for gardening go to:http/www.jerrybaker.com

Happy gardening!

 

[Starfish]

Thank you for the link Mortto.....

Laurel, *LOL*
That is the funniest thing I've ever heard to date. And Ally C went and made it more funny.


PC, I will respond in a bit, but my head is pounding, and I need to take a pill of some sort. Anybody got a reccomendation of something that isn't coated in color? (allergic)