Derald wrote:
songbird wrote:
one writer down in Aussieland found a source of deader
fish from such a place that he could use in his garden.
wanted to know how to make fish emulsion. AFAIC fish are
a near perfect fertilizer for high demand plants, why
would anyone want to go through extra work when the worms,
bugs and other soil critters will take care of the process?
Well, for one thing, dead fish are exceptionally aromatic and, if
buried deeply enough not to attract a rather large gamut of neighboring
digging beasts, the decay product (which is, after all, what is desired)
is largely unavailable to the garden. Down here in the sand, one must
bury fish more deeply than, for example, cats (with which the burying of
I have some experience....). Commercially produced fish "emulsion" has
been processed, after a fashion, largely by simple cooking, to kill off
pathogens and reduce the odor.
ah, ok, makes more sense now. i'm used to this
heavier soil where if it is down 8" it's not smelled.
the only downside is that if the raccoons start finding
the gardens smelling really good they might go after some
of the plants thinking there is food down there.
Here, the raccoons seem to dig randomly in search of subterranean
treasure ("grubs"), although, they clearly do follow mole trails—in
competition for the same food, no doubt.
moles feed most often by running their tunnels looking
for worms/grubs/whatever that falls in. they also feed
frequently. so if you find their main runs you can often
trap them within a few days.
Here, the most likely pests to
be attracted to garden soil amendments are free range dogs.
we are lucky to not have those here. there are fox
and coyotes around but as of yet they stay away. we
don't have stuff out to attract them anyways.
we used to have troubles with the onion transplants
getting uprooted by raccoons because they could smell
the fertilizer used on them. they'd pull the plants
up and leave them laying on the surface, didn't eat
them, just looking for food.
That happened to me in 2014. The cute little monsters damaged the
plants so badly that I just started over with new seeds and got the
onions transplanted late.
you gots acres there, some selected thinning and chipping
would provide plenty of carbon. or just walking around picking
up sticks might be enough.
Oh, you know that I don't do that. I'm the guy who's trying to
encourage more of this place to return to its native state. Besides, I
have an unending supply of "brown": I have enough tree tops laid by
from harvested firewood to last the remainder of my lifetime, +, and I
certainly hope that I have more coming :-) It is fresh tender, ready to
rot, _green_ vegetative material that always is in short supply.
i only use that for worm food and as a bit of a
N boost sometimes as a top dressing if it will be
dry enough. as of yet, see no signs that this is
not working well for all involved. minimal fuss
and bother method. if i could make alfalfa pellets
that would be fun, but it involves machinery and i
don't really want to get involved with machines if
i can help it. worms seem to not care and eat it
up in any form.
songbird