After months of inclement weather the sun came out this week and we joyfully made our way into the garden to practice what we preach during the annual massacre of the weeds.
The 24 strawberry cages David built in a burst of enthusiasm seemed like a good idea at the time, but this week they amount to 800 square feet of encroaching dandelion and thistle that must be removed without disturbing the beds’ rightful occupants.
The wise gardeners who came before us claim that thistles are a sign of good soil, and given the amount of time, labour and expense we have spent developing the optimum canvas for agricultural art we should be gratified to see thistles by the thousand. Somehow, although he has spent entire days on his knees, I suspect those are not prayers of thanks David is muttering under his breath, but thanks to his extensive classical education he at least knows the proper fertility deities to address his complaints to.
I see from my notes that I should use the first batch of compost tea that I made a week ago; once that is gone I’ll make another batch with the same ingredients for use three weeks hence. Compost tea adds beneficial organisms and enzymes to crops that help to keep disease at bay and foster growth in crop and weed alike. Since I use compost tea every year the only disease problem I’ve had is garlic mould, so this year I’m adding a commercial liquid containing microorganisms that I hope will prevent that.
One garbage can full of compost tea covers my 1,000 square foot garden, not counting the fruit trees that are too high to reach anyway. Tomatoes might get the blight if their leaves get wet so I add compost tea to the soil, but everything else gets sprinkled from above.
To make your own, add a few shovelfuls of compost or vegetable detritus into an old pillowslip, then tie it shut and place it into a garbage can. Add water to reach about three quarters of the way up, not to the top because too much water might create too much pressure on the can. Ever since I read about the devastation wrought in Boston in 1919, when molasses deluged the town after an overfilled storage container burst, I have been careful to observe appropriate fluid levels.
I let this elixir brew for a week before diluting it to the strength of weak tea and sprinkling it on the crops. One year I didn’t dilute it and it burned the cabbages to death, rather the opposite of the desired effect, so now I always water it down. I also add a quarter cup/60 ml. of fish fertilizer for spring and early summer at the beginning, then switch to adding a quarter cup/60 ml. of kelp meal after that. Fish fertilizer is rich in nitrogen that fosters leaf growth and kelp meal fosters fruit development. I have written a schedule in my agenda book that tells me when to use it and make more, so every three weeks during the growing season the garden gets this elixir. I stop using it around the end of August since plants don’t grow as much after this.
This creates wonderful soil that produces an abundance of strawberries and cabbages, but also weeds. As the various scriptures say, it rains on the good and the evil alike, so perhaps we can blame weather gods like Zeus, Thor, Indra and be grateful us girls are around to clean up the mess they leave behind.
Please contact mary_lowther@yahoo.ca with questions and suggestions since I need all the help I can get.
