When it comes to gardening, you can learn from books, but visiting our local farmers markets also gives you the opportunity to learn from “grass roots” experts.
When it comes to gardening, you can learn from books, but visiting our local farmers markets also gives you the opportunity to learn from “grass roots” experts.
According to longtime farmer Michael Gibson, a fun market is the Hamakua Harvest Farmers Market. It is from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. every Sunday at the intersection of Mamane Street and Hawaii Belt Road (Highway 19) in Honokaa. Another good Sunday market is across from the Manago Hotel in Captain Cook.
In Waimea, there are two markets on Saturday and another at Keauhou Shopping Center in Kona. On Wednesdays, there are two in Kona. They are at the Sheraton and Makalapua Shopping Center. You can buy local produce and pick the brains of growers at the same time.
In the meantime, here are some spring gardening tips about organic farming.
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Temperatures are rising and the warm, moist weather is helping farms, gardens and forests explode with growth. It is a good time to fertilize. Most garden shops carry a vast variety of nutrient formulas, but if you have the time and patience you might try the natural organic approach.
Where animal manures are available, they are probably the best source of fertilizer and organic matter for the organic gardener.
Manures vary greatly in their content of fertilizing nutrients. The composition varies according to type, age and condition of the animal; the kind of feed used, the age and degree of rotting of the manure, the moisture content of the manure and the kind and amount of litter or bedding mixed in the manure.
How much should you apply?
Before planting, cow or horse manure can be applied at 25 pounds per 100 square feet of garden soil. For best results, supplement each 25 pounds of manure with 2 to 3 pounds of ground rock phosphate or raw bone meal.
If you use poultry or sheep manure, 12 pounds per 100 square feet supplemented with 1 to 2 pounds of ground rock phosphate or raw bone meal is adequate.
After planting, using cow, horse or hog manure; side dress with up to 5 pounds per 100 square feet of a row.
When applying a side dress, scatter a band of manure down each side of a row. Place each band at the edge of the root zone and work it lightly into the soil surface. If mulch is present, rake it back at the edge of the root zone in order to apply the band of manure, then re-cover with the mulch.
Remember, manure is not always a complete well-balanced fertilizer. It is advantageous to broadcast a complete organic fertilizer or ground rock phosphate and potash in addition to manures.
If manures are not available, acceptable manure-like organic fertilizer can be obtained through the process of composting.
Simply put, compost is made by alternating layers of organic materials, such as leaves and kitchen table refuse, with manure, topsoil, lime, organic fertilizer, water and air, in such a manner that it decomposes, combines and yields a substitute for manure. Since compost is a substitute for manure, it should be used in the same fashion.
Broadcast it over the entire garden for three weeks or more before planting. If you have only a small quantity of compost, it can be mixed into the soil along each planting furrow or at each hill site. In all cases, apply it at the rate of about 25 pounds per 100 square feet.
Natural and organic materials that yield plant nutrients upon decomposition are often available for purchase either separately or in combination. These materials can be applied separately or combined, used in the compost pile or mixed with manure.
Many of the more commonly available materials include organics derived from plants and animals, plus the natural deposits of rocks and minerals.
Such naturally occurring materials are usually not easily obtained in today’s modern agriculture. However, where available, they represent sources of mainly potash, phosphorus and lime (calcium and magnesium) for organic gardeners.
Rock phosphates are natural deposits of phosphate in combination with calcium. The material as dug from the earth is very hard and yields its phosphorous very slowly. When finely ground and with impurities removed, the powdery material is only slightly soluble in water, but can be beneficial to plants in subsequent seasons following application.
The reaction of phosphate rock with acids from decaying organic matter in the garden tends to make the phosphorus available to garden plants. Apply ground rock phosphate at the rate of 2 to 3 pounds per 100 square feet of garden soil or, when applying manure or compost, mix at a rate of 2 1/2 pounds phosphate per 25 pounds of manure or compost. Broadcast the material over the soil surface and work into the topsoil at least three weeks before planting.
Manure or other organic fertilizer should be added at this time. Since the materials are so slowly decomposed, side-dressings are seldom beneficial.
Potash is widely distributed in nature, occurring in rocks, soils, tissues of plants and animals and sea and lake water. In gardening practice, materials such as wood ashes, banana skins, seaweed, potash salts and ground rock potash are used alone, in combination with other materials yielding other nutrients, mixed with manure, or in compost piles. Since the potash bearing materials vary so much in composition and rate of decomposition, specific application rates must be determined for each material and its combination.
An advantage for using organic materials as fertilizers is that they contain many of the elements also needed by the plants, such as zinc and iron.
Reducing the acidity of the soil is the primary purpose for using lime in the garden. However, liming materials also provide nutrients for plant use. Calcium and magnesium are the two elements most commonly provided by lime.
Natural deposits of lime that an organic gardener might use are crushed coral, dolomite and shell. All these forms must be finely ground to provide maximum benefit to the soil and plants. Lime to sweeten the soil should be applied only when the needs are established by a reliable soil test.
Under most soil conditions, application of 2 to 3 pounds of finely ground dolomitic limestone per 100 square feet usually will be sufficient except on very acid soils. Apply lime well in advance of planting, preferably two to three months before. Mix it well with the soil and keep it moist for the best reaction.
There are several good books about organic gardening and you also can use your computer to do an information search. If you really want to get serious, get involved with the Master Gardener program through the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.
The Hilo and Kona UHCTAHR offices can help you get up to speed.
This information is supplied by the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. For more information about gardening and landscaping, contact one of our master gardeners at 322-4892 in Kona or 981-5199 in Hilo.