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Pinedale, WY

I have cows and horses at my house and have the ability to control exactly what they eat? Any ideas on making my fertilizer better?

1/6/2007 4:55:10 PM

Boulder County Colorado USA planet Earth

Age it longer the better. also becarefull of how much salt you give em. (It takes many yrs for the build up to be noticable and the too much salts hurt the soil.)

1/6/2007 7:10:26 PM

Montoursville, PA

Pastor.......You are at the begining of many discovery steps of building better soil than you ever may have invisioned possible. We all come from some point along the way and hopefully move into understanding and helping our soils achieve stronger more balanced conditions.
....The route to progressive success is relatively simple and can be achieved using only the basics. The basics are the removal of as much petro based chemicals as you feel possible. For instance the intellegent use of Neem oil or other horticultural oils which are biodegradable is one way of removing some of the harsh chemicals many feel they can not live without, in the art of growing a pumpkin.

The simplest approach is with manures, remineralization, PH adjustment to 6.5 to 7.2, and a cover crop. Anything or any techniques added are elements or practices that support or enable the basic process to work a little faster. Your success will be largly based on the simplest management of elements leading to a stronger healthier biological ballance in your patch.

Molasses....Black Strap Molasses to boost and support whatever your soil now contains is simply a helper. It is not neccessary but it will increase biological activity causing conversions many of which are complex and vaguely understood. The bottom line is you get to a stonger biological community a little faster.

The elementary use of tea made from raw manure is not bad. That is what many of our forefathers did and was the only thing they knew about. Again if you use teas it only helps improve and possibly speed up what you already have going on in your soil.

The use of leaves with the manures in the fall is Mother's Way to enable food, moisture and an improved tilth to come into being. This can not be without those basics being there to cause it to happen. Without the basics it can not happen or will move very slowly in the process.

1/7/2007 9:12:36 AM

Montoursville, PA

If you use reasonably sound plant management techniques and have reasonably average weather and moisture those basics will easily grow a dandy huge five hundred pound or greater pumpkin. I personally know four growers that broke eight hundred pounds and one who broke a thousand doing nothing but the basics.

The rest of the secrets are all pretty basic too. They include simply more knowledge and more boosting of the basics. This includes the addition of low number organic fertilizers, the use of earthworm casts, adding corn meal and kelp or alfalfa meal to the soil. Bringing on the art of foliar feeding starting with fish oil and kelp. Going to ultimate foliar extreams would be using Humic Acid, various calcium options and published growing programs such as Agro-K or parts there of. Learning how to make and the use of Aerobic Teas is not hard to learn. Doing and applying it is just another method of supporting and maintaing a high degree of ballanced biological conditions in your soil.

The net result will eventuallb be that you will grow the largest finest pumpkin that you can grow based on your personal increased knowlege mostly involving the use and extension, of the basics.

1/7/2007 9:28:22 AM

Montoursville, PA

Personally I am patiently awaiting for a little imp in a bottle to give me my three wishes. They would at this point in my time be: 1. I would like to find four one thousand square feet patches in rotation just outside my backdoor in developed rotation. 2. I would like to have perfect weather control. 3. I would like the likes of Ron and Pap or Larry Checkon to have their patches adjacent to mine so I could mimic better.

Doctor you are somewhere in this picture. Find yourself and go forward showing others just how you got to where you are now. For it is helping others that you may find your mistakes easier.

No ego here what so ever but damn that was good. Now I'll shut up and watch you "get 'er done".

1/7/2007 9:36:08 AM

Cornwall UK.(50N 5W)300ft.

More Protein in the feed = more Nitrogen in the manure.
Grass cut for conservation before it is in head won't have weed seeds in it.
Wetter silage = more liquid manure may not be so easy to handle.
Excess mineral supplements which contain sodium chloride for palatability will go through the cow but animal welfare comes first and you will most likely need some on the plus side a lot of the trace elements we want are in them.
Maize silage and alfalfa pellets might contain sodium chloride so you need to check this.
Straw may have come from cereal crop sprayed with a herbicide pre harvest you may be able to avoid using this if you ask.

1/7/2007 1:17:24 PM

Cologne Brescia Italy

All years I use a lot of maize silage rotting, two or three
years old, it seem to be a good like compost,after that the earthworm have end them work
axc do you think I'm wrong?

1/8/2007 4:13:10 PM

Pinedale, WY

Thanks people, this will be my first solid year growing. I have the perfect set-up. All the land I need, all the water I need, all the tractors and implements I need. Good seeds the Agro-K products and schedule, plus all the manure I need. I also have a good cover crop growing right now and my ph is 6.8 naturally. So hopefully I do well, 500 is my mark for this year and eventually a state record.

1/8/2007 7:47:17 PM

Cornwall UK.(50N 5W)300ft.

Moro,
In the UK it is normal practice to sprinkle a layer of sodium chloride (I don't like to use the word salt as horticulturally speaking it doesn't always mean the same thing)on top of the clamp to help avoid spoilage in the period before it is covered with polythene.Your silage might not have any added if it does try and get material that came from the bottom might not be so easy as it sounds as the wasted bits are generally on the top and farmers aren't going to throw away good feed.
Do you find it has any weed control properties?

1/9/2007 12:09:16 PM

Cologne Brescia Italy

Thanks for the advice, the farm where I take the sillage, don't use eny sodium chloride, I'm sure, usually the silage
is covered in the same day, or late the day after.
When I used it for the first time,3 years ago, I saw that my 1144 hester and 1097 Beachy was the best plant that never I have had( also if the 1097, split all fruit, and 1144 no set pumpkin in the mine vine, had one in a secondary, but cause too much warm weather)
About weed control, yes, it work a little bit, but just because I put on my patch 5cm of it, and the weed seeds are under and can't germinate
This year for 2007 I have put on 10cm of it together old caw and horse manure and a little bit of chicken manure.
We will see how it will work! A last thing, when I have move the pile of it, I have found so much earthworm like never I have saw, hope them have did the right work LOL!
Sorry for english

1/9/2007 3:16:32 PM

Montoursville, PA

Your English is very good. I am even more impressed with your approach to gardening. When you find many worms in your growing soil they will provide much of the nutrition you need to grow the best you can. Each year your patch will improve. You are doing a good job of soil building.

1/10/2007 7:39:38 PM

Cologne Brescia Italy

Thanks Doc, I'm try to do the best that I can with how I have learnt in this great site! Now I need some luck!
Sergio

1/11/2007 5:16:55 AM