Dear Dr Ingham,
Thanks for participating in this fascinating discussion. As Allan
anticipated, your answers pose more questions, one of the beauties of
working with Organics!
1 In one of your answers, you mentioned using wood chips as a source of
compost material.
My questions are:
- Pine shavings are relatively easily sourced in South Africa, but my own
experience has proven them to be a rather poor source of mulch and compost
material, being very difficult to decompose (one ton of chicken litter to 3
tons of pine shavings / horse manure innoculated with Effective
Micro-Organisms, had no effect in achieving a significant increase in
compost temperature or rate of decomposition compared to no chicken litter
in the compost heap). Recent discussion on BDNOW have also indicated them
to be a non-preferred source of compost material. What are your
recommendations with respect to using pine shavings as a valuable source of
compost material?
- Further on wood chips/shavings: Stands of exotic tree species to South
Africa, such as pine, wattle and blue gum, are characterised by a total lack
of undergrowth, in part due to their root exudates which prevent the growth
of other plants near to them (in my understanding - other factors such as
water consumption also come into play). Is there not a danger that similar
organic compounds will be present in the wood chips, and through applying as
a mulch or composting, ones runs the risk of similarily "posioning" the
crop?
2 I have recently been introduced (by a Bio-Dynamic grape farmer who
produces his own "living" wine and vunegar, as well as a recent comment in a
BDNOW post) to the practise of using vinegar in disease control, especially
the mildews. Will you please expound on te use of vinegar, as the
literature which I have available makes no reference to its usage?
3 Dr. Teuro Higa's Effective Micro-Organisms (EM) are being used with
great success in South Africa. Assuming that you have knowledge of the
product and its derivatives:
- How does EM fit into your statements regarding anaerobic compost
teas, when most of the EM preparations are fermented anaerobically? Is the
fermentation process, compared to peutrification, the key difference?
- How would a farmer go about "combining" your principles and methods
with those of the EM practise?
4 Your comments on using the "right" compost materials to make the
"right" compost for the particular plants (annuals and perennials) refer, in
particular to humates and fish oil. Are coal derived humates and whole,
oily or blue skinned fish, such as pilchards, be acceptable? I have not
seen the Compost Tea Brewing Manual and Soil Biology Primer, so please
forgive my ignorance of them.
5 What is the fate of antibiotics contained in manure? I believe that
some of them are broken down by heat, but others may not be, and they
consequently have a negative impact on the development of the microbial
population during composting. Assuming that "sufficient" microbes can be
applied as an innoculant to the compost, is a stage reached where the
antibiotics are "exhausted" and the microbes are then free to multiply?
6 Many farmers do not get around to turning compost heaps sufficiently to
achive the level of aeration which is required for making "good" compost.
What are you feelings regarding the cold composting process, with or without
earthworms, wood lice and beetle larvae? What is the difference in compost
quality between the hot and cold composting processes? Will a farmer
achieve the same benefits making compost tea from cold compost as from hot
compost?
Thank you.
Stephen Barrow
