Re: [compost_tea] Re: Kudzu
Harry McCormick gets the same kinds of results, using leaf litter and clover
compost. He picks tomatoes from June to December in Oregon. He protects
the tomatoes from wind in plastic covered hoop houses, but the houses stand
about 20 feet high, because the tomatoes reach 12 to 14 feet high.
If you want Harry's e-mail to talk to him yourself, just e-mail me and I can
send you to him. Alternatively, read some of Eliot Coleman's books, where
he gets similar results.
Part of the "secret" is using a nitrogen-fixing plant in the compost mix.
Kudzu is a nitrogen-fixer, which is why the USDA brought it into the US from
south-east Asia. They just neglected to pay attention to its ability to
produce rhizomes, and the fact that it grows so fast, it smothers other plants
out. Otherwise, it would be a great N-fixing cover crop.
Elaine
---What is Charles Wilbur's growing season?
In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, Jeff Lowenfels <jeff_at_g...> wrote:
> L900 HOW TO GROW WORLD RECORD TOMATOES
> by Charles H Wilbur
> When Charles Wilbur goes to pick tomatoes he has to climb a ladder
to
> reach scaffolding that often has another ladder on it! Wilbur set
3
> Guinness world records with his mega-producing, all-organically
grown
> produce. He was on the cover in 1987 for his 4 tomato plants that
> yielded 1,368 pounds of tomatoes. His record still stands for the
> tallest tomato plant grown-a 28 foot, 7-inch cherry tomato. He
also
> made it for a 17 foot, 6 inch okra plant. What's the secret to
this
> fantastic growth? A big factor is his kudzu compost formula
consisting
> of kudzu (northerners can substitute alfalfa or soybeans), hay,
manure,
> soil, ashes, and colloidal clay.
Elaine R. Ingham
Soil Foodweb Inc., Corvallis, Oregon
Soil Foodweb Inc., Port Jefferson, New York
Soil Foodweb Institute, Lismore Australia
Soil Foodweb Institute Cambridge, New Zealand
Laboratorios de Soil Foodweb, Culiacan, Mexico
Soil Foodweb Inc., Jerome, Idaho
Soil Foodweb Inc., South Africa
Received on Wed Mar 02 2005 - 16:59:55 EST
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