Basic Organic Program

1. Stop using all synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals that harm living organisms.

2. Build soil health with natural organic products and techniques.

3. Use native plants and well-adapted introductions to conserve water and make wise decisions.

Soil Amending

Apply compost, rock materials such as lava sand, granite, basalt and other paramagnetic materials and dry molasses to all planting areas.

Maintenance

Mulching

Mulch bare soil around all shrubs, trees, ground covers and food crops with shredded native tree trimmings to protect the soil from sunlight, wind and rain, inhibit weed germination, decrease watering needs and mediate soil temperature. Native cedar is the best choice. Other natural mulches can be used, but avoid Bermudagrass hay because of herbicide residue. Do not pile mulch on the stems of plants.

Fertilizing

Broadcast organic fertilizer to the entire site 2-3 times per year at 20 lbs. /1,000 sq. ft. Foliar feed all plants during the growing season, at least monthly with aerated compost tea or Garrett Juice.

Watering

Water only as needed. The organic program will reduce the frequency and volume of water needed. Add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar per gallon when watering pots. Use 1 ounce of liquid humate in acid soils.

Mowing

Mow turf as needed and mulch clippings into the lawn to return nutrients and organic matter to the soil. Put occasional excess clippings in compost pile. Don’t ever let clippings leave the site. Do not use line trimmers around shrubs and trees. Buffalograss lawns need less care than any grass.

Weeding

Hand pull large weeds and work on soil health for overall control. Mulch all bare soil. Avoid all synthetic herbicides, such as pre-emergents, broad-leaf treatments, soil sterilants and especially the SU (sulfonylurea) herbicides such as Manage and Oust. Spray weeds as needed with vinegar based herbicides.

Pruning

Remove dead, diseased and conflicting limbs. Do not over prune. Do not make flush cuts. Leave the branch collars intact. Do not paint cuts. For more details see www.DirtDoctor.com.

Insect Pests

In general, control insect pests by encouraging beneficial insects and spraying with compost tea mixtures such as Garrett Juice. Avoid all pyrethrum products, especially those containing pipernyl butoxide (PBO), petroleum distillates and other contaminants

Diseases

Most diseases such as black spot, brown patch, powdery mildew and other fungal problems are controlled by prevention through soil improve-ment, avoidance of high-nitrogen fertilizers and proper watering. Outbreaks can be stopped with sprays of potassium bicarbonate, cornmeal juice, diluted milk.

Bed Prep

Scrape away existing grass and weeds; add compost, lava sand, organic fertilizer, wheat bran, expanded shale, cornmeal and dry molasses and till into the native soil. Excavation of natural soil and additional ingredients such as concrete sand, peat moss, foreign soil and pine bark should not be used. More compost is needed for shrubs and flowers than for groundcover. Add greensand to black and white soils and high-calcium lime to acid soils. Decomposed granite and zeolite are effective for most all soils.

Products

Compost

Compost, Nature’s own living fertilizer, can be made at home or purchased ready-to-use. It can be started any time of the year in sun or shade. Anything once living can go in the compost: grass clippings, tree trimmings, food scraps, bark, sawdust, rice hulls, weeds, nut hulls and animal manure. Mix the ingredients together and simply pile the material on the ground. The best mixture is 80% vegetative matter and 20% animal waste, although any mix will compost. Oxygen is a critical component. Ingredients should be a mix of coarse and fine-textured material to promote air circulation through the pile. Turn the pile as time allows to speed up the process. Another critical component is water. A compost pile should be roughly the moisture of a squeezed-out sponge to help the living organisms thrive and work their magic. Compost is ready to use as a soil amendment when the ingredients are no longer identifiable. The color will be dark brown; the texture soft and crumbly and it will smell like the forest floor. Rough, unfinished compost can be used as topdressing mulch around all plantings. Add dry molasses to piles that aren’t heating up enough.

Compost Tea

Compost tea is made by soaking compost in water. Fill any container half full of compost and finish filling with water. Let the mix sit 24 hours, then dilute and spray on the foliage of any and all plants. Be sure to strain the solids out with old pantyhose, cheesecloth or floating row cover material. Full strength tea makes an excellent fire ant mound drench when mixed with 2 oz. molasses and 2 oz. orange oil per gallon. Add vinegar, molasses and seaweed to make Garrett Juice. Use an aquarium pump to aerate the compost tea mixture prior to using for better results.

Formulas

Garlic Pepper Tea Insect Repellent

In a blender with water, liquefy two bulbs of garlic and two cayenne or habanero peppers. Strain away the solids. Pour the garlic-pepper juice into a one gallon container. Fill the remaining volume with water to make one gallon of concentrate. Shake well before using and add 1/4 cup of the concentrate to each gallon of water in the sprayer. To make garlic tea, simply omit the pepper and add another bulb of garlic. For additional power, add one tablespoon of seaweed and molasses to each gallon. Always use plastic containers with loose fitting lids for storage.

Garrett Juice

Mix the following per gallon of water: one cup of compost tea or liquid humate, one ounce liquid seaweed, one ounce blackstrap molasses and one ounce apple cider vinegar. To make a mild insect control product, add one oz. of citrus oil per gallon of spray. To make the fire ant killer, add two oz. of citrus oil per gallon. When spraying the foliage of plants, don’t use over two oz. of citrus oil per gallon of spray. This mixture also works as a soil detox product if you are just starting your organic program. It is also an excellent soil drench and root stimulator.

Tree Trunk Goop

Mix 1/3 of each in water and paint on trunks: diatomaceous earth, soft rock phosphate and manure compost. Paint onto cuts, borer holes or other injuries on trunks or limbs. Reapply if washed off by rain or irrigation.