IN THE GARDEN
Making compost tea
C
ompost tea is an
effective, low-strength,
natural fertiliser for
vegetables, seedlings and
garden plants, and it can
suppress fungal plant diseases.
The tea-brewing process
extracts, and in some cases
grows and multiplies nutrients
and beneficial bacteria and
fungi from compost and
suspends them in water in a
form that makes them quickly
available to plants.
Feeding the plants the proper
Continued on page 31
HUGELKULTUR
An established hugelkultur bed
From page 29
or green leaves put right on
the hugelkultur wood would
help jump start the compost-
ing process. This could also
include seaweed, straw, dead
leaves, leaf mould, etc.
Continue with the layers till
the hugel bed is at the
desired height and width,
then plant your seedlings.
The first year of break down
means the wood (and fungi)
steal a lot of the nitrogen out
of the surrounding environ-
ment, so add nitrogen during
the first year , or plant crops
that add nitrogen to the soil
(such as legumes) or species
with minimal nitrogen
requirements, unless there is
plenty of organic material on
top of the wood to start with.
After the wood absorbs
nitrogen to its fill, the wood
will start to break down and
start to give nitrogen back in
the process. In the end you
will be left with a beautiful
bed of nutrient rich soil.
Tree types that work well in
hugelkultur are hardwoods
that break down slowly and
therefore your hugel bed will
last longer, hold water for
more years and add nutrients
for more years. But softwoods
are acceptable as well. A
30
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softwood bed will just
disintegrate quicker. Mixing
woods with softwoods and
branches on top, to give off
nutrients first, and hard-
woods on bottom, sounds
like a plan if you have access
to multiple types of wood.
Yet the newly decomposing
softwoods at top will eat up a
lot of nitrogen at first, so
compensate for that. Alien
woods that work best are
alders, apple, aspen, birch,
cottonwood, maple, oak,
poplar, and willow (make
sure it is dead or it will
sprout).
Tree types that work okay are
black cherry (use only
rotted), camphor wood (well
aged), cedar/juniper/yew
(anti-microbial/anti-fungal, so
use only at very bottom or
unless already well aged.
Cedar should be broken
down before new plant roots
reach it), eucalyptus (slightly
anti-microbial), orange
(exceptionally resistant to
decay), pine/fir/spruce
(tannins and sap), and red
mulberry (exceptionally
resistant to decay).
Tree types to avoid include
black locust (will not
decompose), and black
walnut (juglone toxin).