Malibu Compost - Notes From The Field

Testimonial: The Lime Tree

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:59 GMT

Last spring I purchased a bag of Bu’s blend to try on my lime tree.

The poor thing had been sitting in the ground (which I had prepared well with compost prior to planting) for 2 years and it was looking worse and worse. I applied the blend and in 3 days….nothing! (I expect things to happen NOW).

However, as the weeks passed the tree started to turn a deeper green and actually start to look lush. It is now October and I just took a good look at it. It’s about 4 times the size and actually has two large limes on it! The first ones! The tips of the leaves look a little curly so I am going to get more Bu’s to work into the soil and I will spray it with the tea. I will do this tomorrow, Thursday, and I expect to be harvesting enough limes for Margaritas by Monday.

Thanks for all you are doing!

Garden Gossip - 10/07/11

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:53 GMT

Ojai Valley News Gives Thumbs Up

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 21:38 GMT

Testimonial

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 17:36 GMT

Malibu Compost is no joke.

Within 4 days of application and regular watering, there is a DRAMATIC difference in both vertical and lateral growth.

After the first day, the test area was noticeably greener. After the second day, healthy patches began to overtake the dead thatched areas, After the third day, significant lateral growth was noted, the test patch was now several shades greener than the untreated area.

I had horrible soil and grass to begin with. Dry, thatched, bare spots, a veritable potpourri of weeds. It now appears as if its been seeded, it has not.

Suggest this product, it’s a winner.

Do your part, IRRIGATE SMART!
Renee Mularz

Testimonial

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:59 GMT

I have been struggling with my own front lawn. I have a hybrid bermuda lawn, and it was being taken over by clover. I killed the clover, and it was taking forever for the bermuda to fill in. I spread Bu’s blend heavily on the lawn and brushed and watered it in. One week later the lawn is almost filled in. The lawn has grown laterally an amazing amount.

I am very impressed with the results I obtained.

Using soil amendments

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 21:27 GMT

Should you amend the soil in your garden?

Some folks say not to alter your soil in any way. If a new plant doesn’t like your conditions, don’t bother planting it.

Others contend that most of us garden in neighborhoods where construction has stripped the topsoil or compacted or damaged it. There’s little in the way of virgin soil, or what is there needs help.

I fall somewhere in the middle. While I don’t believe you should blindly “improve” your soil, there are times and places where amendment is appropriate.

Love in Bloom

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 17:39 GMT

The Los Angeles Times featured a piece on how homegrown wedding accouterments are sprouting up. For ages, couples have been getting married in gardens, amid green, lush settings. Today, however, brides and grooms are incorporating their green thumbs into their weddings.

Some couples are designing and tending their very own gardens to exchange their vows in. Others are growing edible gardens and serving their freshly grown produce at their wedding. As for wedding favors, brides and grooms are gifting seeds and miniature potting kits, in hopes of spreading their love of gardening.

In the article, Malibu Compost’s very own, Denise Ritchie commented, “The idea that a couple would plant the seeds of their union into the soil, while beginning their journey together is so romantic.”

Read the full article here!

The Dish on Dairy Dirt: Ruminations on composted manure

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 17:46 GMT

Helen Krayenhoff’s article, “The Dish on Dairy Dirt: Ruminations on composted manure” gives great insight on the composting world and also includes an awesome section on Malibu Compost. Krayenhoff explains, “Malibu Compost is made using the biodynamic process that was created in the 1920s when farmers in Germany were seeing a decline in yield, quality, and disease-resistance in their crops in the advent of industrial agriculture…. The fresh manure pile is amended with small, concentrated amounts of six herbs: yarrow, chamomile, nettle, oak bark, dandelion, and valerian, which are gathered before they go to seed and pre-composted for a year. These bring in a whole new set of beneficial microbes that help make the elements and minerals of the completed compost more easily available to plants, thereby encouraging plant vitality and disease resistance.”

Herbicide in Our Watershed: Report reveals this Chemical Causes Birth Defects.

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 17:50 GMT

The Arundo is growing back. The chemical treadmill continues. Herbicide retreatment in the Ventura River and Matilija Cyn watershed will begin again July 25th – Oct 28th, 2011. (Three retreatments back to back will take place during that time.)

The County will start up again April 23rd, 2012 – Sept 2012, (again 3 retreatments back to back).

The County has already applied Aquamaster (glyphosate) with surfactant and added blue-green coloring in our watershed 6 times over the past 3 years. The County has reported using 3,105 gallons of Aquamaster in the watershed so far to treat the arundo.

Even on the Monsanto’s own Material Safety Data Sheet for Aquamaster, it states: “Keep out of drains, sewers, ditches and water ways.” The County obtained an ‘incidental take permit”, meaning that it’s ok if they kill red legged frogs.

In June 2011, some important information has come out in the report:

Roundup and birth defects: Is the public being kept in the dark?

Excerpts from the report summary:

“Concerns about the best-selling herbicide Roundup® are running at an all-time high. Scientific research published in 2010 showed that Roundup and the chemical on which it is based, glyphosate, cause birth defects in frog and chicken embryos at dilutions much lower than those used in agricultural and garden spraying…

“The public, in contrast, has been kept in the dark by industry and regulators about the ability of glyphosate and Roundup to cause malformations…”

We can let Supervisor Bennett and the Ventura County Watershed Protection District know that we, as a community, do not support the spraying of toxic herbicides into our watershed. Let’s protect our water, wildlife and our children!

Patty Pagaling
Ojai, CA
www.pesticidefreeojaivalley.org

One Cow, One Man, One Planet

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 22:40 GMT

Our very own Denise Ritchie will be hosting a fantastic event centered around a screening of the film, One Cow, One Man, One Planet. The event, taking place Friday, July 29th at 7:30 PM at Center of The Heart in Santa Barbara, will also be benefiting Backyard Bounty, a program run by the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County.

Here’s more details about the film and event:

With special guest speakers and co-sponsors:
Denise Ritchie from Malibu Compost; Patty Pagaling , the Executive Director of Transition to Organics, and Doug Hagensen, Program Manager of Backyard Bounty.

Peter Proctor is New Zealand’s father of biodynamic agriculture. This film is his journey in India. One man, a bucket of cow dung and the agricultural revolution, that may just save the world. Will the future of agriculture in India determine our future? One Man, One Cow, One Planet – garden like there’s no tomorrow

What does an environmentally friendly biodynamic food system capable of feeding everyone actually look like? One Man, One Cow is a blueprint for a post-industrial future, taking you into the heart of the world’s most important renaissance. The outcome of the battle for agricultural control in India may just dictate the future of the earth.

Why YOU should see this film

Modern industrial agriculture is destroying the earth:

Desertification, water scarcity, toxic cocktails of agricultural chemicals pervading our food chains, ocean ecosystem collapse, soil erosion and massive loss of soil fertility. Our ecosystems ore overwhelmed. Humanity’s increasing demands are exceeding the Earth’s carrying capacity. Modern agriculture causes topsoil to be eroded at 3 million tons per hour. (that’s 26 billion tons a year) Human mass is replacing biomass and other species. The carrying capacity of the earth is almost spent. To maintain our comfort zone lifestyles we will soon need five earths to sustain us in the style to which we have become accustomed. The mantra of free trade has failed the world’s poor. There is a better way.

A simple recipe to save the world? One old man and a bucket of cow-dung. Are you crazy? Biodynamic agriculture may be the only answer we have left.

One night only: Friday July 29th

7:30 pm to 9:30 pm — $10 donation
A percentage of the proceeds will go to Backyard Bounty

Center of the Heart
487 N. Turnpike Rd, Santa Barbara 805-964-4861
Up the street from the Wake Center