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Greenleaf Farms

Ameraucanas and Araucanas on the range
(Forest City, Pennsylvania)

Why you should bag your clippings

If you let your grass clippings on the soil, eventually the grass will trun to thatch.  This article, at the end, and most who advocate that practice, ignore that problem.  Instead, bag it, and compost it and everyone will be happier. 

How to Prepare and Use Compost

Remove grass and sod cover from the area where you construct your compost pile to allow direct contact of the materials with the soil's microorganisms. This recipe works well.

  • 1st layer: 3-4 inches of chopped brush or other coarse material on the very bottom, touching  the soil surface. 
  1. This material allows air circulation around the base of the heap.
  • 2nd layer: 6-8 inches of mixed scraps, leaves, grass clippings, etc. 
  1. Materials should be “sponge damp.”
  2. In composting too much water is a major reason for its failure.  Less is more with composting and water.
  • 3rd layer: 1 inch of soil serves as an inoculant by adding microorganisms to the heap.

  • 4th layer: (optional) 2-3 inches of manure or coffee grounds, to provide the nitrogen needed by microorganisms.
  1.  Sprinkle lime from the garden center, wood ash, and/or rock phosphate over the layer of manure to reduce the heap’s acidity. 
  2. Add water if the manure is dry.
  3. Add one pound of urea fertilizer or 10 pounds of composted poultry manure per yard of leaves or ground brush if organic sources of nitrogen are not available. 
  • 5th layer: Repeat steps 1-4 until the bin is full. Put a tarp on it, to help heat up the process and keep water out.
Suki
03:25 PM EDT

USDA and Hydroponics

The USDA released a report July 21 submitted to the Agricultural Marketing Service National Organics Standard Board regarding whether or not products cultivated via hydroponic or aquaponic farming qualify as organic.

According to the National Organics Standards Board Hydroponic and Aquaponic Task Force, both hydroponic and aquaponic farming should not qualify as organic because they do not improve soil quality, which is a mainstay of organic farming..  Read more here.

Suki
03:18 PM EDT

GMOs now must be labelled!

President Obama signed into law, a bill requiring a Federal labeling standard for foods containing genetically modified ingredients (commonly called GMOs) 

Two weeks ago, Congress passed the legislation which would require food packages to display an electronic code, text label, or some sort of symbol signifying whether or not they contain GMOs, according to The Associated Press.

The exact details will need to be worked out by the Department of Agriculture, which will have two years to write the rules. Read more here.

Suki
12:19 AM EDT
 

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