Plant and Be Happy

* A wooden privacy fence across the back
This must happen before we can set up a play area for children. It will match the fence on the side. Cost of materials = $500.

* A sign for the garden
People don’t even know we exist! Materials = $150.

* A play area for small children
A sandbox, some things for building, etc. Materials = $300.

* Some picnic tables for sitting in the back of the garden
We have one; we really could use two more. $200.

* A small tool shed
Our tools are not secure. $300.

* A small greenhouse
Very helpful for starting plants in spring and fall. Materials = $300.

* A work area
A counter & sink for cleaning veggies, potting seeds, etc. Materials = $150.

* Some table-height garden beds for handicapped people
One grade-school class has a plot in the garden, and there is a student in a wheelchair who cannot participate with the class. Materials = $200.

How You can Help

Please donate items for our Yard Sale

It will be on Saturday Nov 5. Items can be dropped off in the parking lot behind the temple on the evenings of Thursday the 3rd and Friday the 4th from 6:00 to 7:30 PM.

Leave donations (funds, not goods) at Kalachandji’s Gift Shop

and we will collect them.

Donate below via Paypal.

All donations will be used only for these projects. Please contact us via our Facebook page or via a comment here if you want your donation to be used exclusively for a specific project. 

Modern agricultural science considers soil in terms of chemicals. A better way to see the soil is in terms of energy. Energy flows between the earth’s two poles.

The various mineral compounds in the soil allow this energy to flow in different amounts. If you get too much mineralization you can have too much flow. Too little and you won’t have enough energy flow.

Let’s take a practical example. If you fill a bathtub with distilled water, turn on a hair dryer, and drop it in, what will happen?

Nothing – because it is distilled water.

Now add some minerals, such as epsom salts – which is magnesium sulfate, two necessary minerals in the soil. If you’re in the tub of distilled water when the hair dryer is dropped in, and you slowly add epsom salt, at some point your body will start to tingle. As you keep adding more you’ll start feeling uncomfortable. Keep going and you’ll get seriously shocked, and if you get enough salts in the water, you’ll kill yourself instantly.

Please don’t try this experiment at home!

It is the same with plants. You might hear about “burning the plant roots” by adding too much fertilizer. What’s actually happening is that there is too much electrical current flowing, that’s what burns the plants. Mosture content also impacts this – if your soil is very wet the plants won’t get burned as much, but when it starts to dry out a little then they’ll get burned more. It’s like letting the bathtub water evaporate – the mineral concentration is getting higher and the energy flow increases.

Now suppose there is a natural current in the water that you can’t turn off. And you want to take a bath, and you want some epsom salts because it’s good for sore muscles and you worked hard in the garden all day. How do you prevent yourself from getting shocked? (Remember there is a hypothetical current that you can’t turn off.) How do you know how much epsom salt you can safely add?

You can test the conductivity of the water for minerals already in solution, and only add epsom salts if the conductivity is low enough. And you can test while you’re adding to make sure you don’t add too much.

Similarly, suppose you need some minerals in your garden, because you see some mineral deficiencies in the plants. An example can be found here:  http://4e.plantphys.net/article.php?ch=3&id=289.

But how much should be applied?

Test the conductivity of the soil. If it is already high and you add more minerals you can burn the plants. This also applies to organic fertilizers, although there is less chance because most organic fertilizers have lower percentages of minerals.

Therefore we only fertilize when the conductivity is low. This won’t tell you what minerals are needed – that is done with a soil test and by watching the plants for signs of nutrient excesses or deficiencies – but it will tell you whether or not it is safe to add nutrients, and prevent you from adding too much.

How do you test your soil conductivity? The easiest and cheapest way is with an electrical conductivity meter (EC meter). You can buy them online for as little as $30-40.

If you have a TDS meter (Total Dissolved Solids) you can also use it - but you have to convert the reading by multiplying by 1.7. TDS meters are often sold with RO water purifier units. For more detailed information on conversions between EC and TDS see http://www.hydroponics.net/learn/debate_over_ec_and_tds.asp

First prepare your sample to test. Take a small sample of soil in one cup, and mix it with an equal volume of DISTILLED water from another cup. The soil should not have any pieces of organic matter in it. ½ cup of soil and ½ cup of water is sufficient. Stir the mixture up really well and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Stir it up again, and take a reading by inserting the meter tip into the mixture.

If the number is less than 200 you should fertilize. (Remember to adjust the reading for TDS meters.) What kind of minerals you add will be according to the soil test results or according to any mineral deficiencies you see in the plants. Don’t just add indiscriminately unless you can see that you need it, or based on the annual soil test.

Conventional agriculture often says (as an example) “side dress with x amount of nitrogen after two months.” The result is often a waste of fertilizer, and over-fertilization which can bring a host of other problems – not the least of which is pollution of water supplies. Excess nitrogen can also increase pest problems and produces low-quality food.  

Conductivity around 200 or below means your plants will not grow much. Conductivity at around 1000 means you have far too much nutrients or salts already, which will usually be evident by problems in the garden such as root rot, nematodes or plant wilt.

If the conductivity is above 600 then you should not fertilize unless you really know what you’re doing, because there is a good chance you’ll burn the plants. And if is between 200 and 600 then you can fertilize, but do so with caution if it is above 400. A range of around 200-500 is very good for robust growth.

In new gardens that are actively planted you sometimes cannot put the full quantity of minerals needed all at once, because you might burn the plants. Some beginning soils are very deficient in nutrients that the plants need. If your soil is in the upper range it is better to fertilize more frequently with less fertilizer, cautiously.

Fertilizers include organic sources such as seed meals, and any other type of fertilizer or soil amendment. If you’re adding compost, you can also test the conductivity of the compost itself. Finished compost should have a conductivity of around 1500, whereas unfinished compost (which should never be added to the garden) can be as high as 100,000.

Remember the first rule of high brix gardening is to only put into the soil what the soil needs, and that is based on the soil test. (Get the weak-acid test, also known as the Morgan Extract.)

For more detailed information here are two great sources.

http://www.acresusa.com/toolbox/reprints/Feb07_ReamsTesting_andersen.pdf

http://www.crossroads.ws/CRActive/PikeAg.htm

And when you’re finally finished in the garden for the day, take a nice epsom salt bath for those sore muscles, but without the electricity!

Very few people even know about high brix gardening, what to speak of understanding the processes to achieve it. 

1) Get the soil tested – the Weak Acid test. (Don’t use County Extension Offices  as they generally use the Strong Acid test.) Get the microbial levels tested also (called a formazan test.)

2) Have the consultant that did the tests analyze the results and make an expert recommendation of soil amendments. This program may include microbial inoculation. Soil testing and broadcasting of the recommended soil amendments take place once a year, usually in early winter or the off-season.

3) Use liquid nutrient drenches on the soil each month throughout the growing season. Nitrogen is always one of the components because it is water soluble and leaches out of the root zone, and must be replenished. Monthly soil drenches do not have to be customized for your soil, and you don’t need to fertilize separately.

4) Foliar feed on schedule throughout the growing season, usually weekly. (This also does not have to be customized.)

It’s easy if you pick a good consultant as a partner. International Ag Labs and Jon Frank are our consultant and lab of choice – http://www.highbrixgardens.com/nutrient-dense-foods.html.  International Ag Labs was started by several people who trained directly under Dr Carey Reams in the 1970s and Jon’s specific focus is on the small-scale farms and gardeners.

For more information please see our articles What is Brix, Organic and High Brix, and Carrot Test for Brix Levels.

High brix gardening means growing foods that are highly nutritious, or nutrient dense. They actually weigh more due to the increased nutrient density, and the mineral and vitamin content is much higher.

Nutrition levels are tested by placing a few drops of juice or sap on the lens of a refractometer. A handheld analogue refractometer is the least expensive type. They are available for around $40 dollars online – get one with Automatic Temperature Compensation (ATC) and a carrying case.

Foliar feeding (spraying liquid nutrients on the leaves) followed by testing of brix levels can be used as a way to immediately see what fertilizers and minerals result in increased plant nutrition levels. Of course, the research has already been done – but someone who is very experienced could try to fine-tune things a little for their particular soil or a particular crop.

Foliar feeding doesn’t always increase the nutrient levels in plants directly. It also provides some energy to the plants which then produce more exudates from their roots, like sap. These exudates feed the soil microbial population, which then transform the soil nutrients more rapidly so that they become more available to the plants. It is the same with humans – you can’t get your RDA of iron by chewing on a nail. It has to be chelated, or transformed into a type that your body can assimilate. The microbes transform the minerals into forms that are usable by plants, which transform them into forms usable by … YOU! We also need the microbes in our own digestive systems to assimilate those nutrients.

In summary:

1. Get the soil tested annually (Weak Acid test by a lab specializing in high brix).

2. Use the soil amendments recommended by a high-brix expert, and do not put anything else into the soil.

3. Use soil drenches (monthly) and foliar feeding (weekly) on schedule through the growing season.

4. Periodically measure brix levels and harvest when they are high – which is after a day or two of good sunshine.

We are attempting to establish Kalachandji’s Community Garden as a high brix garden. The first two steps have been done for everyone. It is up to each of you to follow through with step three on your particular plots. We can include your plots in a program of monthly and weekly feedings if you like.

It takes time to nicely balance the soil and learn all the details, so the first year we may not see high brix levels. Jon Frank told me that the first year we could expect to see some quality in the average-to-good range, and the second year we should be seeing some good-to-excellent.

But even average-to-good is better than some of what you can buy in the store.

This is not just another community garden. It is an opportunity for you to possibly grow the most nutritious produce you’ve ever had or ever grown – without having to understand all the details.

What a crazy city we live in:

http://www.dallasobserver.com/2010-03-25/news/when-it-comes-to-community-gardens-city-hall-and-its-crazy-procedures-are-like-agent-orange

Below are the finances for Kalachandji’s Community Garden for January – March. Continue reading Community Garden Finances

I know many of you are anxious to get started, so let’s recap what needs to be done.

To put it simply, the raised beds need to be created. Continue reading Preparing to Plant – part 2

The developing community garden has practically been a mud pit with the rains this past week. Yesterday I was there, getting my shoes muddy, and grew about two inches in the process. I also gained weight, which if you know me personally is a good thing. Of course I lost that weight as soon as I took my shoes off. Continue reading Preparing to Plant

We would like to share the rules of the Garden. Most of this was taken from the American Community Garden Association and we also added a little of our own flavor. It is one page long. Continue reading Community Garden Rules

In January we tilled the soil, tilled in 6 inches of leaves, and added soft rock phosphate and other nutrients to balance the soil. We have not tilled or dug in the garden since then.

Until the last few days, that is. Continue reading Soil needs more organic matter

Thank you to everyone who came to the meeting/seminar!

I know some were not able to attend. Everyone watched a video on Square Foot Gardening, practiced the spacing methods in several small boxes of sand, and learned how to use a refractometer by testing the Brix levels of some apples and carrots. In fact, someone bought a refractometer from me on the spot – I think it was Terry. Continue reading Gardening Seminar

Dear gardeners,

I just realized I have not been emailing all the articles for a while, I’ve been putting them on the blog. And I’ve not been putting all the updates on the blog! There is WAY too much to do…. Continue reading Making the Raised Beds

Organic gardening is focused on the inputs – what you put into the soil and on the plants – with the expectation of better nutrition as a result. High brix gardening is focused directly on the end result – the nutrition levels – and providing specific inputs necessary to obtain this. The methodologies are therefore the opposite although the goal is the same. Continue reading Organic and High Brix

In the community garden, we are providing nutrients in specific amounts to replenish those nutrients lacking in unamended Dallas soil. We are following a high brix program. Based on the soil test, the foremost need is phosphorus. We are putting in 280 pounds of soft rock phosphate, which meets organic requirements. Continue reading Community Garden – soil test results

“Don’t use treated wood in your veggie garden!”

How many times have you heard this?

CCA (Chromated Copper Arsenate) wood has been off the market for seven years now, so there is no need to discuss that. The newer wood (ACQ) has copper and an ammonium compound, so the primary concern is the copper. The type available in the south is usually ACQ-D which has also been treated with water repellant. Continue reading Using Wood for Raised Beds

Our community garden is now open to anyone who wants a plot.

The last soil amendment – soft rock phosphate – is being shipped from Arkansas. The trucking company was delayed due to weather and it will not be here until Wednesday February 17. Continue reading Community Garden Update

Two weeks ago Kunti and I visited New Talavan for the very first time. It is a rural community about one hour northeast from New Orleans, in Mississippi.

We had a great time! Continue reading Visit to New Talavan!

Dear fellow gardeners,

We are continuing to make progress in setting up the community garden.

There are still some open plots that have not been reserved. Please contact any member of the Community Garden Planning Team to reserve one by phone, email, or in person. (Shalagram, Rasaraja or Sucarya, Rangavati, or Kunti) Continue reading Community Garden – reserve now!

Below is the response I got from our other senator regarding the email I sent:

Dear Mrs. van Nus:

Thank you for contacting me regarding food safety. I appreciate having the benefit of your comments on this matter. Continue reading Response from second senator on S-425

I got the response below from one of our senators on the emails I sent on S425 :

Dear Friend:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the Food Safety and Tracking Improvement Act. I welcome your thoughts and comments. Continue reading Response from senator on S425

Rasaraja brought an acquaintance to the community garden on Friday – Randy from Discovery Gardens. We had a very lively talk. He wanted to know details of what we were doing, and I explained something about high brix gardening. I was a bit hesitant because he is far more experienced than I am. Continue reading Discovery Gardens visitor