Integrated Pest Management

What is IPM?

I feel that I must set the record straight as to what IPM is, since there appears to be a lot of misleading information about IPM.

First, here is what IPM is NOT: it is NOT following a weed and feed regimen! People who tell you weed and feed is IPM are misled or trying to mislead you.

OK, so what is IPM?

1. IPM is working with nature to feed the soil. Healthy soil makes healthy plants that can defend themselves and recover from injury. Without healthy soil, the input of resources is required.

2. IPM is choosing the right plant for the use/area/microclimate/sun/water availability. IPM is working with nature not against it. You must understand a plant's needs and your area to select the plant(s) that will require the least input from you.

3. IPM means accepting some losses. Nothing is perfect and you’re not going to win every battle. Nature abhors a vacuum.

4. IPM means identifying the problem and understanding it. What are the pest’s strengths and weaknesses? Exploit the weaknesses and avoid its strengths. IPM requires monitoring—what is working and why? What is not working and why?

5. IPM is a holistic approach. Seeing your yard (garden, turf and perennial beds) as an entire system that can complement the defenses of one another. IPM is not monoculture! This is the whole companion planting concept, but on a larger scale. For example, providing habitat to attract and maintain pollinators for poorly performing orchards. Also, controlling run-off damage through rain gardens that also provide habitat for birds and beneficial insects to control pests. IPM is also looking at a plant’s needs and seeking other plants to satisfy those needs (clover in turf grass).

6. IPM does include synthetic pesticide control as a last fallback alternative. As described above, the synthetic control should be selected to target the pest's weaknesses when the pest is most susceptible. This is not prevention, it is remedial.

Over time, IPM will mean fewer inputs ($ and labor) on your part. When you have good soil and the right plants in place, you have created a system that works naturally.

I have a great example of IPM going on right now. My neighbor (traditional lawn care enthusiast) has a pretty extensive grub issue. No surprise given the overfeeding by the turf maintenance crew last year. Their lawn abuts mien and some of the damage encroaches a foot or two into my lawn. I have been monitoring it and this past weekend when I was overspreading my compost I checked it out. I've put milky spore down a few times in the past 5 years and have very few grubs in my lawn as a result. Milky spore is not like the Berlin wall. Grubs must eat the bacteria and then they die. I know this means they will eat the grass before they die. I'm OK with that. The grubs I dug up were milky white and so I'm going to keep and eye on it and repair it.

Cheers,

Mark

WormMainea Blog is now free of advertisements

You may have noticed that the blog is now free of advertisements.

For the past year, I have had a donations button and note on my website. I am surprised and delighted by the donations I have received to keep WormMainea.com free of ads. Your generous donations have enabled me to make my blog ad free also.

I will soon have a redesigned WormMainea.com site. Your generous donations have made all this possible.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Cheers,

Mark

More on fungus gnats

Fungus gnats can be a problem in worm bins-- especially if you have seedlings growing nearby and the seed soil has fungus gnats.


I picked up this tip on controlling fungus gnats from Susan Littlefield's newsletter courtesy of the National Gardening Association (http://www.garden.org/regional/report/arch/reminders/3683)

"Foil Fungus Gnats
If fungus gnats are troubling you and your houseplants, allow the top couple of inches of potting soil to dry out between waterings. Fungus gnat larvae need moisture to survive; keeping the growing mix drier will decrease survival and make the mix less attractive to egg-laying females. Covering the surface of the growing mix with sand will make it less enticing to females as a place to lay eggs. You can also apply beneficial nematodes (Steinernematids or Neoaplectanids) to control larvae in the soil."

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Mark

Evaluation of the DryerNet

In looking for energy efficiency products, sometimes I come across things that just make sense.
 
In our home in January we are spending money to head and humidify the air. We are also doing laundry, which involves drying clothes. Typically the dryer dumps warm wet air outdoors. Jim Atkinson (http://dryernet.com/) has produced a product that permits you to keep this warm, humid air in your home. This seems perfect for the winter months here in Maine.

The dryer net is essentially a fabric bag that covers your dryer tube. The cover secures with an elastic band. This catches lint and permits you to vent your dryer indoors (see cautions and caveats below). You do have to keep the trap clean (we clean ours every 2-3 loads).

Dryer net in action in my basement.

Also, you have to disconnect your dryer vent tubing from your outdoor vent. I found it simpler to just buy another dryer vent tube and cover the already installed one to outdoors. The new tube was cut to exit the front of the dryer. Having 2 tubes will simplify things during the season change. As your can see in the photo, I found it better to use a box fan to move this air around (our dryer is located in the corner of the basement and want this warn, humid air up on the main floor).

We find that this heats up the basement and brings some warm air up to the main floor also. Because it is so dry at this time of year, we only get moisture on our basement windows.If we run the fan (which we always do now) that is gone within an hour of completing the dryer cycle.

Some limitations and warnings regarding using the Dryernet:

  Only use the Dryernet on electric dryers.

  Do not use the Dryernet in a confined space.

You can contact Jim at dryernet@gmail.com

Cheers,

Mark

Virtual Tour of the WormMainea Worm Farm

I have received several requests to tour my worm farm. I think people are imagining something like you might see on Dirty Jobs (http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/dirty-jobs-worm-rancher.html) where a commercial vermicomposting operation is growing worms in a greenhouse or similar scale operation.

I run WormMainea as a hobby and not as a business, so my scale is much smaller. It really is just a bunch of worm bins in my basement. There is not much to see. Here are some photos of the stacks of bins (does this make it a worm bin farm?). I currently have 15 active bins (this is typically a slow period so I don't need to have a lot of bins going). 14 big bins (2 full for harvesting; 6 that are a  week to a month from harvest ready; and 6 that are in active growth) and 1 demo bin (ready to split for shows this spring).

Six bins near the furnace. These are the ones that are almost ready to harvest.

Nine bins shown here (8 18 gallon and my demo bin). These are my ready for harvest bins, demo bin, and active growth bins.

Sorry if you were disappointed, but growing worms is really easy. You don't need anything elaborate. Scaling up is really a matter of more bins and a system to ensure that all the bins get sufficient food and are harvested at the right time (either for castings or worms). After Christmas holiday, I will bring more bins downstairs and split any ready to harvest bins that I don't sell to get ready for the spring rush and demonstrations.

The most exciting part of the whole operation is feeding them (and of course harvesting!). I give my worms a combination of food from our kitchen as well as food waste collected from the deli at Lois' Natural Marketplace (tip of the hat to Chris, the chef at Lois' for bagging the food for me).


Cheers and Merry Christmas!

Mark

Vermicomposting Christmas Gifts

A story that I heard a while back told of a worm bin and pound of worms as the hot item at a Yankee swap Christmas party. I love hearing things like this. I offer gift certificates on my website (see http://www.wormmainea.com/Gifts.html) 


I believe that a worm bin and pound of worms make a great gift at any time of year. 
Worm bins need not be expensive or complicated. I think a simple bin is really a lot easier to use (and certainly easier to build!).

In my mind, the perfect gift would be a book on vermicomposting (like Mary Appelhof's book Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up and Maintain a Worm Composting System), a pound of worms and a new bin (or a WormMainea gift certificate for these).

If you are already vermicomposting, you can provide the worms and make the bin. If you're an experienced vermicomposter, you can provide a vermi-consultation and skip the book. The more people we have vermicomposting the better.

If you are looking for other gift ideas, I recently created Amazon lists of my recommended vermicomposting supplies, as well as favorite garden tools and books.

You can view these at:

WormMainea vermicomposting tools and supplies.

WormMainea gardening tools.

WormMainea gardening book recommendations.

Cheers,

Mark

Making Kombucha

First what is kombucha?

Kombucha is fermented tea. Wikipedia has a great summary of history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kombucha

We started drinking commercially produced kombucha a few years ago and really enjoy it. Earlier this year, commercial kombucha became unavailable and I researched making it at home. We found a SCOBY through a local permaculture group, so we started making it at home. I think the fresh kombucha is better than what we got from the store (and MUCH less expensive!).

I don't know about all the health claims, but we have found kombucha settles upset stomachs. In general, we just like it!

How can you make it?

The key to making kombucha is finding a starter culture or SCOBY (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast). Look on CRAISGLIST or check local natural or health food store postings for people who will share their SCOBY.

Kombucha instructions can be complicated and confusing, so I am sharing simple instructions for brewing, harvesting, and enjoying your own great-tasting kombucha.

What do you need?

2 quarts (plus 1 cup) of water - if your water is not good, use bottled distilled or bottled spring water

A stainless steel pot that will hold that much water allowing top space for water to come to a rolling boil.

2/3 cup of granulated white sugar

Paper towel or clean cloth and rubber band to cover the brew vessel.

A 4-quart brew vessel. We use the jar pictured below. Here's what we use.

Brew vessel with SCOBY and some tea to start next batch

1. First clean your workspace as if you are going to cook a meal. Pour the 2 quarts of water into the freshly washed stainless steel pot. Add one extra cup of water to allow for evaporation. Add 5 tea bags. I always use black tea.

2. Boil the water for 5 minutes.

Everything ready to go. Water is in pot, sugar and tea bags are at hand.

Water is ready to boil.

Add tea bags while water is heating

3. Remove tea bags.

4. Add the 2/3 cup of white granulated sugar and stir  to dissolve.

Boil water with tea bags. Remove tea bags and add 2/3 c sugar. Let cool.

5. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature (test by checking the pot temp on the inside of your wrist). Warm is OK. Hot is NOT.

6. When cool - pour into brew vessel with the SCOBY and some starter tea (a few cups). Don't worry is SCOBY floats or sinks (it doesn't matter). Don't fill to top-- leave a few inches of head space.

7. Cover the bowl or jar with a paper towel or clean cloth. Secure the cover with the rubber band.

8. Place the fermenting vessel out of direct sunlight. Kombucha brews faster in warm areas.

9. Keep the cover in place during the fermentation process. Also, try not to jostle the brew vessel. Just leave it alone and wait 1 week. You'll see a new SCOBY being formed on top of the kombucha.

10. Taste your tea. If it is too sweet, let it brew another day and taste again. Otherwise, you can harvest...

11. Harvesting! When the taste is right for you (very subjective, since some like their kombucha sweet), it is time to harvest. I keep our kombucha in a milk jar in the fridge with a vented lid. Do not keep at room temp or in a container with a tight-fitting lid, because your tea is alive and can explode if not carefully monitored! Short periods are OK (in fact this is how you get fizzy kombucha, ala GT Dave). I like mine just a little fizzy as it comes out of the brew vessel. Harvest 2 quarts of kombucha. You always want to leave some in the brew vessel.

Harvested kombucha ready to drink for the week. Keep in fridge.

12. Remove some of the SCOBY. You will have 2 after a brew cycle. You can't hurt your SCOBY by handling. You can use tongs or your hands. If you are going to use bare hands, be sure to scrub thoroughly. The 2 SCOBYs may be 'stuck' together. Pull apart gently.

This is the SCOBY. I'm removing this to the fridge as backup.

13. Place one SCOBY in your fridge in clean container with some kombucha. This is your backup SCOBy in case something goes wrong. After a few cycles, you will have spares you can give to friends or CRAIGSLIST.

14. Repeat brew cycle.

Cheers,

Mark