Connection with soil or earth is just wonderful. I never understood why so many people call it dirt ! It is the reason I never use gloves . Thank you for a lovely video Kaye !!
Oh, THANK YOU, Paul! Please share your enthusiasm for this channel so that I can make it sustainable. My deepest thanks! Stay tuned for the companion vlog which I will upload from Canada on Friday where I'm going early tomorrow.
What a great idea! Siloe Oliveira! 😁 You both are my inspiration! I start watching you both last year and so far I've done soooo much! Soon I'll post some pictures! Love you both!❤️️
Jaqueline, I am sitting in my hotel room in Vancouver writing you. Thanks so much for your support!! I'm so happy we have been helpful and inspired you. That is the goal, whether we know a lot about food growing, or a little, to inspire others to garden.
An older gentlemen brought us a bag of seaweed last summer. He said to mulch around my tomatoes with it. I had a phenomenal crop, with yields of about 200 pounds of tomatoes on a smallish lot (about 20 tomato plants). Coming from the coast of Atlantic Canada, I am surprised I hadn't tried that before. I am definitely sold on the idea of mulching with the seaweed now.
That's amazing! So, you rinsed it, I presume, then, chopped it, and just laid it at the base of your tomato stems? Then, you likely have rain in summer? We don't have any so I always wonder how much the nutrients from mulch will filter down, especially through the wood chips. But I would love to try this! As you saw from the video, seaweed and sea grass is abundant where Ranka is, but I had to comb through plastic debris just for a few scraps, about 20 pounds, I'd say. Also, it depends on weather, and kelp is heavy! And there is walking involved carrying it to the car, unless you want to pay beach parking of $10. Not to mention all the bending down. :) So, I will see how much I can incorporate it in the garden. Thanks for watching and commenting!!
It was rinsed, I didn't even bother chopping it, I just spread it as it was. The gentlemen told me to only do this on tomatoes, as other plants don't like it as much. Yes, we live in an area that things grow fairly well in the summer time. We only have about 120 frost free days in the year but we do have a decent amount of rain with a couple of dry spells here and there. The seaweed mulch seems to retain moisture. I wonder if you put it as mulch and covered it with wood chips, if you could use it in drier climates? Maybe on one of your travels you will find an untouched beach with abundant seaweed :)
Great to see my former classmate Ranka in this video. We have a summerhouse in Northern Sealand in Denmark,. Tomorrow we will go to the beach and get some "tang" to make black gold. Kærlig hilsen Liese og Holger
Good video, my initial concern was the salt content of seaweed, but when I saw her wash it with a garden hose I accepted that it is a good fertilizer. As for minerals (which the seaweed contributes to the soil) the same can be achieved with rock dust (one brand is called Azomite). OAG
Thank you, Charles!! I do use Azomite! So that is good to know! Someone else reminded me of the radiation from Fukushima, so I'm hesitant to go back and collect more here.
Thank you, Charles! Are you also able to see the # of subscribers? I need about 4x more to be sustainable. :) I would like to say I might see you in July, but I'm not sure. I'm hoping to go to Mobile, AL, but the 5:30 hour drive from your place is a long haul alone.
If you get into the Mobile area, you must visit the Bellingrath Gardens at Theodore, AL. It is a beautiful garden. From Mobile to me is more like 7 hours drive. No, I can't see your subscriber count. I am in the same situation, I also need more subscribers to get to a good level. C.
Yes, that was recommended to me as well. I will definitely check that out. I don't know what I'll do, but I won't be driving to Mobile from you. I hope to see you though, if I can work it out. I'll email.
Thank you, Jacq. YT was not posting comments right away for a few weeks, and I'm just catching up now that comments are appearing here. I will see you in less than two weeks! xoxo
And passion, because you know what a lot of work it is to break down a subject and film it, and he can see a film in much smaller pieces than I can. To hand all this footage, collected over years, to an editor and say, make something beautiful, cohesive and inspiring from this, well, you would have to pay an editor for weeks of work. But, each little piece and it's perfect place to reside in the timeline, is in his mind and in 2.5 minutes he can come up with that. It's truly mind-bending, if you counted every single shot in that piece, it would probably be in the hundreds. Very inspiring mind he has. Thanks for your support!!
Kaye, an outstanding Video , I am delighted that Ranka has got you into black gold . It is one of the finest compost that you can use. I have watched Siloé's vidoes for several years. Without doubt he makes great and inspiring videos like the wonderful part he contributed to your video to-day. Oh Kaye you keep good company. I'm am writing a pm re your London trip. Happy St Patrick's day
Thank you so much! I am leaving for Europe end of the month and going to visit this same woman in the video! Can you believe? Please watch for updates of my trip on Late Bloomer Show on Facebook. And @latebloomershow on Twitter and Instagram. Thanks!
Kaye Kittrell | Late Bloomer Urban Organic Garden Show How are the bok choy looking? And what others have you seeded? Im seeding my tomatoes right now!
Well, in fact they bolted while I was in Vancouver. :) But I took a few leaves off and put them in a stir-fry. I just have one small pot of them at the moment. Hopefully I have a few more seeds and can have another go at it. But, bees love the flowers, so it's okay.
I live by the south Louisiana bayous. I have heard about the older people talking about gathering "alge" from top of bayou and drying it. And putting it in gardens.
Not yet. Just went for a "visit". Getting closer! Husband will look for a transfer. But I got buckets and buckets of stuff planted. Lol I took over front yard!
Thank you, YES, Joan, I decided I never wear them and we had so much cool weather this winter with all the rain, that I would pull them out. At least three more coming! Thanks for your support!
love the purple sweater Kaye ....your new color. Our Atantic ocean is too far away to gather seaweeds practically and with the huge machines pumping sand and cleaning the beaches for tourists There is not much seaweed there. I have used Thorin kelp powder from Norway to feed my animals as well as mazicrop seaweed powder here for 4o years along with Azomite put in the compost pile to magnify its power.I would be concerned about radiation as well as pollution in the waters .I think its great if you have access to seaweeds to add them to your compost . Weeds make good compost too. I think its best to leave the salt on the seaweed as the salt contains minerals and the sand is good too .I would mix the finish compost with the clay and create a pile that has contact to the earth rather than using plastic bins so the earthworms can do their work as well as other bugs that help break down the organic matter.I have never been a fan of those compost containers not connected to the earth. These days you can buy Sea 90 which is sea salt that can be sprayed on soils to help replace lost minerals . I love the part of the post by Siloe well spoken words on embracing weeds and insects as our allies not our enemys .I use lots of weeds in my piles as well as the biodynamic preparations I am having a time this year with mice eating my seedlings .voles too are a bigger problem locally .Theres a rodent explosion in the east connected to an increase in Lymes diseases .I do have plenty of resident black snakes as well as a couple of cats but they are still too plentiful . I will set lots of traps and feed the critters to the chickens .. protein source
Thank you, as always, Sharon. There is so much good info here I am making a screen shot to refer to later. All I can think about now is gearing up for Europe. xoxo
"Could a similar benefit be gained from algae and duckweed harvested from our pond?" asks Tracy Garns, farmer in PA, Sharon, please respond below her question. Thanks!
Aw, thank you! Well, as you saw in the old clips from 2012, when the front yard was still mostly bare, it's a process of layering, building raised beds, etc., and the annuals change from season to season, and now as the orange tree is much bigger, and casts more shade I realize how I should have put it at the corner of the driveway. It's interesting developing a small space garden. Thanks for watching! I hope you subscribed!
What a wonderful video to watch after a day of shoveling snow! I was intrigued by your mention of alfalfa as a soil amendment. Do you recommend this method?
Well, it's very good (very nutritious for horses and their poop is what's used in biodynamic compost) and it doesn't sprout, but it's not cheap. I used it in as a thick layer in a big container and it turned to a messy goo in the bottom, because it's breaking down and your potting soil isn't, so it needs to be mixed in, but if on top, it's also great mulch. I used it on my walkways when I first started out. You can see it in my very first episode: Season 1. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-41X8utZ8-jg.html
Right?? YES, it does. You can see how much the garden developed since then. Thanks so much for watching that again! I really appreciate your support! If I could triple my subscribers I could do another season, so please share. Many thanks!
I added one to the description, Lori. He doesn't seem to have a custom URL, but I did add it. Thanks so much for watching. You will love his channel. And if you search it in the RU-vid search window, use all lower case. suburban homestead Let me know if you find it.
In Western Australia you are not allowed to remove seaweed from the beach, because flies and insects breed in the seaweed and when the ocean drags the weed back into the water the maggots and bugs feed the fish especially the fingerlings.
Oh, that is so good to know! I did hear from another that you need to clear it with authorities, just how much you can take. But, we do not want to rob the fingerlings of their food. Thank you, Daniel!
I don't know how much truth is in it but I have herd of high levels of radiatoin in your ocean ? I also use seeweed when I go to the coast but its along way for me to travel so may be once every two years
Yes, it's definitely an issue, someone else has reminded me of Fukushima. I sent you a message, about your asking about my trip. I am making quick stops in Flensburg, with a few hours in Hamburg, only two nights in Berlin, and five nights in Geissen. Are you anywhere near those places?
I know, it's just terrible. I didn't want to lay it on too heavy but when you see seabirds gutted open and they are full of plastic, it is heartbreaking to know humans are responsible. Thanks for tuning in!!
One thing that both you, and your viewers, might like to check is whether it is legal to pick up the seaweed. I have come across places where you can be fined for picking it up because you are destroying a little piece of the ecosystem. If we all do it there will be nothing left for the microbes and invertebrates to grow and, they are food for lager species. Having said that, where I live we get beaches covered in seaweed after every storm. Because of this, residents are allowed to collect up to 20 kg. (that's just over 44 pounds) per day. Most people don't bother to collect it and head off to purchase a bottled formula from the nursery or hardware store. A few of us gather it up and compost it, but at the risk of repeating myself, we are only a few, maybe ten or so at the most. Personally I take what I can while still leaving some for old mom nature. - Les
I meant to mention that in the video! I hope people see your comment. I will pin it to top. Thanks, as always! (44 pounds a day! wow, you saw there was hardly anything at my beach, I was picking up every tiny piece)
