Tips and tricks agriculture of our forefathers

[Grelinette]

Hello,

I open this new subject to share with you my experiences from my wanderings in the gardens.
Regularly, I meet professional or private gardeners who have their tips, natural fertilizers and phyto-remedies often inherited from their ancestors or a local tradition.

Lately, in a garden I was surprised to see that its owner was using atypical products such as "beef blood" and "crushed horn" and swore by them.

But what about reality and their effectiveness? ...

Here is a non-exhaustive list of what I have already heard:

- The Dried Beef Blood : sold in nurseries and specialized stores in the form of powder to be deposited at the foot of the plantations. This fertilizer is presented as a "Natural and Spectacular Boost" even organic. It seems doubtful because it must come from oxen (rather from cows) from industrial farms, therefore surely fed with junk food and treated with great shots of antibiotics.

- The Crushed horn : same for use as a spectacular fertilizer. Besides, having horses, when the farrier comes, he leaves on the ground many clippings of hoofs (hoofs grow like our nails and are cut regularly), and these clippings, I was told , would be very effective deposited at the foot of roses in particular ...

- The Sulfur : as a versatile remedy for many diseases, insects and other plant parasites ... This phyto-remedy is almost "aspirin" from the garden, as its action is wide and effective!

- The Teapot Fund et Coffee grounds : the remains of infused plants and coffee would be a very good fertilizer

- The Cooking water bottoms, But also Soups, Soups, Broths and other cooking liquids (rice, pasta) : ??? ...

- The Milk Bottle Fund : ??? ...

- The Eggshells : to leave at the bottom of a watering can as fertilizer ...

- The Rainwater : to be used specifically for certain herbal decoctions.

- The Vinegar and Garlic : and so on... (feathers, ash, bones, fish bones, ...)

- The Plant manure : they are very numerous, but it is the nettle manure, highly publicized by the Kokopelli affair a few years ago, which seems to have the most recognized effectiveness and versatility ... More garden "aspirin"!
But what about all these manure from these various plants: Nettles, Comfrey, Rhubarb, Horsetail, Plantain, Tansy, etc? ...

Please note, the manufacture, use or sale of unlicensed plant manure makes you liable to 2 years in prison and 75000 euros in fines! ... This shows the spectacular and risky effect of these slurries!


All these tips and tricks are quite picturesque! ...

Do you know others and what do you think?


PS: there is another somewhat similar subject, these are animal excrements which, according to the animal, have qualities for this or that use. (Hens, Pigeons, Sheep, Horses, ...)

[Flytox]

For coffee grounds, my grandmother also used it as fertilizer for her flower boxes. Watering (total / partial?) Was also with a dilution of the urine from the chamber pot overnight.
These flower boxes were nice but I have no idea if it was effective or not.

[izentrop]

Hello,
Both provide mainly nitrogen.
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_de_c ... omposition
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urine#Rec ... en_engrais

[Grelinette]

For fertilizers from animal droppings, I have this table:

(missing the detail for the chamber pot bottom in the early morning, but with the links of Izentop we know more about its qualities of fertilizer )

[papyrazzi]

In the table published by Grelinette above, I read in the column 'Comments' that, for animal manures, it is not recommended to incorporate lime.

Anyone know why?
This question because I incorporate lime in pigeon manure to reduce the acidity.



Another little trick found in an XNUMXth century book: to have an excellent compost, pile up horse dung and let it decompose entirely. Checked and adopted!

[Did67]

Anyone know why?
This question because I incorporate lime in pigeon manure to reduce the acidity.

I cannot be formal, but I think it is "quicklime".

Quicklime (CaO - Calcium Oxide) is a powerful antibacterial. It is a product very hungry for water. Remember that it is used on mass graves, during epidemics, to control any dissemination.

Manure is an organic matter that must decompose and / or humify (turn into humic substances), under the action of soil organisms. Like that, as it is, it's organic matter like any other ...

Quicklime is very brutal. It is not approved in organic farming.

Slaked lime (Ca (0H) ² - calcium hydroxide) is much "softer" in its action.

Note: the use of lime is only interesting in land trop acids. A slight acidity is favorable.

Being also very careful to spare soil organisms like BA BA of a sensible agriculture (or market gardening), it goes without saying that I do not recommend quicklime, even in acidic soils. It is better to raise the pH very gradually, to bring it to 6,5, by successive moderate liming, without "bludgeoning" the soil organisms and without "chemically" upsetting everything in a very short time (it is a " "chemical" cataclysm for soil organisms). In the case of acidic soils, this is reasonable (on "old granite basements", in sandy heaths, in schistose areas, etc ... which are naturally decalcified land due to their geological origin)

[izentrop]

Hello,
The title of the subject should have been "Organic fertilizers for the garden"
Human urine an excellent fertilizer

One person's urine for a year is enough to fertilize
300-400 m² of crops at a height of around 50-100 kg N / ha.
Urine is a fast acting liquid fertilizer
balanced, rich in nitrogen. Element content
nutritious urine depends on the diet. Yes
the nitrogen content of the urine is not known
so, as a rule, there should be a
concentration of 3-7 grams of nitrogen per liter
urine. The phosphorus in the urine is under a
form available for plants doing so
urine also a phosphorus fertilizer.

A very interesting document which summarizes the studies made by the world on the use of urine in agriculture http://www.ecosanres.org/pdf_files/EcoR ... 111026.pdf

fertilizer urine.gif (11.92 KB) Consulted 4743 times

P & K-urine.gif (11.09 KiB) Viewed 4743 times

For some time, I have been equipped with separation TS. I bought http://www.separett.fr/Torrdass-500-fr , a 15l plastic bucket. The rest is recycling. I store the precious liquid in cans. I made a closed composter with plastic flooring and pallets. The room is an old pig barn .
I use sawdust from a local sawmill.

[Grelinette]

A friend keen on permaculture advises me to pee regularly in my composter to improve the compost produced! ...
I have not yet tried for fear of disturbing the many and very active earthworms that proliferate there (the famous "épigés" that Did67 calls the "wankers" ).

[Did67]

(the famous "épigés" that Did67 calls the "wankers" ).

I maintain and prove it: if they are in your compost, it is that they do nothing in your garden, right?

[Grelinette]

(the famous "épigés" that Did67 calls the "wankers" ).

I maintain and prove it: if they are in your compost, it is that they do nothing in your garden, right?

Certainly ... but each has their role and place in the chain of life and recycling!
In this case, epigaeic, for their proliferation and vivacity degrade high-speed organic matter thrown into compost, which will amend only the best garden soil ...