Give your soil soul

It is a truth universally known: organic gardening beats reliance on fertilizers. Name one thing considered of the earth that is better when grown with chemicals? Chemicals might accomplish growth spurts, higher crop yields and regulation but when it comes to taste, smell, and health organic is always best.
Organic gardening starts with compost that is made from recycled food waste. We take out and we give back. Soil that is sprayed continually with chemical fertilizer creates dead soil. Imagine that your lawn/garden/landscaping is your body. Weeds are cancer and fertilizer is chemotherapy that may kill those tu-mors but it kills everything else as well. Dead soil in which microorganisms once lived cannot in turn grow much or subsist on its own. It’s a vicious cycle.
Just as a test take a metal rod, knife or other thin implement and push it straight down into the soil. As far down as you can push it is how much is actually alive. This will tell you the depth of your soil compaction. Where your implement stops so too will a plant’s roots.
Here are the main reasons for mulching with organic composts and spray:
• Promoting plant health.
• Build up soil structure.
• Reduces compaction.
• Reduces leeching.
• Reduces water usage.

How do we accomplish this and will is cost a bundle?
More and more farmers and homeowners are turning to organic compost tea as an effective and healthy alterna-tive to spraying with chemicals for weeks and to improve growth. Sustainable Growth of Idaho has grown into a multifaceted agriculture and horticulture consulting, franchise and service business all on the basis of compost tea. Its programs have a proven track record of impressive results in reducing or eliminating chemical use without sacrificing appearance, reduced need for watering, fertilization and mowing and increased natural resistance to pests.
Seems incredible, doesn’t it. In the Wood River Valley, in South Central Idaho, Whitehead’s Landscaping began making compost tea and spraying on their client’s lawns just two years ago. The company invested last year in a massive 20 x 4 x 3 foot verma-compost bin, which is installed at their south Hailey base. Into it, each week organic specialist, Josh Green puts donated food waste from Albertson’s, Atkinsons’ Markets, Shelley’s Deli and Zaney’s Coffee. Added to the ground up mess are approximately one to two million red wiggler worms. The worms break down the food creat-ing a rich fertile compost that is then converted into the tea.
Both Whitehead and Green are a wealth of knowledge and fanatical about their product. Last year, Green went to Indianapolis to an Acres USA Conference and later to Hawaii for an Organic Farming Seminar in Kauai.
They happily dig into the uncomposted crud to show a visitor the worms. They get down on the floor to show the compost that is silted through a long screen on the bottom of the bin. Whitehead’s 8 year old son Reed gets right down there with dad.
“Last year we worked on a stand of trees that were covered in aphids. After 10 days there were no aphids, Whitehead said. “Its amazing how much we’ll have by the end of May.”
All of the nurseries and landscapers in town have access to organic materials and compost. Whitehead’s bagged product just happens to be made here in the valley.
“Every batch of tea we make we look at under a microscope,” White said. “We look to make sure it’s alive with micro-organisms. What we learned from last summer in our high altitude is that we need to treat lawns five times a summer instead of four. It’s to get more biology into the soil. After three years of application some lawns will need less. We really are trying to make it a self-sustainable system.”
In keeping with that aim Whitehead’s is not just delivering compost and compost tea, they are promoting organic gardening in every fashion.
We’re definitely here for the long haul. Said Whitehead, who moved to the valley 11 years ago. “We’re committed to the land. Our intention is to have all our trucks biodiesel before to long,
The Wood River Watershed Advisory Group recently issued an “alert to landscapers and local water users.” It stated, in part, “Recent hydrological surveys have found trace elements of chemicals, namely nitrates and pesti-cides in some samples of drinking water.” Ways to keep the “watershed streams, ponds and aquifer clean and healthy” are being aware of how we use water, fertilizer and pesticide and control possible erosion.
So here’s what we know. Healthier soil means healthier plants, means less erosion means less water waste. If you’re still worried about weeds, the Watershed Advisory recommends finding non-toxic solutions, maximize healthy plant growth and chose native plants. As it happens there’s something else going on down at Whitehead’s.