Raising and Growing Our Organic and Not- So-Organic Foods

[Arielle2]

Jack pot !!!!




Why Milk?
In 1999, a team of Brazilian researchers found that weekly sprays of a milk solution controlled powdery mildew in zucchini squash. In more recent studies, milk or whey-based sprays were as effective as fungicides in controlling powdery mildew in two plantings of wine grapes in Australia. Plant pathologists suspect that as compounds in dairy products interact with sunlight, they cause crippling damage to powdery mildew fungi and spores. If milk works on powdery mildew, I thought it might help with brown rot, which has a similar life cycle.

My subjects were a mature 'Stanley' prune plum and a mature planting of 'Concord' grapes – both easy targets for brown rot and other fungal diseases. In the past, the plum crop was often lost entirely to brown rot, and the grapes typically had half of their fruit ruined by brown or black rot.

Using a hand-held compression spray bottle, I applied a spray using this recipe:
one-half cup organic low-fat milk
1 quart warm water
3 drops dishwashing liquid (to help the mixture stick)



Beginning in early July, I sprayed the plants five times at two-week intervals. I sprayed in the mornings, covering the fruits and foliage until the spray mixture dripped to the ground. I stopped spraying when the fruits began to ripen, because I didn't want milk residue on the fruits.


The results? Less than 10 percent disease incidence on the plum, and less than 30 percent on the grapes – both huge improvements over past seasons.

I'll repeat the method next year, but meanwhile it would be great to hear from other gardeners who have tried milk on other disease problems. Did it work for you as well as it worked for me?

Above: Despite two days of steady rain, ripe 'Stanley' plums did not turn into fuzzy shrunken mummies.

Left: Regular milk sprays suppress powdery mildew on grape foliage, and may help defend fruit from brown rot and black rot, too.




This sounds promising!!
====================================

Another recipe

Richard Farrar_1
9/21/2008 8:38:09 PM
I am using a similar mixture of my own making based on my own research and experience. This year it has given amazing control on powdery mildew on grapes with just two sprays 3 weeks apart with the last spray 2 weeks before harvest. Heavy rains do not seem to nullify the effect. Next year I plan to use it from the start of the season as well for control of black rot on grapes, and brown rot on apricots and cherries. I may even try it for apple scab. A two gallon supply of the mixture is made as follows: 1/4 cup of whole milk powder (must be whole milk powder, not skim milk powder, which I get at a bulk food store) 1/4 cup of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) 1 tablespoon of horticultural oil (the type sold as part of dormant spray kits but any light oil should do) 1 teaspoon of anti-bacterial soap (the oil and soap act as spreader-stickers so that the mixture adheres to the surface in addition to providing anti-fungal benefits in their own right) Directions: Add 2 gallons of water with a sharp coarse spurt of water from your hose to the whole milk powder and the baking soda so that the contents are very well mixed in solution. When the two gallons are nearly fully added, add the horticultural oil, and just before completion add the anti-bacterial soap (if added earlier you get a lot of suds).


More Comments

 

[Arielle2]

https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/garden-disease-prevention-basics-zmaz07aszgoe

Garden Disease Prevention Basics
Learn about these garden disease prevention basics that can help prevent diseases often attacking your vegetable garden.

By Barbara Pleasant
| August/September 2007

These garden disease prevention basics can prevent many of the diseases that plague your vegetables.

Garden Disease Prevention Basics
It happens in the best of gardens. Your plants are growing beautifully, and then you notice some of them are being consumed by pathogenic (from the Greek pathos, meaning suffering) microorganisms. The good news is you don’t have to be a plant pathologist to prevent many of the diseases that threaten a food garden, because disease-resistant varieties that are grown in soil enriched with organic matter usually stay healthy when the going gets tough.

Cured compost helps plants prime themselves to better handle challenges from diseases while improving the soil’s tilth. Providing enough water to avoid drought stress helps, too. Many gardeners include seaweed sprays in their garden’s preventive health care program, which provide nutrients for both plants and beneficial microorganisms.

Still, some leaves will shrivel and entire plants may sometimes suddenly collapse. To offer the best help to troubled plants, first you’ll need to know how different types of diseases tick. Seeing is believing. In late summer, most gardens offer some examples of common garden diseases, such as leaf blemishes and fruit rots, stem and root infections, and viral diseases spread by insects.


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Garden Fungal Follies
Let’s start by looking at your tomatoes, especially the leaves closest to the ground. That area stays damp longer than the plant’s high branches, and the leaves down there are getting old — two factors that make them prime victims for early blight (dark brown patches) or several other leaf spot diseases, including gray leaf spot and Septoria leaf spot. All are caused by fungi that busily release millions of spores, which spread to new leaves by the time the colonies become big enough to see. If those new leaves are damp and temperatures are right, the spores germinate and penetrate the leaf using enzymes to melt entryways into plant cells, and a new leaf spot is born.

Leaf blemishes come in a variety of colors. Among your squash, you may see some white patches of powdery mildew, which is caused by spore-producing fungi that weaken plants by robbing leaves of their ability to perform efficient photosynthesis. You might see streaks of cinnamon-like rust in your corn, or patches of orange rust powder on bramble fruits or beans — more examples of spore-producing parasitic fungi. If you grow fruits, the velvety brown patina on your shriveled peaches or plums is caused by brown rot and Botrytis. Other spore-producing fungi turn strawberries and grapes into moldy mummies.


Resistant varieties are available for many of these diseases — especially powdery mildew of squash family crops and various blemishers of beans. (There are no highly resistant varieties to help prevent tomato early blight, grape powdery mildew, or brown rot of peaches, plums and cherries.) Once an outbreak is underway, you can slow its spread if you move in during a period of dry weather and clip off affected leaves, fruits or branches, but only if the foliage is dry. Fungal spores usually arrive in the garden on the wind or on insects’ feet, but nothing spreads spores faster than a gardener mucking around in damp, diseased foliage or fruits.

Judicious grooming followed by a cleansing drench with a fine spray of water will reduce the number of spores present on the plants, and should you catch an outbreak early, there are several sprays that make good follow-up treatments. Or, the sprays can be used as preventive measures, if past experience makes you think an outbreak is likely.

When exposed to sunlight, plain milk diluted in water (one-half cup milk to 2 cups water) briefly changes into a disinfectant compound that’s murder on fungal spores yet gentle to plant leaves. You should see results after two sprays applied three days apart.


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Baking soda (1 teaspoon per quart of water, with a few drops of liquid soap added to help it stick) is an old and trusted intervention, but it’s hard to get good coverage on plants with hairy leaves. A product called GreenCure (sold wholesale as MilStop) is based on potassium bicarbonate, baking soda’s first cousin, held in suspension through a unique process developed by Ken Horst, professor emeritus of plant pathology, at Cornell University. New fungal colonies that are just beginning to grow (and are still too small to see) suffer shriveled hyphae (the fungal counterpart to roots) when exposed to bicarbonate sprays.

Some research indicates that compost tea sprays can reduce disease, but I don’t recommend using compost tea as a foliar spray on food plants. The bacterial load in compost tea is unpredictable, and may include salmonella, E. coli and other microorganisms that can make you extremely sick. If you want to stage a microbial war against leaf-spotting or fruit-rotting fungi, it is much safer to use Serenade or another packaged biofungicide based on Bacillus subtilis — an aggressive naturally occurring bacterium that destroys many types of fungi.

Various fungicides containing sulfur and copper are allowed for restricted use on organically grown food crops, but copper can wreak havoc on your soil’s food web. Once it drips into the soil, copper does not break down or leach away, and even moderate copper levels are toxic to earthworms and many soil microorganisms. Sulfur is safer for soil life, but sulfur sprays often injure plant leaves, especially in hot weather, and prolonged use of sulfur could make soil too acidic.

Garden Soil: Trouble Down Below
Fungi are essential components of any healthy soil food web, but some soilborne fungi such as Fusarium and Phytopthora species are on gardeners’ most unwanted lists. Different Fusarium strains attack tomatoes, onions, basil and many other plants, first by stripping off the roots’ outer tissues (causing the plants to grow slowly and turn yellowish), and then by clogging up the plants’ stems, at which point you see a steady wilting. Verticillium wilt often looks similar, only without the yellowing, and the same complex of fungi that cause “damping off” of seedlings can emerge as the culprits behind plants that collapse due to sudden root rot.

Numerous plant varieties are available that offer good resistance to these and other soilborne diseases; the best way to find resistant varieties is to buy seeds from the better seed catalogs, which list specific disease resistances. You can further reduce problems by adding compost to your soil and rotating crops so they are not planted in the same place more often than once every three years. Promptly removing plants that exhibit symptoms of root problems (for example chronic thirst and little or no new growth) also will reduce the number of destructive fungi left behind in the soil.


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Soil biologists have identified several microorganisms that can outcompete or even attack pathogenic fungi in the soil, and some have been developed into organic fungicides. These products are especially useful in greenhouses, where soil diseases spread like wildfire, or when starting seedlings. Here are four examples:

• SoilGard (Gliocladium virens), a product that inhibits fungal growth, emerged from research into ecological controls for damping off at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service in Beltsville, Md.

• MycoStop (Streptomyces griseoviridis) harnesses the ability of naturally occurring bacterium to maim and kill Fusarium and some other soilborne fungi.

• RootShield uses the fungus, Trichoderma harzianum, to outcompete fungi that cause roots to rot.

• Contans (Coniothyrium minitans) does a number on Sclerotinia fungi, reducing the numbers of fungi capable of causing stem and root rot of lettuce, cabbage family crops, and many other edible plants.

Plant Diseases on the Wing
Plant pathogens can’t fly on their own, but the tiniest of them all — viruses — often travel for miles inside the bodies of leafhoppers, aphids, flea beetles, whiteflies and thrips. These insect carriers, or vectors, also provide entry holes for the viruses when they puncture leaves or stems with their mouthparts. Once inside a plant, viruses interfere with the plants’ inner communication systems and instruct them to grow in odd ways that serve the virus rather than the plant. Squash family crops infected with cucumber mosaic virus show thick, brittle leaves mottled with patches of dark green and yellow, but when the same virus hits tomatoes or peppers, you see thin, stringy leaves. Beans stricken with curly top virus develop spirals of flowering stems that fail to set fruit. Some plants do outgrow viral infections, but most decline slowly and rarely produce a good crop. If you see plants that “don’t look right,” it’s best to remove them to prevent viruses from spreading to neighboring plants.

Viruses can travel only as far as insects can carry them, so they tend to be local or regional phenomena. Once you learn that a certain virus is prevalent in your area — for example pea enation virus in the Northwest or maize (corn) dwarf mosaic virus in the South and East — growing resistant varieties is your best defense. In cases where genetic resistance is not available, you may be able to exclude insect vectors with row covers, though really tiny insects often find ways to breach even these barriers. Alternatively, you can deter them with aluminum-coated reflective mulch such as Brite’Nup or with sheets of cardboard covered with aluminum foil, shiny side out. Insects are confused by the light-mirroring effect of the mulch, so they stay away until the plants become so big and leafy that they cover the mulch. In numerous research trials from Florida to California, reflective mulches have proven their worth as viral deterrents, often resulting in huge increases in the productivity of cantaloupes, pumpkins and tomatoes in areas where viruses are rampant.

Do not expect to emerge from battles with garden diseases without a few scars — and a new appreciation for the power of prevention. Wisdom comes with experience. After you have grown a food garden for a few seasons, you’ll know which diseases are most likely to appear, and that puts you in a much better position to prevent them in the first place.

Simple Prevention Strategies
You can prevent many potential garden diseases by using these strategies:

• Wide spacing and trellises let in sunlight and hold foliage high, so damp leaves dry off quickly. (Most diseases need moisture to cause infection.) In addition to serving as the plant’s primary energy source, sunlight kills many airborne microorganisms that land on stems and leaves.

• Mulch limits the splashing of soil microbes onto leaves.

• Compost worked into the soil or used as a thick mulch enhances plants’ ability to respond to disease challenges.

Disease Treatment Options

Treatment

Helps Prevent

Milk spray

Many leaf spot diseases, including powdery mildew

Baking soda

Many leaf spot diseases, including powdery mildew

MildewCure (2)

Many leaf spot diseases, including powdery mildew

Serenade (1)

Many diseases of leaves and fruits

SoilGard

Damping off, other root rot diseases

Mycostop (1)

Fusarium, other root rot diseases

RootShield (2)

Many root rot diseases

Contans (3)

Stem and root rot of lettuce, cabbage

Reflective mulch (1)

Insect-vectored viruses

The products mentioned above are available at stores that sell organic gardening supplies, or through the mail-order companies listed below.

1. Peaceful Valley Farm Supply
Grass Valley, Calif.
(888) 784-1722

2. Johnny’s Selected Seeds
Winslow, Maine
(877) 564-6697

3. Mark Seed Co.
Perry, Iowa
(800) 383-6275

Need a Closer Look?
The presence and severity of garden diseases varies with climate, so check with your state extension service to see if there’s a good regional reference available, such as the University of Georgia’s Diseases & Conditions of Vegetables in Georgia, published in 2006. If you would rather use the Web to find mug shots of garden diseases, you might start with Oregon State University’s picture index or Cornell University’s Vegetable MD Online.

Contributing editor Barbara Pleasant gardens in southwest Virginia, where she grows vegetables, herbs, fruits, flowers and a few lucky chickens. Contact Barbara by visiting her website or finding her on Google+.

 

[Arielle2]

Some generalconsiderations for disease prevention and other tidbits by fruit type.


All About Growing Fruit Trees

Growing fruit trees organically is possible with the proper amount of care and attention. To bite into a fresh peach, or spread homemade apple butter on warm bread, is the epitome of a sweet, sweet reward.

By Barbara Pleasant
| February/March 2014

There are many types of fruit trees, and with a little research you can easily find the best variety for your region and tastes. Try growing apples for homemade cider or growing peaches for a heavenly summer treat.
Illustration by Keith Ward

(For details on growing many other vegetables and fruits, visit our Crop at a Glancecollection page.)

No plants give sweeter returns than fruit trees. From cold-hardy apples and cherries to semi-tropical citrus fruits, fruit trees grow in nearly every climate. Growing fruit trees requires a commitment to pruning and close monitoring of pests, and you must begin with a type of fruit tree known to grow well in your area.

Choose varieties recommended by your local extension service, as some varieties need a certain level of chill hours (number of hours below 45 degrees Fahrenheit). For complete details on planning and maintaining a home orchard, we recommend the book The Holistic Orchard by Michael Phillips.

Types of Fruit Trees to Try
Even fruit trees described as self-fertile will set fruit better if grown near another variety known to be a compatible pollinator. Extension publications and nursery catalogs often include tables listing compatible varieties.

Apples (Malus domestica) are the most popular tree fruits because they are widely adapted, relatively easy to grow and routine palate-pleasers. The ideal soil pH for apples is 6.5, but apple trees can adjust to more acidic soil if it’s fertile and well-drained. Most apple varieties, including disease-resistant ‘Freedom’ and ‘Liberty,’ are adapted to cold-hardiness Zones 4 to 7 (if you don’t know your Zone, see "Know Your Cold-Hardiness Zone” later in this article), but you will need low-chill varieties, such as ‘Anna’ and ‘Pink Lady,’ in mild winter climates. No matter your climate, begin by choosing two trees that are compatible pollinators to get good fruit set. Mid- and late-season apples usually have better flavor and store longer compared with early-season varieties.

Cherries (Prunus avium (sweet) and P. cerasus (sour)) range in color from sunny yellow to nearly black and are classified in two subtypes: compact sweet varieties, such as ‘Stella,’ and sour or pie cherries, such as ‘Montmorency’ and ‘North Star.’ Best adapted to Zones 4 to 7, cherry trees need fertile, near-neutral soil and excellent air circulation. Growing 12-foot-tall dwarf cherry trees of either subtype will simplify protecting your crop from diseases and birds, because the small trees can be covered with protective netting or easily sprayed with sulfur or kaolin clay.


Citrus fruits (Citrus hybrids), including kumquat, Mandarin orange, satsuma and ‘Meyer’ lemon, are among the easiest fruit trees to grow organically in Zones 8b to 10. Fragrant oils in citrus leaves and rinds provide protection from pests, but cold tolerance is limited. ‘Nagami’ kumquat, ‘Owari’ satsuma and ‘Meyer’ lemon trees may occasionally need to be covered with blankets when temperatures drop below freezing, but winter harvests of homegrown citrus fruits will be worth the trouble.

Peaches and nectarines (Prunus persica) are on everyone’s want list, but growing these fruit trees organically requires an excellent site, preventive pest management and some luck. More than other fruit trees, peach and nectarine trees need deep soil with no compacted subsoil or hardpan. Peaches and nectarines are best adapted to Zones 5 to 8, but specialized varieties can be grown in colder or warmer climates. Peach and nectarine trees are often short-lived because of wood-boring insects, so plan to plant new trees every 10 years.

Plums (Prunus species and hybrids) tend to produce fruit erratically because the trees often lose their crop to late freezes or disease. In good years, plum trees will yield heavy crops of juicy fruits, that vary in color from light green to dark purple. Best adapted to Zones 4 to 8, plum trees need at least one compatible variety nearby to ensure good pollination. In some areas, selected native species, such as beach plums in the Northeast or sand plums in the Midwest, may make the best homestead plums.

 

[Arielle2]

This author is mentioned above. Did YOU miss it???? I did the first read.

https://www.amazon.com/Holistic-Orchard-Fruits-Berries-Biological/dp/1933392134

This is more of what we are looking for. In the review I found this website mentioned.
https://www.groworganicapples.com/booksmd.php#apples-uncommon-character

and utube content, one of several, this is 3 hours!!!!!!

trailer to michael phillips book

 

[ShrekDawg]

Oooohhhh that milk recipe sounds very promising! Thanks

 

[Leahs Mom]

Can't wait to read through and listen to those. I'm a bit behind.

 

[Arielle2]

Can't wait to read through and listen to those. I'm a bit behind.

lol. That's why they are here-- to view when you have time in your busy life.

 

[Arielle2]

There are many foods we are told our dogs cannot eat. I found much of this information is misleading. Garlic is like water, too much and it is leathal. I dont know of a dog that can eat 15 grams per kilo body weight....dont know of any human either, Italian or not. Read this information and find the contraditions.

From AKC
Is it safe for dogs to eat garlic?

Garlic might be good for us, but dogs metabolize certain foods differently than we do. According to the Merck Veterinary Manual, garlic and other members of the allium family, including onions, contain thiosulfate, which is toxic to dogs but not to humans.

Thiosulfate causes oxidative damage to red blood cells, resulting in hemolytic anemia. Symptoms of anemia include pale mucous membranes, rapid breathing, lethargy, weakness, jaundice, and dark colored urine. Garlic toxicity also causes symptoms of gastrointestinal upset, including vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, depression, and dehydration.

How much garlic is toxic to dogs?
Studies have found it takes approximately 15 to 30 grams of garlic per kilograms of body weight to produce harmful changes in a dog’s blood. To put that into perspective, the average clove of supermarket garlic weighs between 3 and 7 grams, so your dog would have to eat a lot to get really sick. However, some dogs are more sensitive to garlic toxicity than others, and consumption of a toxic dose spread out over a few days could also cause problems.

This means that if your dog accidentally eats something containing a little garlic, he will probably be okay, but intentionally feeding it to your dog is a recipe for disaster.

Can I feed my dog garlic bread?
Garlic bread will almost certainly catch your dog’s attention, but, along with garlic, it usually contains large amounts of butter, oil, cheese, and herbs that can upset your dog’s stomach. This high-calorie food is also a source of unnecessary calories and fat, and offers no nutritional benefits to your pet.

Can I feed my dog garlic supplements?
Despite garlic’s known toxicity, some websites and well-meaning dog owners recommend garlic supplements for dogs as part of a natural wellness plan or as a flea and tick preventative. This contradiction can be very confusing.

In studies, garlic as a health supplement for pets has not produced consistent positive results. While very small doses might be safe for most dogs, the lack of conclusive evidence and the known risks should be taken into consideration. If you do decide to feed your pup a garlic supplement, always consult your veterinarian. Giving an incorrect dose could have toxic effects, so plan on working with a veterinarian to come up with the best treatment and prevention plan for your dog.

Treating garlic toxicity in dogs
If your dog does ingest a large amount of garlic, your best bet is to take him to a veterinarian. Garlic and onion poisoning are rarely fatal in dogs, but your dog may need supportive care to keep him comfortable. Your veterinarian might recommend intravenous fluids to keep him hydrated, and may prescribe a medication to control vomiting. In severe cases, blood transfusions might be necessary.

Alternatives to garlic for dogs--YESSSSS!!!!!!!
If you want to give your dog a healthy treat, consider feeding him fruits and vegetables that are high in valuable nutrients, like apples, blueberries, strawberries, watermelon, carrots, cucumbers, and sweet potatoes.

 

[Arielle2]

Another great video of Michael Phillips-- get your popscorn and notebook!!! 1 1/2 hrs.

His wife is an herbalist !!! Of course.

 

[Arielle2]

http://thelivingfarm.org/leafy-greens-container-garden-course/

michael phillips mentions a farm by this name, where he will post his spray schedule. Im still searching. If any one finds it , please post location.