We brew our compost tea at Descanso Gardens each week and apply it to our vegetables, ornamental flowers and rose garden. We have a 100 gallon brewer and we start by aerating the water for a 24 hour period to remove excess chlorine and flouride. Then we add a mixture of sea kelp, fish emulsion, worm castings and molassis. The worm castings are put into a large reuseable synthetic tea bag and allowed to brew in the constant recirculating water for three days. We start the process on Tuesday and we have our compost ready to distribute on Friday morning. I can usually use the entire 100 gallons in Natures Table, or edible vegetable and fruit garden. The tea is poured from the large 100 gallon brewer into 5 gallon containers where it is then poured as a root drench to the crops of my choice for that day. Usually this time of year the squash, corn, pumpkins and gourds will be the lucky ones. It can also be used as a foliar spray or foliar drench too, but I prefer the root drench method, just my personal preference. If you really want to see how quickly the compost tea works, try using it on a selective crop and don’t apply it to the other. For example, I used it religiously on runner beans earlier in the season on a trellis of 6 plants and one plant did not get the compost tea. The difference was staggering. The plants that did receive the compost tea were more than double in size than those that did not receive it and also produced a higher vegetable yield. For the home, you can try buying pre mixed compost tea. E.B. Stone carries a concentrated mixture of sea kelp and fish emulsion and all you do is follow the directions. It too makes a big difference. Try it and see for yourself……your garden will grow faster and the food will taste better and the best part is, you’ll be adding organic matter to your soil and a successful garden begins with a healthy soil. Stay tuned next week and we’ll talk about how to improve your soil to get the best out of your garden. Until then, happy harvesting and I hope to see you around the garden. 
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Some fun and whimsical discoveries in Natures Table……….I must admit Tim Burton and Dr. Seuss were big influences on the arches Garrett and I created here. Notice the extra large bird nest behind the arch and the cut logs as stools for students to sit and listen to my Saturday morning lectures at Descanso Gardens. The Promenade sunflowers are in full bloom and the numerous cultivars are scattered with corn, squash and pumpkins at their peak! Come and visit and I’ll see YOU around the garden! Photo credit: Mike Brown
This hillside of Liquid Amber trees works great in the landscape if it is not planted near sidewalks, driveways or close to building structures because of their invasive root systems. They are decidious and are a beautiful addition to the fall landscape as their foliage ranges from golden yellow to brilliant shades of orange and red. Just be careful not to walk barefoot beneath them while their seeds are falling. The small 2″ globe shaped seed pods have sharp spines on them that can make for some pain on barefeet. Photo credit: Mike Brown
Rudbeckia, Snapdragon and Cleome are some of the late summer flowers still lingering around as we approach September….Descanso Gardens continues to bloom with surprises! Photo credit:
They are commonly called “Naked ladies” because of their abscense of leaves. They originated from South Africa and grow in poor soils and virtually live with minimal water. The fragrance is sweet like the smell of cotton candy and are terrific because they just seem to appear from the ground over night. The Amaryllis are not true lilies but have been clumped together mistakenly as lilies are members of the Liliaceace family while Amaryllis are from the Hippeastrum family. Nevertheless, these beauties have beautiful pink petals and as a bonus remember, the fragrance is deliciously sweet, especially in the early morning. Photo credit: Mike Brown
A white daisy framed against a foggy sky, a hot pink cosmos and a overly photo-shopped rudbeckia were blooming today. See you around the garden. Photo credit: Mike Brown
Be sure to check out www.descansogardens.org for the latest updates on the summer concert series. Photo credit: Mike Brown
Photo credit: Mike Brown
Bottom left and clockwise; a small pumpkin can be seen beneath a hopeful flower. Then as the plant matures, the flower begins to grow and awaits pollination from a male flower by a bee. A flower is set once pollination has occured and the spent flower falls off and rapid growth occurs. The pumpkin can often gain up to 10 pounds a day, species dependent, during early summer. Photo credit: Mike Brown |
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