Author: jeffgillman003

More Compost Tea Stuff

If you’re getting sick of the compost tea debate then you can skip this post.  If not, then read on! 

This past week I received my copy of Arboriculture and Urban Forestry 37(6).  And in it, page 269, I discovered an article titled “Laboratory Assays on the Effects of Aerated Compost Tea and Fertilization on Biochemical Properties and Denitrification in a Silt Loam and Bt Clay Loam Soils” by Bryant Scharenbroch, William Treaurer, Michelle Catania and Vincent Brand.… Continue reading this article “More Compost Tea Stuff”

Meat in Compost?

Over the years I’ve gotten a lot of questions about how to compost.  I’m not a composting expert, and don’t want to pass myself off as one, but I do understand the basics and I like to think of myself as a proponent of composting.  Having said that, there is a composting practice which I’m asked about frequently that I never know quite how to answer.  Should you put meat into your compost?… Continue reading this article “Meat in Compost?”

Jeff Ball

Back in 2006, when I first started garden writing, I was invited to give a talk in Michigan.  It was really exciting to get this kind of invitation so early in my writing career and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to talk to an audience that wasn’t composed primarily of students or academics. 

Looking back at those talks…well…they weren’t particularly good.  Sure, there was good information, but I wasn’t particularly comfortable giving talks at that stage and so I’m not sure I got my information across nearly as well as I should have.… Continue reading this article “Jeff Ball”

Our visiting professor weighs in on potatoes

According to the FAO (and their “year of the potato” campaign from 2008), 2008 was the year of the potato.  Did you all notice?  I may not have, except for the year-long display in the horticulture building at the University of Minnesota.  What I recently became curious about was how much garden space it would take for a person to grow enough potatoes to satisfy their annual average consumption.  But if you make it past that math in this blog entry, you’ll read about recent congressional action on the tasty tuber. … Continue reading this article “Our visiting professor weighs in on potatoes”

Leaves for Lawn Fertilizer

Yesterday I happened to see a garden calendar encouraging people to pick up their leaves so that they don’t pollute streams and lakes by encouraging algae to grow.  This was a good idea, I thought, but then I started to wonder whether leaves on the lawn might not be a better idea?  After all, the reason that leaves cause algal growth in water is because of the nutrients they have.  And if they have nutrients couldn’t those be used for fertilizer instead of the regular fertilizers which we use? … Continue reading this article “Leaves for Lawn Fertilizer”

The Wrong Message

Every once in awhile I’ll see a new garden product that really speaks to me.  Something that promises spectacular results on some garden problem that I’ve had to deal with before and attacks it in a novel way.  Then I’ll read the advertising materials for the product and be let down before even trying it.  Such is the case for a new product called Liquid Ladybug (which, by the way, is one of the niftiest product names that I’ve ever seen — so there’s a win for the company!).… Continue reading this article “The Wrong Message”

The Genetically Modified Kentucky Bluegrass Problem (The Anger As Promised)

One of the nice things about my job is that I get to work with a lot of other researchers who work in a lot of different areas.  One of these areas is molecular biology and I certainly know people who have genetically engineered plants to do one thing or another.  Maybe it’s because I know so many people who work with them, but I’m not fundamentally opposed to genetically  engineered crops. Which isn’t to say I’m not concerned about certain genetically modified crops, but in general I think that the systems we have in place to review them have done a decent job of making sure that nothing too terrible is released.… Continue reading this article “The Genetically Modified Kentucky Bluegrass Problem (The Anger As Promised)”

Problems with New Crops

A few years ago I listened to a new crop presentation which I found very interesting — So I looked it up to see if it was on youtube — and yep, there it was.  Very moving — I’m still wiping the tears from my eyes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7YBaiJMnik 

Disagreeing With Colleagues

There are lots of things that people write about that I strongly disagree with.  Mostly I keep my mouth shut because my comments would amount to:

A. Preaching to the choir
B. Supporting the phrase "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still" (I’m not sure who to attribute this saying to — I’ve seen a few different authors named).  My interpretation of this phrase is that you can’t convince someone of something they don’t want to be convinced of.… Continue reading this article “Disagreeing With Colleagues”

A Challenge

As I was looking over the label on a bag of fertilizer this morning I was reminded of the time, a few years ago, when a friend of mine and I went to a local K-mart and decided to see what the people in the gardening section knew.  We started small—we went over to a bag of fertilizer and my friend asked what the three numbers on the bag meant.  Now, as most gardeners know, those numbers indicate the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the fertilizer. … Continue reading this article “A Challenge”