Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Vegetable gardening and nutrients

I had a lovely visit this afternoon with good friends from the Lowcountry of South Carolina to a biodynamic vegetable garden here in Asheville, grown by experienced vegetable gardeners and committed water recyclers (their gray water system was amazing).

This tumbler works well enough to be the second one they've bought.  They compost animal manure, vegetable debris, and leaves in this tumbler in fast batches quite rapidly, so they can produce finished compost in several weeks.
Their vegetable beds were perfectly maintained and extremely productive, reminding me (yet again) that vegetables are nutrient AND water hogs.

Brussel sprouts side-dressed with compost, ready for fall production
Their biodynamic treatments are nutrient-rich; although, as a scientist, I'm not inclined to think that energy is transferred to the mixtures through stirring,  I'm more than happy to see the results.

Their garden was producing LOTS of vegetables, and their plants looked great.