Composting weed tea problems dangers

I've been doing some research into compost weed tea and the amount of the information is quite a lot.

Click here for details - or just use google.com to do a search on "compost weed tea".

http://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/factsheets/composttea.html


http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/brewing-compost-tea.aspx


http://www.walterreeves.com/landscaping/compost-tea-does-it-work/


http://www.composting101.com/compost-tea-article.html


http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/brewing-compost-tea.aspx

Anyhow, it turns out that my idea of compost weed tea is known as non-aerated compost tea.

The literature suggests that keeping the weeds submerged in this watery solution for 3 months will kill everything.

However, as you may have smelled, your brew may contain dangerous e-coli bacteria. All that awful stink strongly suggests that something pretty disgusting and toxic is brewing in that wheelie bin. On the bright side, think of all the hated weeds that you've placed in that brew. I don't know about you but it makes me smile to know that the oxalis weeds and their tenacious children that I just spent precious hours removing are drowning in that horrible gunk.

But really unless you plan to be doing something stupid like drinking the mixture or spraying it onto your salad or onto plants which you will be consuming shortly - I don't think the "tea" should be a problem.

The whole point is really to kill weeds and  the seeds, bulbs and to use their very rich nutrients to enrich the garden. All that dead green matter would still be organically rich.

Right now there are plenty of healthy garden worms - the strong red variety - living in the top part of the tea float mix. Some of the weeds float up, eventually they sink to the bottom though. But I take the healthy existence of the worms as a sign that the compost tea mix is getting OK.

I'm a conservative gardener so what I do is to pour most of the gunk into my open compost bin where I keep most of the leaves and lawn clippings. (you might see a potential problem there). Then after 6 months - 12 months - the mix goes into my dalek bins (black compost bins where the ordinary house fruit/ food waste goes into).

The compost tea school however disdains this old-fashion method of compost - going instead for something more technically minded, and faster.

They use a formulae of mollasses, fertilizers and air pumps+heaters to create an aerobic compost mix. The infusion of air supposedly causes the good bacteria to grow and for the whole tea to mature at a faster rate - one to two weeks. They also sieve out the old weeds/seeds/bulbs using strainers (old pillow cases, hessian bags, etc..) But to be honest that seems like too much hard work. And its liable to get messy.

I like my solution of using a wheelie bin and dumping all the weeds into it - leaving it there soaking in gray water for 6 months untouched except for the occasionally stirring before using it - diluted of course into the garden soil or pouring it straight into the compost bin. It seems a much more simpler and easier solution than fiddling around with aquarium pumps, pillow cases and molasses formulas.

I try reading some of the compost tea formulas like this one

 http://www.compostjunkie.com/compost-tea-recipe.html

But seriously it just looks way too complicated for me.

Meanwhile I've ordered two more bins from Aussie Waste Management and am looking forward to filling them up.

http://www.australianwastemanagement.com.au/products/wheelie-bins/

I am really anxious to know how long it will take to disintegrate the weed seeds/bulbs in this solution. So if you happen to know, let me know.

I began an experiment placing the noxious weeds in a small 5 litre barrel filled with water and covered with a plastic bag to see how long it would take to destroy the weed seeds+bulbs.

Its 1.38am Sunday

Went for evening service - decided not to go for supper - came back and hello, mum is still not back.

She left at 10am for her church service but has disappeared since then. Called my sister but she's not there.

I hope she's at a friend's place but I wouldn't be surprised if she's at a Tabarat squandering the family fortune on the pokies (gambling machines).

I don't understand her gambling addiction and her desire to deflect blame by picking on any cock thing that I do to complain about.

Yesterday I had spent a day doing gardening - pruning the roses - and I had left the red bin containing the cuttings outside the front door. When she saw that - she freaked out and complained to my sister that I'm totally useless/idiot/moron/bloody idiot etc.. No mention of thanks that I do at least take time to attend to gardening chores.

I recently got an invite to go diving in Galapagos with a group of professional UW divers. It seemed quite cheap $2800 for a week including dives at Wolf and Darwin. I declined the awesome offer - mum is scheduled for an MRI and I've got to attend that event.

I try my best to be a good son but I think the hardest part is to face unwarranted criticism and unkind acts from your own mother. God I hope I don't become like her when I get old. 

In the meanwhile I baked an Orange cake while waiting for her to show up. Cake is out of the oven but no sign of mum yet. Going to get some sleep. I'll try and go to the gym tomorrow.

Gardening blues

After spending two months overseas- I went scuba diving in Dayang, Layang Layang (Sabah), Moal Boal/Oslob (Cebu, Philipines) and a couple of days in Phuket getting massaged to death - I had to fly back home. Got an email from my brother-in-law back in mid-June telling me my mum suffered a stroke on the weekend (funny, I was praying about her when the event occurred) and I rushed back sans diving gear.

Anyway the old dear seems alright - but the doctors found some scar tissues in the brain which has to get checked out later on.

Meanwhile my garden looked alright. The dude I hired to come did his job. Well, he didn't do the top garden bed. But at least he did some serious work as opposed to the other jokers I hired the previous times.

Unfortunately the damn clover oxalis are still back in force despite repeated treatments of herbicides and weeding.

I hate the weeds so much. They suck up so much nutrients and to prevent regeneration you are advised to throw them away. What a waste.

I've been conducting an experiment. Rather than throwing them away, I am placing the oxalis into 140l wheelie bins and make weed tea.

 I buy them from Australian Waste Management which supplies them around $50 - $70. There is a $35 delivery charge per delivery so you save if buy more.

Click here to go there: www.australianwastemanagement.com.au

I chose the 140litre because the size is just right for me and my garden. The larger ones are just too big to man handle around - plus the bigger they are they harder it will be to scoop out the gunk.

Alright, weed tea is basically weeds in a container filled with water. Leave it alone for a week and they start to decompose and stink. Really stink. After about a month, the tea will stink so badly that any residue that gets onto you will make you only attractive to drunk skunks.

It will take ages for you to get the odor off you if you get it on your skin. Be warned.

But hey, on the bright side - all that awful oxalis and weeds -  is IN that infernal solution. Think about that!!!

So I leave the weeds in that solution for a long while. About 1 year. Earlier  on I may scoop out the stinky "tea" and pour it onto my lawn or open compost box. If any of the seeds regenerate at least on the lawn or open compost bin they would be easily identified and chemically destroyed in safety away from my precious real plants.

I try and not pour it onto my garden beds in case its contaminated with live grass seeds. If possible I keep it all in for as long as possible to totally eradicate the oxalis bulbs.

Actually come to think of it - I need to conduct an experiment - get oxalis bulbs, grass seeds and put them in three small containers filled with water and leave it there to rot for 3, 6, 12 months. And then try and plant the mix in pots to see whether the damn things grow back.

At the moment I don't know how long it will take before the oxalis bulbs gets disintegrated in weed tea.

But I've bought 2 wheelie bins and I'm buying another two more.

The contents of the first 2 wheelie bins have practically liquified. They were stuffed full of weeds and covered in water for over a year. Most of the weeds have been totally disintegrated but some of the more fibrous ones (uncut rye and kikuyu grass) are still in fiberous intact states, still dead but just one yucky spaghetti lump. I should have emptied out the contents ages ago rather than recontaminating it by throwing in more newer weeds. But 2 bins were never enough for my garden.

(postscript note: after about 2 years, it looks like most of the oxalis bulbs are dead. I emptied 80% of the content out already and it looks like they have all disintegrated. There might be some weed seeds hidden in the sludge at the bottom of the bin. But it looks like the experiement is going well. Having said that, its hard to say until after about a year or so after I've poured out the stuff. If my garden gets mightily reinfested with weeds I'll certainly let you know).

Holiday Sidewinder and Andrew Stockdale sing Fleetwood Mac

I watched their performance on the weekend (on TV). And wow, I was mesmerized... actually more by Miss Holiday Sidewinder - a curious stage name.

Its a beautiful performance of Fleetwood Mac's classic. Click here if the embed link does not work.

I really like this song because the words are so real, the emotions sung so raw, the need for love so strong.

I also found the song to be a little interesting - notice that its the woman who is inviting the man into her home. Usually, its the other way around. Its the man who has built/purchased a home and seeks a woman to share it with. But giving the woman the ownership of the home immediately empowers her - she is the one who invites the man into her domain, into her territory.

On one Freudian level, the song reflects sexual intercourse. Instead of house read vagina. The woman allows the man into her body. He doesn't take her forcefully or unwillingly but is welcomed inside. And there he finds himself at peace, at home so to speak.

Here are the lyrics:

Is love so fragile and the heart so hollow
Shatter with words impossible to follow
You're saying I'm fragile
I try not to be, I search only
For something I can't see
I have my own life
And I am stronger than you know
But I carry this feeling
When you walk into my house
You won't be walking out of the door

~ Lovers forever, face to face
My city or mountain
Stay with me, stay
I need you to love me
I need you today
Give to me your leather
Take from me, my lace ~

You in the moonlight
With your sleepy eyes
Could you ever love a man like me?
And you were right, when I walked into your house
I knew I'd never want to leave
Sometimes I'm a strong man
Sometimes cold and scared
And sometimes I cry
But that time I saw you
I knew with you to light my nights
somehow i would get by.

~ Lovers forever, face to face
My city or mountain
Stay with me, stay
I need you to love me
I need you today
Give to me your leather
Take from me, my lace ~

Living with people suffering from bipolar disorders

Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic-depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or more depressive episodes. The elevated moods are clinically referred to as mania or, if milder, hypomania. Individuals who experience manic episodes also commonly experience depressive episodes, or symptoms, or a mixed state in which features of both mania and depression are present at the same time. These events are usually separated by periods of "normal" mood; but, in some individuals, depression and mania may rapidly alternate, which is known as rapid cycling. Severe manic episodes can sometimes lead to such psychotic symptoms as delusions and hallucinations. The disorder has been subdivided into bipolar I, bipolar II, cyclothymia, and other types, based on the nature and severity of mood episodes.

One of my relatives that I'm close with suffers from some mental disorder. For many years, I suspected that this person suffers from bipolar disorder. I've tried my best to try and help this person - but its especially difficult when X refuses to acknowledge that there is a problem. I've heard from other people that X has admitted something is wrong with her. And recently, X suffered from a stroke? and was admitted to the hospital for a week.

At the heart of X's problem is the inability to admit mistakes, apologize and to fucking move on. X bears grudges and is keen to point out every kind of mistakes or errors while being silent on X's own fucking epic disastrous mistakes.

Trying to put up with X's shit is driving me insane. I need to go for a run.

The Demon of Destruction

I celebrated my 1st birthday there
And her reply was "So?"

I try and reason with the woman
To no avail
A pointless waste of time
A waste of precious breath
She won't stop til she destroys everything we held dear

The demon of destruction that she has allowed to harbor in her soul will see to that
Bitter, malicious, hate, foolish, proud - she has allowed it to plant those seeds in her heart
And how they have grown to overwhelm her soul

The demon seeks to destroy all that we love
To tear, to destroy
Like a fire she won't stop til everything has turned to ash
Meanwhile we wait silently through her mad rampage
And I pray that we don't ever become like her
Or allow that vain spirit a foothold in my life

But time is on my side and so I wait
I wait for the Day of freedom
When she grows weary and exhausted
And the fire is finally extinguished
And the demon of destruction finally returns back to the hell hole where evil came from

I bid my time
And wait as I have waited before.

So much has been lost
But what was once lost may yet be recovered
May the Lord give us back ten fold what the locusts have eaten

But this evil presence that has plagued us
Its reign is strong in the land
In her heart
This demon of destruction
torments her and her us
I will not let it defeat us in the end
I will wait it out
Patiently I wait for its reign to come to an end.

Matt Corby's song - Brother

I don't usually listen to popular music. But this song blows me away.

Its about a man who offended his friend and is overwhelmed by his feelings of guilt and shame and trapped by his cowardice to apologise (or do whatever is needed to mend the relationship).

Sometimes we don't do the right things. I like this song because it acknowledges our human weakness. Its a powerful song.

Click here for the youtube link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IglwAVcuE6c&feature=my_liked_videos&list=LLXVal61oUKUlMPlxOXDv2UA

Sorry, I can't embed the video due to Multiply's RSS framework.