Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Home-Grown Fertilizer

July's Sustainable Living Tip

Make your own fertilizer from kitchen scraps with a worm bin. Simply feed your worms shredded paper and food waste, then harvest liquid worm tea and solid worm castings. Spray worm tea directly on the leaves of your plants or dilute it one part tea to ten parts water for use every other week when watering. Use worm castings as a top dressing for your soil, or mix one to one with potting soil when starting seeds.

More Facts About Fertilizer

  1. Packaged fertilizer is labeled according to the major plant nutrients it provides: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K).
  2. Fertilizers may also provide the secondary nutrients calcium, sulfur and magnesium.
  3. Beyond the major and secondary nutrients, plants also need micronutrients including boron, chlorine, manganese, iron, zinc, copper, molybdenum and selenium.
  4. Home-made fertilizers such as worm castings include not just the major and secondary nutrients, but a wide array of micronutrients.
  5. The key to healthy plants is healthy soil. You lose nutrients from your soil each year when you harvest crops. Adding about an inch of compost every year to your soil replenishes the organic matter and many of the nutrients needed to sustain plant growth.
  6. Although our planet's atmosphere is mostly nitrogen (more than 78%), it is in a highly stable form that is difficult for plants to use. Nitrogen must be converted (or "fixed") to ammonia before plants can use the nitrogen to create DNA and proteins.
  7. The nitrogen in synthetic fertilizers is often fixed using natural gas. In the Haber-Bosch process, nitrogen gas from the air (N2) is combined with hydrogen from natural gas to form ammonia (NH3). This ammonia is then oxidized to create various types of synthetic fertilizers.
  8. Each year between 3 and 5% of the world's supply of natural gas is consumed to produce synthetic nitrogen fertilizer.
  9. Nitrogen fixation can also occur naturally without the need for natural gas.
  10. Natural sources of nitrogen fixation include bacteria and plants in the legume family (clover, beans, alfalfa, lupines and peanuts) that have formed symbiosis with bacteria that fix nitrogen. Cultivating natural nitrogen fixation reduces or eliminates the need for synthetic nitrogen fertilizer.
  11. Until the 1950s, farmers typically purchased fertilizers tailored to their soil needs from small manufacturers within a 100-mile radius.
  12. In the 1960s, concentrated phosphates began replacing natural phosphate rock as a result of efforts by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the Land Grant Colleges to promote higher analysis fertilizers. The idea was to deliver more phosphate to farmers at lower cost, resulting in the centralization of production of phosphate fertilizer.
  13. By 2005, Florida produced 75% of the phosphate rock mined in the United States, all of which was converted to phosphoric acid to facilitate the production of concentrated phosphate fertilizers.
  14. Unlike nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium do not seem capable of being fixed from atmospheric sources. Instead, these elements cycle through a biological process that requires direct replenishment to the soil. Composting yard and kitchen scraps is a sustainable method of returning these vital nutrients to your garden soil.

Environmental Happenings

Thursday, July 9 - Electric Scooters Test Ride, 6 pm, F.W. Horch, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick. Test ride an eGo electric scooters, then join Scoot USA for a discussion of fossil-fuel-free personal transportation options, including folding bikes. "Scoot to commute!" For more information, please call 729-4050. Free and open to the public.

Friday, July 10 to Sunday, July 12 - 21st Annual Maine Bike Rally, Fryeburg, Maine. The Maine Bike Rally is a much-beloved tradition that brings together hundreds of bicyclists from throughout the United States and Canada. The 2009 rally offers three days of road and off-road bike rides in beautiful western Maine and the Mount Washington Valley of New Hampshire for all levels of cyclists, plus a full weekend of family entertainment. For additional information, contact the Bicycle Coalition of Maine at (207) 623-4511 or email info@BikeMaine.org.

Tuesday, July 14 - Portland Greendrinks, 5:30 - 8 pm, Sebago Brewery, 48 Sanford Drive, Gorham Industrial Park, Gorham. Greendrinks brings together a lively mix of people from all walks of life: academics, NGOs, local businesses and government agencies. The goal is to create an organic, self-organizing network where everyone is welcome. It's a great way to catch up with people you already know, as well as an opportunity to meet new people and make new connections. The July Greendrinks event is co-sponsored by the Maine Volunteer Lawyers Association (MeVLA) and the Sebago Brewing Company. While the two don't have much in common, they both keep the environment at the top of their respective lists of priorities when doing business. For more information, visit www.PortlandGreenDrinks.com/greendrinks

Tuesday, July 14 - Transition Town Brunswick meeting, 7 pm, Morrell Meeting Room, Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick. Transition Town Brunswick will be screening a filmed presentation by activist and author, Guy Dauncey, entitled "The Great Energy Revolution: Practical Solutions to the Climate Crisis and Peak Oil", taken during his keynote speech at the Climate Change Town Hall Conference in Grass Valley, California. "[Be] inspired to implement some of these ideas here in the Brunswick area so we can start the essential and exciting process of transitioning away from fossil fuels," writes Amory Weld, organizer of the event.

Saturday, July 18 - Birding at Moosehead Lake, 7:30 am, North Woods Outfitters, Greenville. Join Bob Duchesne, author of Maine Birding Trail, and Lisa Pohlmann, NRCM's deputy director, to explore a variety of habitats that create some of the best bird diversity in the state. Boreal Chickadees, Gray Jays, Spruce Grouse, and a variety of warblers, thrushes, and other songbirds more common to the boreal forest of Canada draw bird enthusiasts to Maine from far and wide. If you have questions about this trip, please feel free to contact Beth Dimond at beth@nrcm.org or (207) 430-0106.

Saturday, July 18 - Maine Animal Coalition's Fifth Annual Vegetarian Food Festival, 11am to 3 pm, East End Community School, 195 North Street, Portland. A half day of vegan food samples, exhibitors, workshops, cooking demos, kids activities, a raffle and more! For more information contact the Festival Chair: Angela M Bell, 207-409-3917, maineanimalcoalition@myfairpoint.net

Sunday, July 19 - Cultivating Community's Boyd Street Bash, Noon to 2 pm, Boyd Street Urban Farm, Boyd Street @ East Oxford Street, East Bayside Neighborhood, Portland. Beginning in 2004, Cultivating Community took an underused and contaminated land in the City of Portland's park bank and began to nurture it back to ecological health. Celebrate the community and the garden with a delicious sampling of food with ingredients straight from the garden, a showcase of green and low-impact technologies for your home and garden, Japanese Taiko Drumming and other music to serenade you, children's activities including "mud buddies" and face painting, and a tour of our planting beds, orchard, and community garden plots.

Saturday, July 25 - Eighth Annual Maine Lobster Ride & Roll, Rockland District High School, 400 Broadway, Rockland. The state’s most scenic and tastiest bicycle ride follows country roads and the rock-bound coast. The fully supported ride includes four distance options: 16, 30, 50 or 100 miles. Cyclists can look forward to a freshly made lobster roll lunch (tuna and veggie options available) and live Tour de France coverage at the end. The Maine Lobster Ride & Roll supports the Bicycle Coalition of Maine’s safety and education programs. For more information, please visit www.BikeMaine.org/lobsterride or call (207) 623-4511. Fees will be announced on the website.

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Electric Scooter Test Drive

Scoot USA presents a "Sustainable Transportation" demonstration and discussion at F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods and Supplies, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick on Thursday, July 9 at 6 pm. eGo electric scooters will be available for test rides, followed by a discussion of fossil-fuel-free personal transportation options. The event is free and open to the public. The discussion will take place regardless of weather conditions; a rain date for riding the electric scooters will be scheduled if necessary.

"Scoot to commute!" says Jeff Cooper, Director of Fun for Scoot USA. "Years ago I selected electric scooters for my own use for the ease of maintenance, no gas or oil to deal with. Little did I know that gasoline would touch $5.00 per gallon!"

Cooper is known as an innovator, taking what seems ordinary and seeing a higher potential, whether a business concept, an activity, or a product. In addition to his Scoot USA business, Cooper owns Slot Car Junction in Brunswick and H2Outfitters Sea Kayaking Adventures in Harpswell. The original idea for Scoot USA came about because of the need for reliable transportation on Orr's Island where his kayaking business is located. After several months of research back in 2004 he settled on the eGo scooters based upon reliability, balance, and ease of operation. But the biggest attraction for use on the island was the ease of maintenance.

The demonstration on Thursday will start at 6 pm, one hour earlier than the regular monthly talks at F.W. Horch, to allow attendees to test ride the electric scooters. Following the test rides, the discussion will take place inside. Space is limited, so those interested in attending are encouraged to call the store at (207) 729-4050 to reserve a seat.

This event is part of the F.W. Horch series on sustainable living. Each monthly event is held at the F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods & Supplies store, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick, Maine, on the second Thursday of the month.

For more information about the F.W. Horch sustainable living series, please call (207) 729-4050 or visit www.FWHorch.com.