Can Weeds Tell Us Anything Useful About Our Soil + Is Biodegradable Produce Packaging Realistic?

Welcome to episode 81 of Growers Daily!
We cover: biodegradable and compostable packaging, slowing down to speed up, Can weeds tell us anythign useful about our soils?
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Compostable packaging and composters www.wastedive....
Study on biodiversity loss and weeds: sci-hub.se/10....
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[@veritasvincit2251]

"....get in the habit of doing things in favor of getting things done..." Qualifies as some of the best farming advice ever!

[@theburnhams2925]

Yes, agreed. Comports well with "The best fertility is the farmer's footprints."

[@kirstypollock6811]

Packaging thoughts: As a child in the 70s in Scotland, fruits and vegetables were sold loose, from crates in both supermarkets and greengrocers (Scotland didn't really do food markets in that era). In supermarkets, there were paper bags and a hanging pan scale the produce was weighed again for pricing at the till. Greengrocers also used paper bags. Potatoes came in big heavy duty paper sacks. Onions and oranges also sometimes came in nets, but also loose. At the till there were also usually heavy duty paper sacks, but plastic carrier bags gradually replaced them (until more recently). People knew how to store fruit and veg (often NOT in the fridge) and probably shopped more regularly to get fresh produce. My local farmers market here in Germany also sell loose and pack in paper bags. I think the only plastic they have is some bags of herbs and pasta, and even they might be compostable. Maybe a solution for some people today might be to pack in paper/card and also sell storage solutions at the market or pair up to offer discount codes on stuff like reusable silicon bags that people can put their produce in when they get home? I guess that might not work for supplying shops. Or in really warm climates. I don't know how restaurants expect their order packaged - from what I've casually seen, seems mostly just in crates?

[@markus_selloi]

The most important part about bio plastics is that they do not create micro plastics! PLA has gotten pretty state of the art in a lot of packaging material in Europe, so I can get them at pretty much the same price as the oil based substitutes. I think you covered the topic better than any other farming related creator, but the micro plastics part got left out sadly. If prices are the same, if they all end up burned (like here) then the end of it will just be water vapor and heat. Thanks for tackling this important topic with more depth than I saw yet!

[@jlingviolin]

Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.

[@D0praise]

Was thinking the same thing.

[@KevinAlmond-lp4ci]

Was an emphasis of one of my rugby coaches in college. Applies to life as much as rugby

[@D0praise]

@ I’m a former firefighter and that was our training captain’s mantra. Good stuff

[@robertcotrell9810]

I'm just a gardener, and I utilize the winter sowing method. With the slight warm up last week, I got my jugs filled up and seeded. I was done by the time it was dark, so I just set my jugs out where I thoughr my car wouldn't hit them, but not where I was planning on keeping them long term. The next morning, as I was backing out, I ran over some of my jugs...

[@doowroh]

Oh how I can relate to the yank and double-yank.

[@doncook3584]

Home gardener. You are describing me. I preach organization to my children. If I get my blocking mix right I crank up the pace. At a later moment I will notice my labels and sharpie lying nearby.

[@Charrbonic]

Loving this series so much! I can't use most of your tips and concepts yet given my limited growing space, but I look forward to further lessons and a future with the knowledge to create a sustainable, community-based farm that produces more joy than stress :)

[@worldkiller4444]

"The Tortoise and the Hare" is one of Aesop's Fables, numbered 226 in the Perry Index. The fable tells the story of a race between a slow-moving tortoise and a fast-running hare. The overconfident hare takes a nap during the race, allowing the tortoise to win, teaching the lesson that slow and steady wins the race.

[@johnbell891]

When in doubt, pull harder! 😂

[@scottbaruth9041]

I noticed for the second time in one day, the door to my grow room had come unlatched. Anyone married to someone who thinks they need 2 cats in the house, knows why I fixed the door right away.

[@theburnhams2925]

Ha Ha! Sympathetic "Cat Husband" here.

[@smhollanshead]

Is it because the cats eat the plants?

[@kirstypollock6811]

My cat is pretty good with plants. But he did once eat all my brassica seedlings as a kitten.

[@smhollanshead]

@ mine too!

[@ursamajor1936]

Good info here on packaging. As a naturalist gardener, my goal is to spend no money on the garden so i do rely on weeds for soil ph and nutrients but I'm not gardening commercially so its not as crucial if i get fantastic yeilds. 3 more months to garden season!

[@RichM-ij8vr]

Regarding your new sponsor, soil RX. Apparently they had a misfortune and are not accepting new orders. This is on their website. "Due the unexpected passing of an essential team member, we regret to inform you that we are no longer accepting any new orders at this time. We will make every effort to fulfill existing orders but know that our customer service responses will be delayed. Thank you for your understanding during this difficult time."

[@StephenSachs-z1z]

Had the same issue yesterday and again today!

[@NBarSMicrogreens]

More than a few times this week i have ran into the old Navy Seal adage "slow is smooth, smooth is fast"

[@melsanderson7774]

‘More haste, less speed’ is a useful old saying!

[@GaryHughes]

Doors marked pull reduce the speed of those who PUSH before they read. Always reminds me to spend a few seconds looking and thinking to bring about overall efficiency.

[@russellradwanski5771]

When I was in school, a professor told us something that stuck with me, “be quick, don’t hurry”. You want to know what you’re doing so there are no delays (in this context when writing an exam) but don’t hurry through it making careless mistakes. Another one from a different teacher was “wisely and slow, they stumble who run fast”, Friar Laurence is advising Romeo to think carefully and wisely about his decision to marry Juliet.

[@daveordie]

Stefan sobkowiak has at least a handful of videos about dandelions being indicators of calcium and or mineral deficiencies. The logic is that they grow with a lack thereof and send the taproot into subsoil; bringing up nutrients from rocks below. I have no idea of the efficacy but in practice dandelions make fantastic leaf mulch. If you roast the roots...you could also call it chicory; mix it into coffee and sell it for three times the price. Anyways, once the dandelions have taken over an area they will die back rather quickly (but not quick enough) leaving a much nicer soil than you started with. Anecdotally, I am unsure if this could at all be better than just cover cropping with other deeply rooted plants. This rabbithole is a canyon.

[@bobsnow4890]

I have always thought of the weed telling you about soil condition was to be taken in a much more broad sense; general condition of an entire rested field, or an orchard. I think on the smaller level as you said; they will just grow where they grow. But if field A and B are both undisturbed and a lot more of Weed X grows in field B it could be a general indicator.

[@salim4800]

I think you're right - in the highly manipulated area of a garden bed, anything will spring up if given the right germination possibilities. But when looking at a plot that has been green fallow for several years or an old neglected meadow, an rather quickly on a lawn, it is probably possible to come to conclusions by looking at the weeds - over time, they will populate the zones they prefer, so you could see areas of higher moisture, compaction, low nitrogen, high nitrogen, sandy spots and so on. But that would have to be done - and might be useful - before turning an area into a vegetable garden, and a rather high level of plant awareness would be necessary.

[@rachellemazar7374]

Great info on biodegradable vs compostable, I wonder what will come up in the salvage seed tray.

[@anissaferringer4965]

My husband and I are on opposite ends of the spectrum. He spent his formative years getting paid by the job and has one speed--balls out. I have worked in restaurants, but by the time we started farming my speed was putter, because my work is never done--it doesn't matter how much fence we build I will still be a mom with inside chores when we're done. There is a happy medium where things don't get broken but we haven't found it. 😂😆🤣

[@D0praise]

With likely looming supply chain issues the real time saver is having plenty of spare parts on hand for infrastructure related gizmos like that busted irrigation bit. Stock up

[@NBarSMicrogreens]

I went to the Montana Organic Veg Expo a few weeks ago and there was a heavy emphasis on weeds. When someone brought up "What weeds tell us" the guest lecturer from Maine replied it would be a pretty poor weed at doing its job if it only grew in narrow set of conditions. Weeds have adapted to colonize disturbed areas, no matter the ph, no matter the soil textures or chemical availability. All that said, we have a heavy dose of bindweed. And the best mulch we have found to set back bindweed is pulled bindweed! Which makes me question is it the chemical composition of the bindweed that is knocking back future growth because it has fulfilled its job of making certain nutrients available? Or are there bindweed specializing biologicals breaking down the dead host plant, and knocking back new shoots coming up? Or both, or something completely different. Who knows, but it seems to work.

[@Aglaja_]

Agree with the weed-issue 👍

[@EDLaw-wo5it]

I have been missing you. My fault not yours. Great topics thanks. Havagudun Mr garden.

[@FeralEarthGardens]

Jesse hopefully when theres 20 trays on the table the weight will have you question more the strength you put into that initial "tug" and you'll go free the hose before snap crash bang 😅

[@sally-t4j6r]

NB Cellophane -- is compostable BUT it's production gives rise to a lot of rather nasty pollution ! Its production has a big, big environmental footprint !

[@brokenmeats5928]

I love ALL No-Till Growers videos!

[@joshiahsmall8941]

Sounds like the start of a chaos plot experiment. Minimal effort input and potential content. No need to cry over spilt seed when you can 1. Get content 2. Eliminate weak genetics 3. Acclimate the genetics to your climate for a generation 4. Provide more food for pollinators 5. Replace the seed 6. Still get fruit.

[@sally-t4j6r]

A healthy compost heap probably contains methanophilic micro-organisms ... use paper/cardboard -- a mesh wrapper allows you to see what is inside the package.

[@geraldhowse8597]

I harvest redroot pigweed, lambsquarters, stinging nettle and parts of milkweed for a very tasty meal in summer. Some of which i grow in my nutrient rich organic garden. Does that mean they are still weeds?

[@GaryHughes]

Weeds are just plants that you don't want.

[@chriskimber7179]

Slow is smooth Smooth is fast

[@timothykrott7248]

My dog got into my cucumber seed packets, 5 of them of different varieties! Now I have one bigger packet of cuke seeds of which variety I have no idea!

[@Fields-i9e]

Thank you so much for this amazing video! I need some advice: My OKX wallet holds some USDT, and I have the seed phrase. (alarm fetch churn bridge exercise tape speak race clerk couch crater letter). What's the best way to send them to Binance?

[@ThinkLittleFarm]

just how full is your swear jar, Jesse? mine is overflowing...

[@Farm_Boy_Education]

Sounds like you need to re engineer, faucet should be metal line supported by post, table needs better bracing. If you keep having to learn to slow down maybe it is more effective to bullet proof things.

[@hoosierpioneer]

My downfall is balancing things instead of setting them in a secure position.

[@MiriamPendleton]

I thought I heard from you that "compostable" packaging contains forever chemicals.... Quite the dilemma.

[@leekosub1196]

Yank instead of look. It me. 🥴😊

[@FlylightD]

Confessing is going to work like magic for you. You’re gonna be more thoughtful much sooner.

[@TheRabidfan]

It's been a yank instead of look kind of weak my friend

[@geraldhowse8597]

Define weed.

[@stevehatcher7700]

What do weeds tell me about my soil? They tell me I have weed seeds in the soil.

[@lynntompkins6741]

yes, "hurry" is highly over-rated!