Treating seeds and starts in your yard and garden

Spring is a time of many transplants, whether as seeds, starts, or bare root. In order to give those transplants a good chance, we recommend applying our starter treatment. We have been using these products to treat farm seed for several years, with amazing results; quick sprouting, better germination, stronger and healthier plants, and better yields. Our farmers like the results so well, they are using the products on their gardens. We are too, and so should you.

The process is simple, but the results are definitely worth it.

Step 1: Mix equal parts Bio Release and water in a small mister or fine sprayer.

Step 2: Put some Soil Biology Boost powder in an empty baby powder container.

Step 3: Spray a fine mist over the seeds or roots to be planted (just enough to slightly moisten the plants or roots, but not make them wet).

Step 4: Apply a very light dusting of Soil Biology Boost powder to the moistened seeds or roots (it is best to apply in an area without wind as the powder will drift away easily when applying). When properly applied, the powder will be almost invisible.

Step 5 (seeds only): If treating seeds, mix or toss to evenly coat seeds with powder (I use an empty nut container and shake it)

Step 6: Plant

Here is a video showing how we treat some strawberry starts before we plant them:

Use Compost to Rejuvenate Your Soil

A good compost is one of the most beneficial soil amendments available. Properly composted materials have the following benefits:

• adds nutrients to your soils
• inoculates the soil with good bacteria
• protects the soil from pathogens
• promotes a healthy environment for plant growth
• increases organic matter in the soil
• helps balance soil pH
• improves soil texture and composition

Bio Minerals Technologies is producing a series of videos about how composting works and why it is important to do it right. Head over to our web site and take a look!

We have simple biological solutions to improve the composting process for large livestock operations. Turn your waste stream into better nutrients for your fields, or into a revenue stream for your bottom line.

Steps to a Healthy Yard and Landscape

Typical landscape fertility has been reduced to just three nutrients, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium (NPK), and most people focus just on Nitrogen. The problem is, plants with a high-nitrogen diet require at least 2-3 times more water to stay green!  To make it worse, all that excess water, combined with the high nitrogen, creates a waterlogged soil environment that breeds pathogens (disease-causing microbes), and is detrimental to the good microbes, resulting in sick plants.

Your yard doesn't need more nitrogen, it needs a better balance of all nutrients so it can make better use of the nitrogen it already has, while using 1/2 as much water!

Bio Minerals Technologies provides balanced nutritional blends, complete with necessary trace minerals that can feed your landscape properly. We also provide microbe "boosters" that reinforce the good biology in your soils, crowding out the pathogens and helping your plants make better use of the nutrients and water that are available.

Our program has proven successful in multiple environments and on both residential and commercial landscapes. An added benefit is the reduction or elimination of the use of herbicides, pesticides, and other toxins, resulting not only in healthier plants, but a healthier outdoor environment.

Here is an outline of our landscape nutrition program:

Spring

At the beginning of the yard season, you should prepare your soil and plants for growth by doing the following:

1. Apply a good lawn fertilizer at the recommended rate (get a good organic fertilizer from your local yard supply store)
2. Spray all lawns and flower beds with Bio Minerals Technologies' Compost/Mineral Tea at a rate of 5 gallons/1000 square feet.
3. Inject or drench trees (ornamental and fruit) with Bio Minerals Technologies' Compost/Mineral Tea at a rate of 1 gallon/1" of trunk diameter (e.g. 3" trunk receives 3 gallons).
4. Spray all lawns and flower beds (per 1000 sq feet) with the following mixture (in 1 gallon of water):
   0.5 oz Foliar Biology Boost
   0.5 oz Bio Mineral 75 liquid minerals

Recurring Applications

After your initial fertilization, the following applications should be made every 4-6 weeks throughout the growing season to maintain a healthy yard and soil environment:

1. For lawns: Mix the following in 1 gallon of water and apply / 1000 square feet
   6 oz Healthy Grass Blend
   1.5 oz Bio Release
2. For flowers: Mix the following in 1 gallon of water and apply /1000 square feet
   0.5 oz Flower Foliar
   1.5 oz Bio Release
3. For shrubs and trees (ornamental and fruit): Mix the following in 5 gallons of water and apply / 1000 square feet
   13 oz Bush-Tree-Garden
   1.5 oz Bio Release

Fall

At the end of the season, apply the following to build nutrition for next spring.

1. Apply Bio Minerals Technologies' Fall Yard Mineral Blend at a rate of 17.5 lbs/1000 square feet
2. Spray all lawns and flower beds with Bio Minerals Technologies' Compost/Mineral Tea at a rate of 5 gallons/1000 square feet
3. For trees (fruit and ornamental), insert Dry Mineral Tree Blend nutrition packs into the soil surrounding the trunk at approximately 1 lb/inch of trunk diameter.

If, during the growing season, you feel a need to spray herbicides to kill weeds or unwanted plants, always follow the herbicides after a week with Compost/Mineral Tea to rebuild any microbial damage caused by the poison.

Inflammatory reactions, allergies, and even depression, all linked to diet

At the end of this post is a link to several articles that tie our current inflammatory diet and lifestyle to the increased incidence of depression. None of the articles claim it is the only cause, simply one more factor that influences the bodies reactions, including neurological reactions.

In a simple illustration, here is how the inflammation/allergy/energy reactions work. When we eat something our body doesn't recognize, or when we inhale or ingest an allergen, our internal systems immediately target that "foreign" substance and try to eliminate it. If we inhale it, we sneeze, our noses run, our eyes water. If we ingest something our body reacts to it can cause vomiting, diarrhea, skin rashes, bloating, gas, and other uncomfortable symptoms. Any foreign or unrecognizable substance will cause an inflammatory reaction of some sort, with varying severity. These are auto-immune responses. Dealing with this inflammation is a major diversion of physical energy. You feel listless, lethargic, you have no desire to do anything, because you don't feel good.

Inflammation is at the root of virtually every disease we experience. Our modern western diet simply adds to the complications. We consume many processed foods with excess sugars and unrecognizable ingredients. We also consume many Genetically Modified Organism foods that produce unrecognizable elements in the plants and in the digested components. Food crop staples such as corn, soy, and rice are almost all genetically modified.

In addition to the high percentage of processed foods (many of which are also high in sugar), we tend to self-medicate our energy gaps with readily available processed sugar for a quick boost. Unfortunately, the boost is always followed by a prolonged crash. When we go for another sugar boost to compensate for the crash, it simply makes the cycle worse. It takes very little time for the processed sugars to enter the blood stream, but it takes a much greater amount of time for the body to deal with it. Our bodies secrete large amounts of insulin to try and extract the excess sugars and store them for future use (which our bodies never need). At the end of the day, we are exhausted, our body is still inflamed, we are heavier, and we aren't getting any better.

As humans, we have many hormones that raise sugar levels, but we only have one hormone that reduces them, insulin. The natural balance of our anatomical structure indicates that we are not designed for a high-sugar diet, yet the average person in the US consumes 170 lbs of sugar each year! In 1820, the average sugar consumption was only 5-7 lbs per person. That is a big change, and it is increasing the inflammation in our bodies.

If we want to reduce the inflammatory pressures on our body, we need to eat a less inflammatory diet. Our diet should be lower in sugar and higher in unprocessed, unmodified whole foods. Whenever possible, you should also focus on nutrient dense foods, grown in well-managed, healthy soils. Doing so will decrease body inflammation, increase health, and according to the linked articles, even reduce and reverse depression!

The first link is the first depression article we saw. It is a summary of the Nova and Guardian articles. The Guardian article seems to be the root article in the tree, with the most information.

http://www.feelguide.com/2015/01/06/new-research-discovers-tha-depression-is-an-allergic-reaction-to-inflammation/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/body/depression-may-caused-inflammation/

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/04/depression-allergic-reaction-inflammation-immune-system