How Herbicides Contaminate Compost

Posted on April 25, 2022 by Ann Lovejoy
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by Robin Bachtler-Cushman

The Pea Test reveals the presence of Clopyralid

Of Horsetail and Herbicides

A troubled reader writes: “Horse tails have been in the front portion of my property for three years now, but they are now popping up in my side yard which is currently just lawn. I do have the dream to get rid of most of my lawn and replace it with native ground cover and shrubs. Should I accelerate this plan in order to remove the horse tails? What is your opinion on the product Crossbow? I heard that it potentially kills horse tails.”

Sadly, there is no simple solution to getting rid of horsetail, but it can be done (read on to learn how). It’s important to know that no herbicide, however toxic and persistent, will completely kill long-established horsetail, which has deep roots that penetrate at least 6 feet of soil (and can go far deeper in some circumstances). It’s most vulnerable in situations where it arrived recently with plants or topsoil, but even there, I’d never use Crossbow. It’s a soil-persistent herbicide, able to damage or kill seedlings and young plants for at least a year after application. It’s non-selective, meaning it kills everything susceptible in its path. Its main targets are woody and broad leaved evergreen trees and shrubs. Though the label has very few warnings, Crossbow combines 2,4-D ( a potent hormone disruptor banned in numerous countries) and Triclopyr, a skin-absorbent toxin that harms animals (including humans) and kills aquatic critters from frogs to fish even when diluted in rain and runoff. So no. Just no.

Compost Contamination

It’s hugely important to recognize that many supposedly safe herbicides and pesticides are both toxic and persistent. That they often carry few label warnings reflects successful industry lobbying over concern for public safety (surprise!). About 20 years ago, West Coast states had outbreaks of “killer compost” that wreaked havoc in gardens. The main culprit was Clopyralid, another persistent herbicide that remains effective indefinitely and at concentrations as low as 2 parts per million (no joke). Compost facilities began testing for it with bioassays (aka pea tests) and once it was banned for homeowner use, Clopyralid contamination hadn’t been a problem. In 2020, however, the Oregon Department of Agriculture reported compost issues traced to Clopyralid again and last year, at least one Washington facility produced compost that stunted tomato plants, probably due to Clopyralid presence in horse bedding straw and fodder. Like other herbicides, Clopyralid contamination causes foliage distortion and often death for many plants and beneficial insects; International Organization for Biological Control testing showed that Clopyralid exposure killed between 30-80 percent of control groups of ladybugs, lacewings, and many others.

Before that killer compost fiasco, it wasn’t known (or acknowledged) that even tiny amounts of this persistent herbicide could kill mature ornamental plants, because all research was focused on agricultural production. As gardeners’ reports poured in, research began: damage from Clopyralid-contaminated compost resembles moderate to severe herbicide exposure, with yellowing, twisting, and malformation of foliage. Initial growth on affected seedlings might look fine, but the second set of true leaves (not including the baby or seed leaves) displays damage. However, not all plants would be affected to the same degree, even in the same family.

Pea Test To Recognize Contamination

The main families affected by Clopyralid are the composites (artichokes and cardoons, asters to zinnias), the legumes (peas, beans), and the nightshades (tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, petunias). Damage may be variable: Cardoons and zinnias planted with contaminated compost usually die, while asters may persist but weakly. Of ten kinds of beans I planted with contaminated compost, only two sets looked normal but flowered sparsely and didn’t produce any beans. Tomato seedlings died after a few weeks, while healthy tomato starts were too damaged to flower or set fruit.

If you fear your compost is unsafe, try this simple pea test: mix the compost with potting soil and plant several kinds of peas and beans. If they produce at least three heathy sets of true leaves, there’s no residual Clopyralid. If the plants wither and look sickly, use the compost on lawns, shrubbery, and woody landscaping that doesn’t include annuals and perennials. Also, let the supplier know what you discovered, so they can follow up with the source facility.

Why Is Horsetail So Stubborn?

Horsetail (Equisetum) has been around since the dinosaurs’ day, with fossil records dating back over 300 million years. It’s a prehistoric survivor and not surprisingly ranks among the most challenging weeds to manage. The best initial strategy is CUT DON’T PULL: pulling the stems triggers a flush of new sprouts from deep root tubers, while clean cutting doesn’t. Repeated cutting slowly depletes the storage roots, but where horsetail is long established, that can take years. Even so, it’s a good practice and makes a useful moving meditation technique as well. Breathe, cut horsetail, breathe….

Our second strategy is to improve drainage and soil quality by scattering granulated humic acid, adding several inches of (clean) compost, and topping it off with wood chips (not bark chops). If you don’t like the look, cover the chip layer with more compost, and the resulting sandwich will help heal the soil. If improving soil quality seems counterintuitive, remember that heavy, moist, acidic soils that are low in oxygen favor horsetail while open, rich, pH neutral and well drained garden soils do not. Compost is a natural pH buffer, moderating soil acidity slowly but steadily. That’s how lasting change works. Onward, right?

Posted in Birds In The Garden, Care & Feeding, composting, Garden Prep, Health & Wellbeing, pests and pesticides, Soil, Sustainable Gardening, Sustainable Living, Tomatoes | Tagged | 2 Comments

Soil Food Feeds Plants

Posted on April 18, 2022 by Ann Lovejoy
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Bunnies and chickens together make excellent soil food

Making Garden Gold At Home

Over the past couple of years, the pandemic kept many people closer to home than usual, and many of them found gardening to be a comfort in these stressful times. That said, many of them also found gardening to be frustrating and mysterious, with uneven results despite hard work. Some of those wobbly returns on the investment of time and effort were due to inexperience, but much was also due to unreliable weather, which disrupted normal timing from native plant bloom times to ripening (or not) tomatoes. Here in the maritime Northwest, the past few years were cooler than usual, making it difficult to get gratifying crops of heat lovers, so first time tomato growers were Not Happy. On the other hand, kale and greens were very productive, but they’re not glamor crops, so that didn’t make up for the iffy tomatoes.

Folks who hadn’t paid much attention to such seasonal swings before were baffled, asking for tips to improve their gardening “luck”. There is definitely an element of luck in garden successes, but bountiful gardens owe at least as much to the gardener’s active attention and activities. Our primary task in gardens of any age and stage is to make sure our soil is kept well fed. Newbie gardener are often surprised to learn that soil needs feeding. Fertilizer companies advertise well, but it’s harder to find accurate information about feeding the soil and letting soil feed our plants. Soil food is what makes compost the single most important ingredient in any recipe for garden success. Water is crucial as well, but if our soil is well fed and frequently amended, it will retain soil moisture well while feeding plant roots and allowing roots adequate oxygen flow.

Homemade Compost Or Store Bought?

I’m often asked if all I can talk about is compost, which makes me chuckle. Of course not, but because it’s so important, it does come up a lot. I live on land that was dense forest not that long ago, and the land remembers what people have forgotten. Around here, soil needs help to be able to support food crops rather than native trees and understory plants, and compost is key to making that happen. I also get asked a lot about whether homemade compost is the equivalent of commercial products. As a rule, compost’s nutritive quality increases with the production method but also reflects the variety of materials it incorporates. Commercial compost may include a range of ingredients from yard waste bins to refuse from log processing and fisheries. Since raw materials from many sources often contain pesticides and weed seeds, the best commercial facilities compost at very high temperatures. Commercial producers also use more testing (hopefully) for pesticide residues, and can take advantage of more scientific techniques than most home gardeners, but homemade composts can have other advantages.

If our homemade compost contains fewer ingredients, we know exactly what they are. By using our own pesticide-free yard and garden wastes, and by weeding out pests before they go to seed, we avoid two big issues. If we can generate enough heat in our heap, any remaining weed seeds get cooked. By tending our heap, we can transform the humblest garden waste into nurturing garden gold. That involves adjusting the mix of wet and dry materials to speed up the rotting process, turning the heap every month to let in air and keep the materials heated up, and adding water as needed to keep things moist but not soggy. If we do all that, we can make compost to rival commercial products. Too much work? Slackers rejoice: Almost any homemade compost will be as good or better than bagged products that have been sitting on a pallet for months.

Making Magic

To improve home compost, grow many kinds of plants. It’s a good way to appease garden lust, and it’s a fine excuse for making plant purchases above requirement. For even more diversity, harvest grass clippings and fallen leaves from neighbors who don’t compost. However, avoid their grass clippings if your neighbors uses pesticides or employs a lawn service that treats lawns with fertilizer/pesticide mixes. Even a basic blend of lawn mowings and fallen leaves will make fine compost if the volume is large enough. When we had chickens and rabbits, we cleaned out their large enclosure several times a year, and the addition of that rich mixture of bedding straw and droppings boosted the heap’s heat and created excellent, nutritious soil food in short order.

A minimum size for compost bins is a cubic yard (3 x 3 x 3 feet). To make compost, alternate layers of dry material, such as dried garden waste, bedding straw, and dried leaves, with “wet’ material, such as green grass, fresh weeds, and smaller leafy/twiggy prunings. Cover each addition with a scoop of garden soil to introduce beneficial soil biota. Mix well, adding water to make everything evenly damp, then cover with a tarp to keep excess rain out. Keep moisture and air flow balanced, as excess water can displace air, making compost anaerobic (stinky). Compost typically reaches between 130-150 degrees F, hot enough to kill off most weed seeds and pathogens. When it cools down in a few weeks, the pile will be noticeably smaller. Mix it with a garden fork, bringing less-composted material from the outer edges closer in to the core. The pile will heat up and shrink again. After the third or fourth mixing, compost will be ready to use. Use lumpy compost in the vegetable garden or rub it through a coarse metal screen with the back of a shovel to make it look nicer. The result will provide your plants with a slow, steady supply of balanced nutrients while improving soil quality. What’s not to love? If you can’t manage all that, just make a big heap somewhere unobtrusive, adding whatever is around whenever you weed and tidy. Over time, this passive pile will also become garden gold. Onward, right?

Posted in Care & Feeding, Climate Change, composting, Health & Wellbeing, pests and pesticides, Plant Diversity, Soil, Sustainable Gardening, Sustainable Living, Weed Control | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Weed Eaters Delight

Posted on April 11, 2022 by Ann Lovejoy
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For extra zing, add a few tasty weeds to your salad bowl

Spring Salads Pack A Pleasing Punch

As warmer weather arrives (sometimes, at least), the garden beds are filling up fast. Early peas are blooming, last year’s kale is sprouting fresh shoots from every leaf node, lettuce is fluffing out and weeds abound. So many spring weeds are tasty and nutritious that they end up in the gathering bucket instead of the compost. Indeed, some, like chickweed and purslane, don’t get pulled at all. Instead, their young shoots get pinched off for salads and the mama plant is left to grow on, at least for a while. Miner’s lettuce isn’t a weed at all, of course, but a native plant with millenia-old traditions of use. I cherish it wherever it appears, and even sow its seeds in the greenhouse to speed its arrival. Vetch, I pull and toss, but it’s worth havesting some of the youngest leves for their piquant flavor. French and Italian dandelion greens remain tender through the winter, though they get a bit more peppery and bite-y, since the nip of cold that sweetens Brussels sprouts and leeks makes many hardy greens bitter. Fortunately that makes winter greens ideal for braising and adding to soups and casseroles and what have you.

Now the dandelions are tender again, as are young leaves on mature kale and new lettuces. Fresh growth on mint, oregano, chives, thyme, lemon balm, dill and fennel is especially lively on the palate, and a minced mixture can wake up a salad better than any dressing. Indeed, when I make a chop-and-drop salad of greens, it often gets eaten without any dressing at all, since the combination of flavors is so emphatic and the foliage is so juicy that no further addition is needed. If that sounds unlikely, try this little experiment: when you next put a salad together, use only freshly picked greens and herbs. Wash and spin them dry, patting with a tea towel if need be but leaving a bit of moisture. Lightly chop any larger leaves of lettuces, kale, dandelion, mustard greens, and spinach but leave smaller ones whole. Put them in a large serving bowl, then chop sprigs of strongly flavored herbs more finely; I use a combination of mint, radicchio, sorrel, rosemary, lemon balm, chives and/or garlic greens. Stem oregano, thyme and dill and/or fennel, then mince the larger leaves, toss the bits and scatter them over the other greens. Add blossoms of kale, chickweed, and baby violas whole for a splash of color.

Adding The Sass Of Spring

As is, the mixture is probably great. Toss it with your hands; this is important, as the touch of the greens changes our relationship with them. If that sounds fanciful, think about it; things we keep at fork’s distance never taste the same as things we eat out of hand. That’s why finger food feels so fun; we add our sense of touch to the experience, and that’s why handling salad ingredients begins with gathering and prepping, but shouldn’t stop there. Take a small handful and nibble to see if the balance is pleasing, or needs a bit of adjustment; more spinach and lettuce will make a milder mix, more herbs a livelier one. For the final and crowning touch, add some sassy spring treasures; small springs of chickweed and purslane, long-stemmed miner’s lettuce (I use LOTS) and young clover. Weed eating is an ancient tradition, as old as the need for spring tonics. The first, fresh flush of growth is packed with vitamins, and though our ancestors didn’t know exactly why eating foraged spring greens felt so good, they certainly knew the value of them in terms of health and well-being.

Once you have your blend prepped, gently toss it all with with your hands. The resulting melange is an irresistible blend of flavors and textures; crunchy and tender, sweet and tart, tangy and mellow, fiery and gentle. Take a handful and eat it just as it is and if you’re like me, you’ll end up happily munching handful after handful. If you feel you must add a dressing, try this: combine a fruity, silky first press olive oil with finely minced garlic or shallot and a little vinegar. Plum vinegar is our house favorite, as it carries a subtle sweetness along with its bright, sour tang. Just a tiny drizzle of this magical elixir will transform any salad into something fabulous, though it can’t help but moderate the wild and wonder-ful freshness that makes spring salads sing.

On Beyond Dressing

This same dressing does wonders for lightly steamed vegetables and it’s also marvelous on grilled or steamed fish fillets, with a handful of chopped, toasted walnuts or pecans sprinkled over the top. You can stir handfuls of your greens mix into scrambled eggs or use them to fill an omelet, along with a bit of crumbled goat cheese. Add some to tuna or egg salad or deviled eggs, or garnish roasted pepper and tomato soup with a plump pinch of greens. You’ll find yourself finding endless uses for your spring green melange, which will keep for 24-36 hours in a closed container in the fridge. However, if you want to experiment with this magical mixture, make LOTS, because if you don’t eat it all yourself, when anyone else realizes what you’ve made, the marvelous melange disappears as soon as they reach the kitchen. Bon appetite!

Posted in Care & Feeding, Early Crops, Edible Flowers, Hardy Herbs, Health & Wellbeing, Native Plants, Nutrition, Recipes, Sustainable Gardening, Sustainable Living, Vegan Recipes, Weed Control | 2 Comments

Grow Your Own Caffeine

Posted on April 4, 2022 by Ann Lovejoy
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Coffee, Tea Or Tisane?

As cold rain beats down, I’m puttering in my little unheated greenhouse, where my new stash of caffeine plants is sheltering from the latest wild wind storm. The tea camellias should do fine once they get planted outside, but keeping the coffee plant happy will take more thought. There’s also a young Yaupon shrub as well as a start of Yerba Mate, both which can get large, so regular pruning is definitely in their future. This intriguing collection is part of my experiment with growing my own caffeine sources (especially given increasing concerns about food security; I need my tea!!!). All around the world, people have been brewing herbal and plant-based pick-me-ups since time immemorial. Though many of these remain regional specialties, some have become nearly universal. A remarkable percentage of humans are hooked on coffee or tea, the vast bulk of which are grown in tropical or subtropical regions. For most of us West Coast folks, growing tea presents few challenges, and Yaupon will do fine, but both coffee and Yerba Mate will require some seasonal protection.

While ornamental Asian camellias such as C. japonica and C. sasanqua are grown for showy spring or winter flowers and are not suitable for tea brewing, tea camellias are bred for flavorful foliage and bloom is discouraged. Due to its enormous popularity, the tea shrub, Camellia sinensis, has thousands of regional and selected forms of varying size, vigor, and leaf-shape, each with its own distinctive flavor. Tea camellias prefer mild, moist climates and thrive in Zone 8-9, though some are hardy in zones 6-10 and a few need winter protection in colder climates. Tea shrubs are pruned in winter to maintain size and shape, and harvested through the summer months. Frequent leaf “plucking” in summer keeps tea camellias bushy and productive; on tea plantations, tea plants are continually shaped and harvested and flowering is prevented, as it diverts energy from foliage production.

Keeping Tea Plants Happy

One of my new plant pals is a miniature tea shrub called Brew-Tea-Ful that remains just over a foot tall, perfect for containers and small gardens. Another is a slender-leaved Taiwanese form that tolerates shade and is used to make Formosa Oolong tea. Large or small, tea camellias prefer even soil moisture and very good drainage, so plant in berms where soil is heavy. Fertilize lightly in summer and mulch with mature compost to boost natural flavors. Treat any insect issues with soapy water or Neem oil; never use toxic pesticides on tea camellias, as the residues will contaminate the tea(!). Winter pruning keeps tea shrubs bushy and compact, with many new shoots for frequent summer plucking.

Harvesting tea involves removing removing one or two of the top leaves and/or the top bud from each shoot. New shoots will form from tiny buds in the leafy “armpits”, providing several flushes of new growth each year. Tea leaves are harvested in the morning, then washed, dried and withered until supple. For white and green teas, dried leaves are steamed over simmering water for up to 1 minute or dry-roasted in a heavy skillet for about 2 minutes. Finally, the leaves are spread in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and baked at 250 degrees F. for 20 minutes to dry completely and prevent molding. Black teas are dried, then crushed or rolled until they turn coppery to promote fermentation, then dried again for up to 3 days before the final baking.

Dried jasmine flowers lend sweetness to teas or coffee leaf brews

Coffee Leaf Teas

Arabica coffee is an understory plant that prefers warm, shady, humid places. Topping out at about 6 feet, coffee can be treated as a large houseplant or grown outside in summer and overwintered indoors. Indoors or outside, coffee plants prefer bright, indirect light and need shade from direct sun. Coffee leaf tea is my new afternoon favorite, refreshing and mildly sweet, without the bitterness of brewed coffee no matter how long it’s steeped. Coffee leaf tea has about half the caffeine black tea, and blends deliciously with cinnamon and cardamom pods, or rose petals or jasmine blossoms. After coffee leaves are picked, washed, and dried on screens or racks, they are lightly toasted in a dry skillet, then oven-roasted at 200 degrees F. for 20 minutes to dry completely. Coffee leaf tea is made by steeping the dried leaves in hot water to taste. I keep mine going for hours, refreshing the hot water now and then, and it always tastes lovely.

Yaupon & Yerba Mate

These holly relatives have been used as traditional teas and tonics since time immemorial. Native throughout the Southern US, Yaupon has dainty, toothed leaves with a warm, earthy flavor similar to a robust green tea. Naturally caffeinated, the tea falls between coffee and black tea in caffeine levels, and also offers theobromine, a natural anti-anxiety chemical also found in chocolate. Yaupon thrives in USDA zones 7b-9, tolerating many soils types and conditions from part sun to shade. Naturally shapely, it takes pruning well and needs no fertilizer other than an annual compost mulch, which boosts flavor. Without pruning, it may reach 10 – 20 feet tall and 8-12 feet wide, but takes heavy winter pruning well. Yaupon tea is made by steeping the dried leaves in boiling water for 3-5 minutes.

Yerba Mate is a South American holly relative that needs a warm, humid climate and in areas with seasonal temperature swings, is best grown indoors or at least overwintered inside. It’s a tree, so winter pruning is required to keep it from getting sky-high. The slender leaves can be harvested for tea year round, and offer a bracing, moderately caffeinated brew (less than coffee, more than black tea). Dry-roast Yerba Mate foliage in a skillet for 1-3 minutes, depending on the depth of flavor preferred. Once roasted, the leaves are crushed, spread in a rimmed baking sheet and baked at 225 degrees F. for 20 minutes. Once dried and cooled, Yerba Mate may be crushed further with a rolling pin, then brewed by steeping in hot (not boiling) water for 3-5 minutes.

Onward, right?

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