Cultivating Passion

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I don't even have any ripe tomatoes yet but I've already salted them. A friend of mine, John Langlois of Foggy Bottom Farms (www.foggybottomfarms.com) turned me on to a new, all natural product that is derived from the sea. Actually, it's not salt as we think of it, but is a concentration of over 90 essential trace mineral that comes from naturally dehydrated sea water. At first, I was highly skeptical and concerned about damaging my soil and my plants. The word 'salt' just kept sticking in my mind. But John is a progressive organic farmer with a talent for findiing unusual yet outstanding products. Since this bright guy had ordered 500 lbs of it for his garden, I decided to try it, too. So far, I'm pleased to report that things are going quite well.

After the initial application was tilled into the soil, I kept waiting to see a big boost in growth. But that didn't happen. Instead, gradually over the past 5 weeks the tomato plants have gotten larger, more stout that normal and without a trace of disease. The same for the beans, eggplant, squash and cucumbers. The early harvest of squash and cucumbers even tasted better than usual, offering a slightly richer flavor. Diluted applications in the form of a foliar spray which I am applying every two weeks seem to really help keep the diseases under control - something that is quite an accomplishment here is the very humid South. It's even held back the notorious black spot on most of the roses. Of course, to keep the vegetables and flowers in top shape it has still necessary to keep up with regular applications of organic pest controls, too.

I'll keep you posted on this experiment as the season progresses. In the meantime, if you are curious you can check out www.SeaAgri.com. They aren't paying me to endorse their product. I just believe in passing on a good thing to other gardeners when I find it. Afterall, good goes around.