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#PASA2024, Sessions

Writer's picture: Ben MearnsBen Mearns


Sessions I attended at PASA 2024:

  • No-Sweat Marketing: Create a Realistic & Effective Plan Today / Plants as medicine*

  • High Tunnel Systems for Diversified Crop Production / How Specialty Tree Crops Can Help Restore Mutualism With Forests*

  • Winter Market Gardening: Advanced Session

  • Harvesting Techniques for Small to Medium-Scale Vegetable Farms

  • Cover Crops & the Soil Food Web: Building Soil Through Biology

  • Seeds: Optimizing your systems

  • Compost Tea: Brew and Use Liquid Compost Amendments With Confidence

  • Poultry-Centered Regenerative Agriculture Systems Design & Deployment

  • * indicates two or more sessions attended same time-slot


I've added my unformatted and unfiltered notes below -- I hope to have time to clean it up so it's more legible.

A few of my favorite images from sessions:


Harvesting Techniques for Small to Medium-Scale Vegetable Farms

paint markers for tub ID

SOP for frequently picked

dunk tanks with bubblers for lettuce heads

lettuce varieties for season

Spring: red butter, alkidus,

winter: adriana

summer: monte carlo mini?

individual nail bags for each worker

harvesting with sharp knives


Winter Market Gardening: Advanced Session

start seeds in bigger containers during the winter

more space between rows (on 30” beds 10 row to 6 row, 12” aisles), no ground visible on mature crops .. double rate within row fewer rows

2x irrigation per week for 20 min, no irrigation nov-jan 8” emitter spacing

fert – feather meal works for quick uptake, side dress and water in

tubes blowing air close to crops helps with fungal disease

sulfur – powdery mildew

planting healthy, very mature plants helps with disease

freeze greenhouse over coldest part of winter 2-3 weeks

heating tubes in isles for heating

aerothermal energy, pits and pipes in ground


good crops

salad mixes without lettuce – sorrel, spinach, kale, etc.

green onion does not grow in fall/can plant in february

celery – cut per stalk

tokyo bekana – direct seed

komatsuna

senposai – vegetable rolls for chefs

chrysanthemum – different than flower -- greens for ramen



Cover Crops & the Soil Food Web: Building Soil Through Biology

soil food web:

Different crop families in mix, different root structures

Soil structure/porosity

C/N > for fungal, less is bacterial

Soil biology which supports forests has ~same bacterial count, but greater # fungal

Weeds are pioneer species which thrive on disturbed soils

Improve soil structure by improving biology

Cover crop after disturbance

ask about power harrow



compost tea

  • tea vs. extract

  • tea: brew time, less diversity bacteria, more protozoa, immediate use (24/48hr), foliar/spray

  • extract: no foods added, no brew time, for soil application, better for drip (tea too sti, better diversity

  • materials

  • aquarium pump (thrift shop) – or commercial air pump (“6 outlet blower”) for 50 liter/hr per gallon brewed (so 2500 liter hour?)

  • fork for weight – uses pvc thing he built to hold hose in place (air needs to travel up column)

  • 3-5 gal bucket (frosting bucket?) – or 50 gal food grade barrel – or conical brewer

  • brew bag – paint strainer bag – brew bag from earthfort for larger containers

  • water at ambient tempurature of plants being fertilized

  • if chlorine: off-gas 24-48hr (or 12 with air pump) – humic acid binds chlorine

  • Bacterial foods: molasses for example (tspn for 5 gal, 3 tblspoon 50 gal)

  • Fungal foods: humic acid, fish hydrolosate – or kelp (needs to be fresh?), feather meal

  • Handful of straw for protozoa (waded up golf ball size) for last 6 to 12 hr

  • compost: vermi 1 cup, regular 3/5 cups for 5 gal bucket

  • brewing

  • tea Brew times: if 40-65 dgf: 72hr, 66-80: 48, 81-90: 24, 90+: 12



forest pastured poultry


6 grain mix .. much higher protein when grown on chicken field

germinated in enriched water?


Sunflowers, corn, sudangrass all work to create canopy



  • Seeds: Optimizing your systems: pellets often fail to germinate because of watering techniques, your seed rep (and sales rep in general) if you are having problems (as with germination)



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