The short version: We have active worm castings tea for sale every Friday and Saturday at the farm. Applying it now will help your trees and plants prepare themselves for winter and ward off disease, pests, and pathogens.
We sell it by the gallon ($9 a gallon, $1 off if you bring your own container) and you can spray it on using a hose end sprayer (like in the video) or mix it with water and use your watering can to water soil and foliage.
My soil nerd version: Scientists have demonstrated that bacteria establish complex, compositionally consistent communities on healthy leaves. Since the leaf surface is an oligotrophic environment (just means its kind of a "food desert" so bacteria have to compete to be able to survive), species interactions (such as competition and cooperation) may be major contributors to shape community structure. In simple English, this means the good bacteria and bad bacteria fight over food and space. Healthy bacteria will almost always win - so we want lots of healthy bacteria on our leaves. They won't necessarily come naturally - so we add them in the form of Worm Casting Tea. Once they are present, they will win the battles and tend to survive.
Furthermore, the plants' immune systems will help our good bacteria build healthy microbial community composition, as plant cells respond to bacterial molecules and shape their responses according to the mixture of molecules present. Again in simple English: the plants talk to the microbes and help the good one and ignore the bad ones! Scientists think the "tunability" of the plant immune network lets the plant hosts differentiate between pathogenic and non-pathogenic colonisers, avoiding costly immune responses to non-pathogenic colonisers.
Tea add microbes that will live for months or years and help your plants prepare for winter, bugs, and disease.
Making Compost!
We are making compost like crazy. See that giant empty area behind? We have sold thousands of yards of compost this Fall. Unfortunately, we need to limit bulk compost sales until our next giant batch fully cures (around February 2025). All the rest of our products, including Raised Bed Mix, are available.
With lows in the 70s we are happy to announce it is officially ARIZONA WORM SEASON!!! 🎉🪱🥰 Starting your worm bin for the first time? Here are our set up tips and d everything you should know about getting started with worms in your garden 🥰 #arizona #worms #az #phoenix #phx #supportlocal #supportsmallbusiness #gardening #sustainability #compost
Our team works hard to make sure our shelves are stocked with quality product, but there’s nothing quite like hearing directly from customers! Have you tried our BSFL Nutrient Plus? We’d love to hear from you about your experience! Share in the comments, message us directly or leave us a review! #arizona #shoplocal #smallbusiness #agriculture #phoenix #gardening
It’s never too late to help your plants out in this heat with vermicompost tea! 🪱🫖 Come visit us at the farm and get a gallon for $9 ($1 off if you bring your own container!) or schedule a mobile tea spray service on our website (link in bio) and let us come to you and spread some of our magic in your garden! 🪄😎 🪱💚 #phoenix #arizona #gardening #desertgardening #compost #worms #gardentips
If you don’t have timed irrigation and still hand water your trees and plants, here are some tips for you for this week’s Holy Heck It’s Hot Outside (but we’re still gardening anyway) video! 🌞💦💚#phoenix #arizona #gardening #watering #desertgardening #summer
If you’ve ever been in our Tomato Hot House: What month was it and what was growing?! 🍅 The design for this desert greenhouse was very purposeful — and good people at Ceres Greenhouse Solutions helped to make it a reality! Watch to learn more about how we are able to extend our growing season by utilizing underground tubing and a giant wet wall. It’s a favorite spot on the farm for many people who visit and we are lucky to have an amazing gardening team do such a great job taking care of it! 💚➡️ Visit Ceres Greenhouse Solutions if you’re looking to get a greenhouse designed! 😎 #phoenix #arizona #greenhouse #gardening #sustainability #gardendesign #geothermal #phx #foodsystems #science
Raise your hand if your plants have been personally victimized by you forgetting to water them in the summer 🙋🏻♀️😂☠️ Seriously though, we don’t blame you. Even just one missed watering can hurt your plants in this kind of heat. Luckily, a timer & drip irrigation can make it so that you NEVER forget to water your plants again! Especially in the summer when it’s a deadly mistake. ☠️ Your garden will thank you… and you will thank yourself for taking the time to set your garden up for success to beat this heat! 🤗 Be sure to watch the full video for all of our pointers - including a reminder to monitor your irrigation system after you set it up. And stay tuned for next week’s tip! #phoenix #arizona #desertgardening #heatwave #gardening #gardentips #irrigation
Mulch is absolutely essential to keeping your garden cool during the summer heat. We can’t emphasize this enough! ➡️ That’s why our mulch is on sale — 50% off — through the end of June. 😎 Come visit us! We are open Tuesdays - Fridays 7am-2pm and Saturdays 7am-12pm. We want your gardens to survive this heat. Stay tuned for more tips from Daniel about how we keep our gardens cool during Arizona summers and learn how you can, too. #phoenix #arizona #mulch #garden #gardening #desertgardening #phx #az #summer
If you started watching this video thinking it would be an informative “how to pickle a cucumber” video… we’re sorry for the bad dad joke instead 😂 But, you can still come to our Pickling Class this Saturday bright and early at 7AM (to beat the heat!) if you want to learn how to turn your home grown cucumbers into delicious PICKLES! 😜🥒 Be sure to get your tickets before it sells out! #badjokes #dadjokes #phoenix #arizona #gardening #classes #events #local #localphx #homestead #desertgardening RSVP: https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule/038c2ee8/?appointmentTypeIds%5B%5D=59302451
The Three Sisters Garden is a traditional agricultural cultivation method used by the Akimel O’odham and indigenous tribes throughout the country. The concept involves planting corn, beans, and squash, all together, because they complement one another in their own way! 💞 🌽 As the corn provides a sturdy stalk for the beans to climb, the beans fix nitrogen in the soil, benefiting the corn and squash, while the squash’s broad leaves shade the ground, conserving moisture during the blistering summer months. ➡️ Incorporating this method in your garden not only promotes water conservation but also offers a natural solution to summer gardening challenges during the hot months. We use this method in our gardens especially to help beat the heat, and we certainly encourage others to try as well. Come stop by in the morning if you want to see these gardening methods in practice or ask us questions! 🌞#gardening #phoenix #arizona #summergarden #heat #heatwave #desertgarden #threesisters #indigenous #indigenousgratitude
Yes, plants need sun… but the summer sun in Arizona can (and will) scorch your plants! 🥵 Shade cloths are a great way to let some light in so your plants can still photosynthesize, while protecting them from the INTENSITY that comes with the desert sun during these hot months! So, say goodbye to crispy leaves this season 😂 We recommend 50% light filtration, and we use them in all our gardens. Plus, a shade cloth will help keep YOU cool while you’re out admiring your garden that is surviving these hot months thanks to our tips 😎 #phoenix #arizona #summergardening #desertgardening #gardening #summer #hot #gardentips
