Raw Milk, Healthy Plants

 Spring has almost sprung, or at least it seems that way. Phil didn't see his shadow on Feb. 1st so that means an early spring is predicted. We'll see. But early spring or not, seeing seed packets in stores is so exciting! Spring IS almost here regardless of Phil's prediction.

I just had one of those "ah-ha" moments that I have to share. A long time ago when Rich and I were at our Dayton House in western PA, we went to an Amish bent-n-dent store. Back then there were quite a few of those stores around but we liked one in particular. And honestly, I couldn't even tell you how to get there from our house because Rich always drove. But I remember to get there we had to go up a curvy dirt road before reaching the top of a beautiful plateau of land where the store was!

One day as we pulled up to the store which was located on a farm, we saw the farmer. We've always loved talking to the Amish because we're intrigued with their way of life and back then getting to know them was a bit new for us. We said hello and then we engaged him in quite the conversation. Talking to an Amish farmer was a big deal to me because of my love for organic gardening. And lo and behold, he believed in farming without synthetic and harsh pesticides, too! In fact, during our conversation about Organic farming, Growing Organic, Eating Organic, this farmer revealed something to us that we had never heard before - that healthy plants do not need pesticides! He went on to say that because his crops are healthy, bugs and pests aren't attracted to them. It's only the weak and unhealthy plants that get attacked. What a revelation that was to us. It makes total sense because it's the same when it comes to people and pets. People and pets who are healthy and have a strong immune system are less likely to get sick and diseased. They don't need drugs and surgery to make them well because they're already healthy. The immune system will defend and kill off any germ or antigen that poses a threat. We had never thought about plants that way before so we had to let that sink in. We could have stood there for hours talking to this farmer but we didn't want to take up too much of his time, though we suspected that he enjoyed and appreciated the conversation just as much as we did.

So...let me sum this up. Like healthy people and pets don't need drugs and surgery, healthy plants don't need pesticides, herbicides, fungicides or any kind of "cides." What is amazing though is that bugs and pests aren't attracted to healthy plants! This, however, doesn't stop animals like deer, birds, squirrels, etc. from eating the plants, and no doubt they'd prefer healthy plants in their diet. To prevent your garden jewels from being eaten, you may need to enclose or use a net to secure your garden.

The Amish farmer told us his secret to growing healthy crops...RAW MILK! He said he uses a ratio of 50% water and 50% raw milk to water the plants. But he doesn't spray the plants. He waters the ground the plants are growing in making sure to water the roots.

I just found this article that confirms his findings. What's interesting is that the farmer didn't need "science" to figure this out and he didn't need the government's governance on this. We don't know how he figured this out. Maybe it was a practice handed down to him. The fact remains though. It works, he said and we believe him.

So guess what we're going to do in our Organic garden this year? You guessed it! We're going to water our garden soil with a 50/50 solution of raw milk and filtered water every 2 weeks (that's how often it's recommended). In fact, they say that sour milk works, too, and I have some of that in my freezer hoping one day I'll have a little time to soak my feet in it (for an excellent foot soak, add 5 cups hot water to 2 cups raw milk/sour raw milk and soak your feet until the water cools down). Look it up. Maybe your feet, like mine, need some spa time!

Garden Photo by Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash - Thank you, Jonathan!