January, 2002
Since 1990, Living Acres has been simmering in controversy over organic standards, and our use of phosphate in the manures when we begin the active composting. The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) finally rejected ourpetition to ammend the National List in their October 2001 meeting. You can read the minutes at the USDA website under "nop", then look for the NOSB meetings and information. Suffice it to say that our products for certified organic growers are now limited to two: SeaPlus and NP Mix.
These products meet the National Standards for "USDA ORGANIC" certified growers, as well as MOFGA and NOFA standards and are available now.
SEAPLUS is a blend of soluble fish with liquid seaweed, and is used much the same way. It has a guaranteed minimum analysis of 3-2-2 (N-P-K), and gives a nutrient kick to add to liquid seaweed's plant growth hormones. Because the fish in SEAPLUS is heat processed, the proteins are partially broken down, making most of the nitrogen immediately available. This allows for rapid, even overnight, recovery of plants suffering from nutrient deficiencies, with low application rates. If fish odor is a problem, or if plants are already well-fed, or if your goal is to boost frost tolerance or to suppress disease, then SEACURE would be a better choice. But when the plants are growing fast and hungry (teen-aged?), SEAPLUS gives a complementary boost like no other.
NP MIX is our latest introduction, and was very well received by nearly all who grew trials with it. It is similar to our LIGHT MIX in all but two ways: NP stands for "no phosphate" in the compost used as a plant food ingredient. The down side to not adding phosphate to the compost is that the loss of both nitrogen and carbon were significantly higher, resulting in the need for a nitrogenous addititve. We add blood meal for this, and the result is actually better nitrogen feeding for seedling with a similar content in the mix. Phosporous levels are lower, but not so as to affect even sensitive crops.