BHU

Research and Extentions

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Alternative Crops

Fathen and Relatives - article on fathen (the weed) and its relatives

Fusion Vegetables - article on Asian vegetables

Golden Linseed Trial - BHU trial on Winter Linseed contact www.functionalwholefoods.co.nz for information on being a linseed or winter linseed crop.

Linseed Stripper Simulation - BHU trial looking at the use of a stripper front on harvesting linseed (brown and golden varieties). The technique allows harvesting before loss from birds. Trial simulates the stripper front by hand. Contact www.functionalwholefoods.co.nz for information on being a linseed or winter linseed crop.

Annual Reports

Here you can access the BHU Annual Reports including coverage of much of the research activity. The first annual report is to the end of March 2003.

BHU Annual Report March 2003 MS Word 476kb

The second (half year) report is to the end of August 2003

BHU half year Report August 2003 MS Word 73kb

Subsequent reports will come out for July of each year.

BHU Annual Report July 2004 MS Word 549kb

NOTE INDIVIDUAL EXPERIMENTS AND INFO DOCUMENTS ARE PRESENTED SEPARATELY ALSO ON THIS WEBSITE

Biodiversity

Corn, Bean Squash - BHU experiment on corn, bean and squash intercropping

Multipurpose Shelterbelts - article

The Role of New Zealand Native Plants - short article on use of NZ natives in agricultural systems.

Composting

[Also see the Soil section in BHU information pages for experiments and articles related to composting]

Below is a table of C:N ratios and other relevant data for working out desirable mixtures of compost material. Composting is very forgiving and sawdust by itself eventually rots after several years and lawn clippings by themselves although causing smell and fly problems will turn into first something a bit like very poor silage and eventually humus. Of course we want to have something in between.

Too much nitrogen leads to potential anaerobic (lack of oxygen) conditions, odour problems and loss of nitrogen.

Too little nitrogen causes a slower than needed process and can mean insufficient heat to kill weeds and weed seeds and to control plant diseases.

Too much compacted material such as grass clippings can cause anaerobic conditions and odour problems.

Too loose a compost may slow the composting and mean insufficient heat. This can be overcome to some extent by compacting the material while building the heap.

Use the table below to help balance out ingredients for your compost heap. For an efficient heap the aim is for an overall C:N ratio of 25 to 30 (30 is the balance that most microorganisms have between carbon for energy and nitrogen for protein - 25 makes for a better functioning heap). To work out the combined C:N ratio, use the average of the C:N ratios e.g. 5 parts dairy manure to 1 part wheat straw = (13 X 5 + 125)/6 = 32 which is close to ideal. REMEMBER C:N RATIOS ARE BY WEIGHT SO THE PARTS ARE BY WEIGHT - TO CONVERT TO VOLUME MEASURE SOME OUT OR USE THE ROUGH GUIDES BELOW.

NO NEED TO BE EXACT, BELOW ARE JUST ROUGH GUIDES AND COMPOSTING IS FORGIVING (though commercial compost needs to be a bit more fastidious)

Material	C:N Ratio weight/weight	N% fresh	Bulk Density (kg/m3)	Moisture Content (%)
Apple Pulp	12	2.0	3000	65%
Corn Cobs	60 to 130	0.5	1200	12%
Maize/Corn Stalks	70	0.6	70	12%
Fruit Waste	40	0.2	3000	85%
Blood Meal	3.5	10	large range	large range
Fish processig sludge	5.3	3.5	large range	95%
Abattoir Waste	3	5	large range	large range
Paunch	25	1.0	3000	85%
Chicken Manure - broilers	14	2.0	2800	30%
Chicken Manure - laying	6	5.8	3000	40%
Chicken Litter (laying)	10	2.5	2500	30%
Horse Manure	30	1.0	2800	70%
Dairy Manure	13	1.8	3000	85%
Sheep Manure	16	1.4	2800	70%
Pig Manure	14	1.8	3000	80%
Kitchen Waste	15	2	3000	70%
Vegetable Scraps	20	2.7	3000	85%
Maize Silage	40	1.0	3000	65%
Hay	25	1.8	400	10%
Lucerne or Clover hay	16	2.2	400	10%
Straw - Oat	80	0.8	300	10%
Straw - Wheat	125	0.3	300	10%
Sawdust	450	0.08	500	15%
Weeds	20	0.3	4000	85%
Lawn Clippings (avoid herbicide treated)	20	0.3	5000	85%
Leaves	60	0.4	3000	40%

Conversion

Conversion Planning - article on planning for conversion of a farm to organic agriculture

Cover Crops

Cover Crops General - article on cover crops

Cover Crops Introduction

Cover Crops More Details

Green Manures, Leys, Understorey Crops and Mulches - article

Visiting Speaker Ed Beste - notes from his 2003 talk at Lincoln University

Crop Protocols

The following crop protocols (doc format) summarise basic agronomic, organic production guidelines and provide examples of 'best organic practice' for a range of crops.

Effluent Management

Dairy Effluent Experiment - using Effective Microorganisms in conjunction with HortResearch

Farm Design

Substitutive vs System Approach - article on the difference between designing a system and coming in with a rescue and the role of pragmatism

Shelterbelt Design - article

General BHU

Sir Peter Elworthy - Article on Peter the past chairperson of the BHU Organics Trust obituary written by Tim Jenkins

Biological Agriculture - Article on the relatively new to New Zealand move towards Biological Farming

Letter for Support of the BHU - have you considered supporting the BHU?

Tree Crops Field Day - Article from when the Tree Crops Association visited the BHU

Growing Calendar

Small Growers Calendar - calendar showing sowing/harvesting dates for crops for small-scale market gardening
Market Gardening Calendar - detailed notes relating to the Small Growers Calendar
Small Growers Calendar July/August - a two-monthly guide to intensive market gardening.
Small Growers Calendar September/October - a two-monthly guide to intensive market gardening.
Small Growers Calendar November/December - a two-monthly guide to intensive market gardening.
Small Growers Calendar January/February - a two-monthly guide to intensive market gardening.
Small Growers Calendar March/April - a two-monthly guide to intensive market gardening.
Small Growers Calendar May/June - a two-monthly guide to intensive market gardening.