Jose, Willie, and Papa Jose at City Hall

We had free breakfast at City Hall with fellow bike commuters, and even caught notice of Ricardo at the Statesman:

Jeremy, strategically positioned to completely block Papa from the camera, and waving like a jackass in an obvious and successful attempt to steal the spotlight and to blur out Willie and Jose. What a hero.

Thanks to Ricardo for not capturing the spill I took hitting a concrete post while waving to a tree.

Check out the Fall 2010 issue of Edible Austin, on the streets now.  The Johnsons own a 70-acre organic farm in East Austin, and are living the dream, or living in hell, depending on your perspective.  But I suppose like many of us, both are appropriate descriptors for most days…

Jose Sr., Lance Armstrong's Stunt Double, Roberto, Some Little Kid, and Rich (photo by Mike Martinez)

Last Friday, part of the BG crew celebrated National Bike to Work Day by strapping an electric weedeater, propane blower, weed bags, and hand tools to our backs and riding to perform our weekly landscaping duties at Austin City Hall.  With some bikes borrowed from the best bike team in town, we enjoyed free breakfast tacos and pastries at the City Hall tent set up that morning exclusively for bicycle commuters, and wrapped up the day as Grupo Fantasma took the stage during the weekly Live From the Plaza event.  As the interviewing reporter from KLBJ so cleverly observed while fishing for the perfect sound-byte, our “green thumbs were a little greener” that day.

First, build organic matter in soil.   Most folks agree that soils need to have at least 3% organic content to sustain a balanced microbial population, but no higher than 10-15%.  Most disturbed soils in Austin have about 1% organic content.  We rely on soil tests to determine actual organic content for a specific landscape, and slowly apply compost (by topdressing) to get above 3%.  Not all composts are created equal, and different products present trade-offs among price, safety, microbial diversity and viability, and amount of humus, which is the end product of a completely finished product.  Everyone has their own opinion on the best compost, so I try to lay out the options, pros, and cons, and let the end user decide which is best for them.

Second, we consider the soil structure.  Ideal soil is porous, has a nice balance of drainage and water-holding capacity, and has a balanced set of nutrients in a form that makes it easy for plants to absorb them.  Most disturbed soils in Austin are compacted, have higher than ideal clay or rock content, and have nutrient imbalances.  Adding finished compost to soils introduces humus, which binds to clay particles to create crumbles and helps release nutrients that were otherwise tied up in the sticky clays.  In some cases, aeration combined with a compost application is a good first step in improving soil structure.  Proper mowing, irrigation, organic fertilizer application, and thoughtful use of the landscape all help avoid compaction and other soil structure issues.  A soil test can help create a customized soil amendment program, though topdressing with compost 1-2 times per year is usually not a bad general approach.

Then, once organic material is built up to at least 3%, and soil structure and nutrient balances are addressed, we can start building microbes.  The best way to do this is through compost teas.  Compost teas have exceptionally high concentrations of microbes, are relatively inexpensive, and easy to apply.  Most of our tea is purchased by an Austin-based company called Microbial Earth, though Natural Gardener and GeoGrowers also provide teas.

Because compost teas are basically little critter soups, timing is critical.  Although it doesn’t hurt to apply teas in winter and summer, the microbes will be mostly dormant during Austin weather extremes, so spring and fall are ideal application times.  Now is an ideal time to kick off a new season of compost tea applications.

Retail price for a gallon of tea is about $5-8, which can be applied using a simple 1- or 2-gallon pump sprayer.  1 gallon of tea covers about 5,000 square feet, slightly larger than the typical Austin yard.  You might consider a “drench” in early spring and again in late fall, which calls for 3-5 gallons of tea at a time, then follow up with a regular 1-gallon application every month through fall.  Our rates to apply the tea for you is about $35-40, in addition to the cost of the tea.

The interviews were so inspiring, we made some changes to the way we approach landscape maintenance.  As we get deeper into the meaning of organic, we are placing much more emphasis on soil and the entire system and spending less time just blindly dumping organic products all over the place. 

Check out the Fall issue!

Our own design and installation (Austin Eco-Scape) is featured on the year’s tour at 2307 McCullough, a home designed by Earl Swisher, AIA of The Lawrence Group. This project represents our infant stage of truly native landscaping; we hope the next one like it blurs, no…ERASES the line between man-made and nature-made!

Mowing lawns is not, conventionally, an environmentally friendly activity. One hour of tending the lawn with a gas-powered mower produces as much pollution as driving your car for four hours, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

But a few Austin companies are now trying to make quick lawn mowing the next frontier in the green movement. With solar panels mounted to their trucks to recharge their electric equipment, they are reducing smog one blade of grass at a time. They buy wind energy to offset carbon emissions (when the electric equipment needs to be plugged in to a conventional socket, coal is being burned), and some power their vehicles with biodiesel.

“It does sound a little hokey, but our mission as an organization is to change how America mows its lawn,” said Shawn Gaide, manager of the Austin office of Clean Air Lawn Care. The company, based in Colorado, opened for business here about five months ago.

Then there’s Clean Green Lawn Care, with the slogan “We Mow Your Grass Without Gas.”
The Austin company typically charges more than conventional lawn-care companies; its rates start at $40.

“Some people say, ‘I can get my yard done for $25.’ But our machinery is very quiet, and if they don’t have to inhale the purple smoke, they like that,” said Matt Gatewood, co-owner of the company, which has been in business nearly four months.

Electrical lawn mowers are “not widespread, certainly not in the professional ranks,” said James McNew, a spokesman with Outdoor Power Equipment Institute, a group that lobbies for manufacturers of lawn equipment.

“There’s no professional-grade electric product on the market,” McNew said. “Most electric products are geared toward small lot-sized homeowners.”

BioGardener, an Austin lawn care service run by Jeremy Walther, uses electrical and propane-powered equipment. BioGardener has contracts with Austin Energy to do landscaping at five of its facilities as part of a city effort to reduce air emissions citywide. The company also has about 40 residential customers.

“If we had 90 percent of lawn care companies in Austin using alternative fuels, even 50 percent, I think you’d start to see some measurable improvements in Austin’s air quality,” Walther said.

The best thing Texans interested in cleaning up their air can do is use lawn mowers whose only fuel is sweat, according to the Texas environmental commission, which endorses the old-fashioned push mower.

“An unpowered push mower operates pollution free, allows you to mow quietly in the cool of the early morning and gives you some exercise all at the same time,” according to the agency’s Web site.

Push mowers are available at Eco-Wise, in South Austin, for about $140 each, said Amy Holland, who co-owns the store.

And there’s always sheep. “They do natural fertilization as well,” Holland said.

asherprice@statesman.com; 445-3643