Hi Ryan-

Wow- you had a lot of info! That's pretty much what I wanted to know,
except its too bad (for me) that he's focused mainly on animals.
He'd probably grab a lot of followers if he were promoting brix too. I
bet he has some happy animals though.

Thank you!

JodyT


On Nov 20, 2009, at 11:53 AM, Ryan Platte wrote:

> OK, Joel Salatin. I visited his farm last July and was impressed. He's
> certainly not specifically a high-brix guy, but he constantly works on
> improving his farm and definitely has nutrient content on his map.
> Whether people here agree with all of his techniques and statements or
> not, he does share the important goal of nutrient-dense food for
> everyone.
>
> Also something to remember about Salatin is that when you're working
> with livestock you can use cafeteria-style feeding to get very
> immediate observations about what feed animals crave. And with
> pastured livestock you can put whatever's deficient in the pasture
> into the feed, and some of it will be in the manure, improving the
> pasture. So effective inputs may look different for him than for a
> veggie grower. He's dabbled in veggies but now focuses on raising
> pastured animals.
>
> He tastes his pasture grass as a gauge of quality. He certainly knows
> that the better quality pasture he gets, the less the cows need to eat
> well. He did mention brix as a measurement of nutrient content -- I
> don't have my notes in front of me to get more specific than that, but
> I know that much.
>
> He sees weeds as beneficial for improving pasture nutrition. When I
> visited he mentioned more than once that dandelions are great at
> pulling calcium up.
>
> In Pastured Poultry Profits he mentions trying several mineral
> supplements and finding a broad-spectrum one that his chickens loved.
> He said the pasture improved noticeably the next year from the
> improved manure. "It's like I'm being paid to remineralize my
> pasture."
>
> His book for consumers, "Holy Cows & Hog Heaven", does mention Reams
> along with Albrecht and biodynamics as schools of farmers that are
> oriented toward nutrition vs. more industrial farming. That section is
> dealing with how to know whether your farmer is working for your
> interests. Basically it sounds like he's saying "if your farmer pays
> attention to stuff from Acres USA he's at least trying."
>
> That quote you posted sounds exactly like things I've heard from him
> in person.
>
> Ryan Platte
> Bootstrap Acres, growing your lunch in Churchville, New York
> http://bootstrapacres.com/
>
> On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 8:16 PM, Jody Troupe <jodyt2@...> wrote:
> > Hi all-
> >
> > The message I copied below was just being passed around on the
> > permaculture group. I've seen Joel Salatin speak at an Acres USA
> > conference a few years ago and liked his message, but it was all
> > business. He's a very creative farmer and an entertaining speaker!
> > What I don't remember was him talking about high brix food. Does
> > anyone know if he is also a follower of Reams soil theory, or bases
> > his produce quality on brix levels? I'm just curious. I never see
> brix
> > mentioned on the permaculture group.
> >
> > This was supposedly a quote from him:
> > _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
> > _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
> >
> > *"Imagine what it would be if, as a national policy, the idea
> would be
> > to have such nutritionally dense food that people actually felt
> > better, had
> > more energy, and weren't sick as much.  Now see, that's a noble
> goal."
> >
> >   ~Joel Salatin*
> > _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
> > _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
> >
> >
> > The rest of the permaculture email is below this. I was wondering if
> > any of his books would actually reference high nutrition based on
> brix
> > levels, or Reams, etc.
> > JodyT
> >
> >
> >
> > *Full Color Flyer: www.quailsprings.org/CEC/JoelSalatinFlyer.pdf*
> >
> >
> >
> > Joel Salatin, fulltime family farmer of the highly successful
> Polyface
> > Farms, and recipient of the Heinz Award for Environmental
> Leadership,
> > is one of the world's leading advocates of farming and food
> > relocalization. Featured in Michael Pollan's book, Omnivore's
> Dilemma,
> > and in the films FRESH and FOOD, Inc., Joel Salatin and Polyface
> Farms
> > model successful grass farming and the farming and food
> relocalization
> > movement. Joel is the author of six books including Family Friendly
> > Farming, Salad Bar Beef, and his latest, Everything I Want To Do is
> > Illegal.
>
>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

If he tastes his grass, he's being his own refractometer. I seem to remember
that Rex said he can tell high brix food just by tasting it, since he knows
what it is supposed to taste like. Salatin is a wonderful example for the
country, which needs to put all it's animals back out on pasture for the
good of the farm and the environment, as well as the health of all those who
eat meat.

And for those who say we should all eat less meat or no meat you should read
the story of the dentist, Dr. Kelley, who cured himself of pancreatic cancer
with pancreatic enzymes and a mostly plant based diet, but then (quoting
from Dr. Gonzalez' website http://www.dr-gonzalez.com/crayhon.htm) "After
Kelley cured himself of cancer on a vegetarian diet, he assumed that it was
the perfect diet and that the whole world should be on it. He put his wife
on this diet to help with her allergies. Initially she did well. Then she
began to do worse and worse; He began to make the diet more strictly
vegetarian, eventually putting her on all raw fruits and vegetables with no
protein at all. She ended up in a near coma. He was confronted with the fact
that here he was the great nutrition doctor, and he almost killed his wife
with the wrong diet. He was going to have to call an ambulance and put her
in the hospital. He figured the only thing he hadn't done was put her on red
meat. Initially she refused, but he convinced her. He put some meat in the
blender, and fed it to her, and within an hour she was feeling better. She
has been eating red meat two to three times per day since. That's almost
twenty-five years ago. She has been in excellent health since." I just
touched on this in my blog http://mercyviewmeadow.blogspot.com/

Actually Aajonus Vonderplanitz has a similar story of his healing. So we do
need to be concerned about getting message out about the importance of high
quality (high brix) pasture for raising our animals. It seems to me I read
that foliar spraying of pasture can be very effective at raising brix levels
(and cost effective) and getting the minerals into a form that the animals
can utilize readily.

Kris

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ryan Platte" <ryan@...>


OK, Joel Salatin. I visited his farm last July and was impressed. He's
certainly not specifically a high-brix guy, but he constantly works on
improving his farm and definitely has nutrient content on his map.
Whether people here agree with all of his techniques and statements or
not, he does share the important goal of nutrient-dense food for
everyone.

Also something to remember about Salatin is that when you're working
with livestock you can use cafeteria-style feeding to get very
immediate observations about what feed animals crave. And with
pastured livestock you can put whatever's deficient in the pasture
into the feed, and some of it will be in the manure, improving the
pasture. So effective inputs may look different for him than for a
veggie grower. He's dabbled in veggies but now focuses on raising
pastured animals.

He tastes his pasture grass as a gauge of quality. He certainly knows
that the better quality pasture he gets, the less the cows need to eat
well. He did mention brix as a measurement of nutrient content -- I
don't have my notes in front of me to get more specific than that, but
I know that much.

He sees weeds as beneficial for improving pasture nutrition. When I
visited he mentioned more than once that dandelions are great at
pulling calcium up.

In Pastured Poultry Profits he mentions trying several mineral
supplements and finding a broad-spectrum one that his chickens loved.
He said the pasture improved noticeably the next year from the
improved manure. "It's like I'm being paid to remineralize my
pasture."

His book for consumers, "Holy Cows & Hog Heaven", does mention Reams
along with Albrecht and biodynamics as schools of farmers that are
oriented toward nutrition vs. more industrial farming. That section is
dealing with how to know whether your farmer is working for your
interests. Basically it sounds like he's saying "if your farmer pays
attention to stuff from Acres USA he's at least trying."

That quote you posted sounds exactly like things I've heard from him in
person.

Ryan Platte
Bootstrap Acres, growing your lunch in Churchville, New York
http://bootstrapacres.com/



On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 8:16 PM, Jody Troupe <jodyt2@...> wrote:
> Hi all-
>
> The message I copied below was just being passed around on the
> permaculture group. I've seen Joel Salatin speak at an Acres USA
> conference a few years ago and liked his message, but it was all
> business. He's a very creative farmer and an entertaining speaker!
> What I don't remember was him talking about high brix food. Does
> anyone know if he is also a follower of Reams soil theory, or bases
> his produce quality on brix levels? I'm just curious. I never see brix
> mentioned on the permaculture group.
>
> This was supposedly a quote from him:
> _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
> _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
>
> *"Imagine what it would be if, as a national policy, the idea would be
> to have such nutritionally dense food that people actually felt
> better, had
> more energy, and weren't sick as much. Now see, that's a noble goal."
>
> ~Joel Salatin*
> _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
> _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
>
>
> The rest of the permaculture email is below this. I was wondering if
> any of his books would actually reference high nutrition based on brix
> levels, or Reams, etc.
> JodyT
>
>
>
> *Full Color Flyer: www.quailsprings.org/CEC/JoelSalatinFlyer.pdf*
>
>
>
> Joel Salatin, fulltime family farmer of the highly successful Polyface
> Farms, and recipient of the Heinz Award for Environmental Leadership,
> is one of the world's leading advocates of farming and food
> relocalization. Featured in Michael Pollan's book, Omnivore's Dilemma,
> and in the films FRESH and FOOD, Inc., Joel Salatin and Polyface Farms
> model successful grass farming and the farming and food relocalization
> movement. Joel is the author of six books including Family Friendly
> Farming, Salad Bar Beef, and his latest, Everything I Want To Do is
> Illegal.

http://www.hbci.com/~cmills/PHOSPHATE%20Reams.html


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Soft rock phosphate raises brix. I was looking for phosphate history and
found this article on phosphate company towns. It may be of interest to a
few.

http://www1.fipr.state.fl.us/PhosphatePrimer/0/62F949AC9FF34E3185256F80007A7FAC

Company Towns

In the early days of phosphate mining in Florida (1880 to 1920), there were
a dozen or so major phosphate mining companies operating in the Bone Valley
region of Polk and Hillsborough counties. Most of these companies owned
villages, which provided housing for employees. The houses were one and two
stories, arranged for one and two families, with water, bathrooms, gardens,
fruit trees and other modern conveniences. There were village swimming
pools, company hotels and hospitals.

These phosphate villages were built simultaneously with mine washing and
drying equipment and other mine structures because the mines were isolated
and workers needed to live near their jobs. There were not enough houses for
all the workers so long waiting lists sometimes existed. Since the houses
were for employees only, workers had to move when they retired, according to
an article about living in company towns written by Freddie Wright in the
March 1981 edition of the *Polk County Historical Quarterly*newsletter.

“One former inhabitant described life in the village as ‘country club
living.’ There were morning coffees, afternoon card parties and neighborhood
barbeques. Everybody knew everyone else, even the names of all the children
and pets. Children walked to school, there were no locked doors. It was a
wonderful time for families with small children but more difficult for
teenagers who wanted more than the limited diversions of a company town,”
according to Wright.

Rent was very low and all services such as electricity, water and garbage
collection were provided for a nominal fee. In most communities it was the
responsibility of the tenants to improve and maintain their own yards, while
the companies kept up repairs and painting.

Mike Lloyd, Chemical Processing Research Director for the Florida Institute
of Phosphate Research and a collector of local lore, likes to tell the story
of the company manager’s early morning visits to the homes in a company
town. It is said that it was not unusual for the company manager to visit
homes announced early on a weekday morning and run a white glove through the
house, inspecting the quality of the housekeeping.

The towns began in the early 1900’s and reached a peak in the 1920’s.

Perhaps the earliest of these villages was at Tiger Bay near Fort Meade,
which was built by the Palmetto Phosphate Company. Probably the largest of
the company towns was Brewster with 163 company houses and a reported
population high of 2,500. The town of Nichols, built by the
Virginia-Carolina Chemical Company, consisted of about 120 houses and dates
to the 1920s. Other company installations included Pierce, built in 1906 by
the American Agricultural Chemical Company; Ridgewood, built by Davison
Chemical Company; a group of houses near Bartow built by Armour Fertilizer
Company; and a large number of homes near Mulberry, built by International
Minerals and Chemicals Company (IMC). IMC Phosphates in 2004 joined with
Cargill Crop Nutrition to become Mosaic, now the world’s largest producer of
phosphate rock and phosphate crop nutrients.

Company towns were an integral part of Polk County life until the mid 1930’s
when unions negotiated their first contracts with phosphate companies,
leading to the elimination of company commissaries and villages. The
villages did not completely phase out, however, the 1950’s when phosphate
mines expanded operations rapidly and men no longer worked near the
villages, according to Wright’s article. Families began to move to nearby
cities where there were more opportunities. As the need for company towns
waned, the companies sold the houses to workers at reasonable rates and
moved the homes to nearby communities.

Brewster was the last of the villages to close, according to Wright. In
1959, Arthur Crago, Mayor of Brewster for 15 years, wrote in the company
newspaper:

    “I am sure many people will witness the passing of the company town with
       regret. There is, however, one advantage that will occur to many people.
       They will have an opportunity to purchase a home at a very nominal figure
       and as time goes on, will realize that owning a home excels living in a
       company owned dwelling. Also when retirement age is reached, workers will
       not be faced with need to find a new home.”


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi

I have just found this group while searching for information. I have a question
I hope someone here can answer.

I make and sell an organic fertilizer, I use brix measuments as a way of
calculating application rates.   Nearly every day I am testing brix levels for
clients.  Nearly every second day I am buying new garlic presses.  I have lost
count of the number of presses I have broken trying to squeeze juice from the
likes of an olive tree.  There must be an easier way.

What methods do you guys use to extract fluid?

I suggest a mortar and pestle.

See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JynkcAAJpFk

For demonstration.

Jon
www.highbrixgardens.com


-----Original Message-----
From: BrixTalk@yahoogroups.com [mailto:BrixTalk@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of mickreilly59
Sent: Monday, November 23, 2009 11:08 PM
To: BrixTalk@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [BrixTalk] How to extract?

Hi

I have just found this group while searching for information. I have a
question I hope someone here can answer.

I make and sell an organic fertilizer, I use brix measuments as a way of
calculating application rates.   Nearly every day I am testing brix levels
for clients.  Nearly every second day I am buying new garlic presses.  I
have lost count of the number of presses I have broken trying to squeeze
juice from the likes of an olive tree.  There must be an easier way.

What methods do you guys use to extract fluid?



------------------------------------

This group operates in conjunction with RBTI@...! Groups
Links

Pampered Chef makes an excellent garlic press.    The place I bought my
refractometer said it was the best they had found.
www.pamperedchef.com



________________________________
From: mickreilly59 <mickreilly59@...>
To: BrixTalk@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Mon, November 23, 2009 11:08:05 PM
Subject: [BrixTalk] How to extract?


Hi

I have just found this group while searching for information. I have a question
I hope someone here can answer.

I make and sell an organic fertilizer, I use brix measuments as a way of
calculating application rates.   Nearly every day I am testing brix levels for
clients.  Nearly every second day I am buying new garlic presses.  I have lost
count of the number of presses I have broken trying to squeeze juice from the
likes of an olive tree.  There must be an easier way.

What methods do you guys use to extract fluid?







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> What methods do you guys use to extract fluid?

I have been reasonably happy with my modified vise grips from Pike Agri:

http://www.pikeagri.com/Product-search.html?keyword=vise+grip

Ron

To correctly measure brix, you need to be thinking of larger samples,
samples several times to get good information.  Personally I use this little
baby...
 
http://www.specmeters.com/Nutrient_Management/Hydraulic_Plant_Sap_Press.html

--- On Tue, 11/24/09, Jon C Frank <Jon.Frank@...> wrote:


From: Jon C Frank <Jon.Frank@...>
Subject: RE: [BrixTalk] How to extract?
To: BrixTalk@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tuesday, November 24, 2009, 11:55 AM


 



I suggest a mortar and pestle.

See http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=JynkcAAJpFk

For demonstration.

Jon
www.highbrixgardens .com

-----Original Message-----
From: BrixTalk@yahoogroup s.com [mailto:BrixTalk@yahoogroup s.com] On Behalf
Of mickreilly59
Sent: Monday, November 23, 2009 11:08 PM
To: BrixTalk@yahoogroup s.com
Subject: [BrixTalk] How to extract?

Hi

I have just found this group while searching for information. I have a
question I hope someone here can answer.

I make and sell an organic fertilizer, I use brix measuments as a way of
calculating application rates. Nearly every day I am testing brix levels
for clients. Nearly every second day I am buying new garlic presses. I
have lost count of the number of presses I have broken trying to squeeze
juice from the likes of an olive tree. There must be an easier way.

What methods do you guys use to extract fluid?

------------ --------- --------- ------

This group operates in conjunction with RBTI@yahoogroups. comYahoo! Groups
Links








[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

There are other methods that look like a lot more bother, but maybe you need
a better garlic press, and don't use your full strength. I broke my first
garlic, which was plastic, I think, but I've used the current metal one for
years. I'm not terribly strong, but if I can't get juice out of something,
there basically isn't much juice to be had. Chopping the leaves makes it
somewhat easier to get the juice out, and of course having enough of the
product.

Kris

----- Original Message -----
From: "mickreilly59" <mickreilly59@...>
> Hi
>
> I have just found this group while searching for information. I have a
question I hope someone here can answer.
>
> I make and sell an organic fertilizer, I use brix measuments as a way of
calculating application rates.   Nearly every day I am testing brix levels
for clients.  Nearly every second day I am buying new garlic presses.  I
have lost count of the number of presses I have broken trying to squeeze
juice from the likes of an olive tree.  There must be an easier way.
>
> What methods do you guys use to extract fluid?

I just red Michael Melendrez' article in the new Acres U.S.A. The Science of
Humus, and discovered something I hadn't realized related to improving soil so
as to get high brix. "The only precursors of humic acids are proteins." Hence
you can have compost with little humus and soils that are high in organic matter
but low in humus if you don't have the right conditions for supporting the
production of humus. That explains how I can have a pile of well composted horse
manure that is so pale and unproductive, while small amounts of humus or earth
worm castings can be so beneficial. He's in New Mexico (which has low rain high
pH conditions) and produces a product that is high in humus and the mycorrhizae
spores that produce the humus and serves the needs in the area because it makes
the soil much more water efficient. Using the small amounts of humic acids along
with the mycorrhizae as starter he sees large increases in the humic acid
content of the soil. I suspect this is one of the secrets to growing high brix
food. He has some interesting articles on soil and humus here:
http://www.soilsecrets.com/ssindex.swf
Peace,
Kris Johnson, gardening in harmony with nature in northwest Ohio
www.MercyViewMeadow.org




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hello Mike and others,

                                                It has been a thought of mine for
some long time that, forceful extractions of sap and colour of sap , could have
an effect of wrong readings on brix.

       (A)   If brix is a percentage reading, and dry conditions distort the
actual reading, does forceful extraction of sap have a similar effect as the dry
conditions?

       (B)   Brix is a refraction of light



From: BrixTalk@yahoogroups.com [mailto:BrixTalk@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
Mike Kraidy
Sent: Wednesday, 25 November 2009 4:31 AM
To: BrixTalk@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [BrixTalk] How to extract?





To correctly measure brix, you need to be thinking of larger samples, samples
several times to get good information.  Personally I use this little baby...

http://www.specmeters.com/Nutrient_Management/Hydraulic_Plant_Sap_Press.html

--- On Tue, 11/24/09, Jon C Frank <Jon.Frank@...
<mailto:Jon.Frank%40aglabs.com> > wrote:

From: Jon C Frank <Jon.Frank@... <mailto:Jon.Frank%40aglabs.com> >
Subject: RE: [BrixTalk] How to extract?
To: BrixTalk@yahoogroups.com <mailto:BrixTalk%40yahoogroups.com>
Date: Tuesday, November 24, 2009, 11:55 AM



I suggest a mortar and pestle.

See http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=JynkcAAJpFk

For demonstration.

Jon
www.highbrixgardens .com

-----Original Message-----
From: BrixTalk@yahoogroup s.com [mailto:BrixTalk@yahoogroup s.com] On Behalf
Of mickreilly59
Sent: Monday, November 23, 2009 11:08 PM
To: BrixTalk@yahoogroup s.com
Subject: [BrixTalk] How to extract?

Hi

I have just found this group while searching for information. I have a
question I hope someone here can answer.

I make and sell an organic fertilizer, I use brix measuments as a way of
calculating application rates. Nearly every day I am testing brix levels
for clients. Nearly every second day I am buying new garlic presses. I
have lost count of the number of presses I have broken trying to squeeze
juice from the likes of an olive tree. There must be an easier way.

What methods do you guys use to extract fluid?

------------ --------- --------- ------

This group operates in conjunction with RBTI@yahoogroups. comYahoo! Groups
Links

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]




   _____

I am using the Free version of SPAMfighter <http://www.spamfighter.com/len> .
We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam.
SPAMfighter has removed 1991 of my spam emails to date.
The Professional version does not have this message.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi All, I'm new, so be gentle.

Anyone have any thoughts on using a juicer, to measure brix?

Joan




________________________________
From: Mike Kraidy <mike@...>
To: BrixTalk@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tue, November 24, 2009 11:30:58 AM
Subject: RE: [BrixTalk] How to extract?

 
To correctly measure brix, you need to be thinking of larger samples,
samples several times to get good information.  Personally I use this little
baby...
 
http://www.specmeters.com/Nutrient_Management/Hydraulic_Plant_Sap_Press.html

--- On Tue, 11/24/09, Jon C Frank <Jon.Frank@aglabs. com> wrote:

From: Jon C Frank <Jon.Frank@aglabs. com>
Subject: RE: [BrixTalk] How to extract?
To: BrixTalk@yahoogroup s.com
Date: Tuesday, November 24, 2009, 11:55 AM

 

I suggest a mortar and pestle.

See http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=JynkcAAJpFk

For demonstration.

Jon
www.highbrixgardens .com

-----Original Message-----
From: BrixTalk@yahoogroup s.com [mailto:BrixTalk@ yahoogroup s.com] On Behalf
Of mickreilly59
Sent: Monday, November 23, 2009 11:08 PM
To: BrixTalk@yahoogroup s.com
Subject: [BrixTalk] How to extract?

Hi

I have just found this group while searching for information. I have a
question I hope someone here can answer.

I make and sell an organic fertilizer, I use brix measuments as a way of
calculating application rates. Nearly every day I am testing brix levels
for clients. Nearly every second day I am buying new garlic presses. I
have lost count of the number of presses I have broken trying to squeeze
juice from the likes of an olive tree. There must be an easier way..

What methods do you guys use to extract fluid?

------------ --------- --------- ------

This group operates in conjunction with RBTI@yahoogroups. comYahoo! Groups
Links

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hello Mike and others,

                                                Apologies for the half email, got
called away and it evidently sent itself.

(B) Brix is a refraction of light. Does a different colour have an effect on
readings?

Regards,

Norm Cooper

Farming Focus  grapegro@...

Soil & Organic Consultant

12 Anne Street

KOROIT   VIC   3282

Phone:  (03) 5565-8333

Mobile:   0428 761 109







From: BrixTalk@yahoogroups.com [mailto:BrixTalk@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
Mike Kraidy
Sent: Wednesday, 25 November 2009 4:31 AM
To: BrixTalk@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [BrixTalk] How to extract?





To correctly measure brix, you need to be thinking of larger samples, samples
several times to get good information.  Personally I use this little baby...

http://www.specmeters.com/Nutrient_Management/Hydraulic_Plant_Sap_Press.html

--- On Tue, 11/24/09, Jon C Frank <Jon.Frank@...
<mailto:Jon.Frank%40aglabs.com> > wrote:

From: Jon C Frank <Jon.Frank@... <mailto:Jon.Frank%40aglabs.com> >
Subject: RE: [BrixTalk] How to extract?
To: BrixTalk@yahoogroups.com <mailto:BrixTalk%40yahoogroups.com>
Date: Tuesday, November 24, 2009, 11:55 AM



I suggest a mortar and pestle.

See http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=JynkcAAJpFk

For demonstration.

Jon
www.highbrixgardens .com

-----Original Message-----
From: BrixTalk@yahoogroup s.com [mailto:BrixTalk@yahoogroup s.com] On Behalf
Of mickreilly59
Sent: Monday, November 23, 2009 11:08 PM
To: BrixTalk@yahoogroup s.com
Subject: [BrixTalk] How to extract?

Hi

I have just found this group while searching for information. I have a
question I hope someone here can answer.

I make and sell an organic fertilizer, I use brix measuments as a way of
calculating application rates. Nearly every day I am testing brix levels
for clients. Nearly every second day I am buying new garlic presses. I
have lost count of the number of presses I have broken trying to squeeze
juice from the likes of an olive tree. There must be an easier way.

What methods do you guys use to extract fluid?

------------ --------- --------- ------

This group operates in conjunction with RBTI@yahoogroups. comYahoo! Groups
Links

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]




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I am using the Free version of SPAMfighter <http://www.spamfighter.com/len> .
We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam.
SPAMfighter has removed 1991 of my spam emails to date.
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

On Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 1:12 PM, Joan Green <joanellengreen@...> wrote:

>
> Anyone have any thoughts on using a juicer, to measure brix?

You are giving us all a chuckle.  I tried holding my juicer up to the
light to get a reading and I can see nothing.   :)


A juicer works for obtaining samples to brix.  However, oftentimes a
lot of pulp can get though and distort your readings.  And more often
than some think, you can have a lot of insoluble starch particles make
it to the juice.  Those particles refract light, too.    Years and
years ago I had some sort of starch correction table but it seems to
be long lost.  What I tend to use these days if there is a problem is
to use a filter to get a clearer juice.  If you don't have lab filter
paper, a coffee filter will do.

Worrying about "exact brix" is not where you reach for a
refractometer.  Refractometers---brixmeters---are great for estimating
or comparing.  If money is on the table, such as in the orange juice
industry, they reach for the calibrated hydrometers.

HTH,
Rex Harrill

clean up time and sample volume, unless you are just checking the brix of the
drink you are making anyway. rick



To: BrixTalk@yahoogroups.com
From: joanellengreen@...
Date: Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:12:00 -0800
Subject: Re: [BrixTalk] How to extract?





Hi All, I'm new, so be gentle.

Anyone have any thoughts on using a juicer, to measure brix?

Joan

________________________________
From: Mike Kraidy <mike@...>
To: BrixTalk@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tue, November 24, 2009 11:30:58 AM
Subject: RE: [BrixTalk] How to extract?


To correctly measure brix, you need to be thinking of larger samples, samples
several times to get good information.  Personally I use this little baby...

http://www.specmeters.com/Nutrient_Management/Hydraulic_Plant_Sap_Press.html

--- On Tue, 11/24/09, Jon C Frank <Jon.Frank@aglabs. com> wrote:

From: Jon C Frank <Jon.Frank@aglabs. com>
Subject: RE: [BrixTalk] How to extract?
To: BrixTalk@yahoogroup s.com
Date: Tuesday, November 24, 2009, 11:55 AM



I suggest a mortar and pestle.

See http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=JynkcAAJpFk

For demonstration.

Jon
www.highbrixgardens .com

-----Original Message-----
From: BrixTalk@yahoogroup s.com [mailto:BrixTalk@ yahoogroup s.com] On Behalf
Of mickreilly59
Sent: Monday, November 23, 2009 11:08 PM
To: BrixTalk@yahoogroup s.com
Subject: [BrixTalk] How to extract?

Hi

I have just found this group while searching for information. I have a
question I hope someone here can answer.

I make and sell an organic fertilizer, I use brix measuments as a way of
calculating application rates. Nearly every day I am testing brix levels
for clients. Nearly every second day I am buying new garlic presses. I
have lost count of the number of presses I have broken trying to squeeze
juice from the likes of an olive tree. There must be an easier way..

What methods do you guys use to extract fluid?

------------ --------- --------- ------

This group operates in conjunction with RBTI@yahoogroups. comYahoo! Groups
Links

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





_________________________________________________________________
Windows 7: It works the way you want. Learn more.
http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/windows-7/default.aspx?ocid=PID24727::T:WLMTAGL\
:ON:WL:en-US:WWL_WIN_evergreen:112009v2

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Prior to investing in the hydraulic press, we did what Kris talked about.  We
chopped up the samples real fine.. 
 
Then we would put the chopped sample in a plastic bag and then began gently
squeezing with a good set of plyers, gathering the mass in one area and
squeezing it over and over.  Then we would tilt the bag and hold that corner up
the highest and make a small hole in the corner of the bag.  Then we would tilt
the bag so that all the juice would run to the corner with the hole where it
would beging to drip out.  That would give us pretty good sample really cheap
and without destroying your garlic press, plus the sample can be much larger.
 
Michael

--- On Tue, 11/24/09, Kris Johnson RR <cjohnson143@...> wrote:


From: Kris Johnson RR <cjohnson143@...>
Subject: Re: [BrixTalk] How to extract?
To: BrixTalk@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tuesday, November 24, 2009, 2:08 PM


 



There are other methods that look like a lot more bother, but maybe you need
a better garlic press, and don't use your full strength. I broke my first
garlic, which was plastic, I think, but I've used the current metal one for
years. I'm not terribly strong, but if I can't get juice out of something,
there basically isn't much juice to be had. Chopping the leaves makes it
somewhat easier to get the juice out, and of course having enough of the
product.

Kris

----- Original Message -----
From: "mickreilly59" <mickreilly59@ yahoo.com>
> Hi
>
> I have just found this group while searching for information. I have a
question I hope someone here can answer.
>
> I make and sell an organic fertilizer, I use brix measuments as a way of
calculating application rates. Nearly every day I am testing brix levels
for clients. Nearly every second day I am buying new garlic presses. I
have lost count of the number of presses I have broken trying to squeeze
juice from the likes of an olive tree. There must be an easier way.
>
> What methods do you guys use to extract fluid?








[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Ok
just uploaded the new photos of the fig tree that was planted by Jon and Lynns
instructions . You will notice on the lower leaves they are beginning to turn
and can see the figs. The last one was taken as a refrence point. It was planted
the usual way

mike

Dear Folks

  Here is the third installment lifted from Yahoo Soil & Health
  and his blog @  http://thenewagriculture.blogspot.com/
  of Michael Astera's take regarding mineral density and more.

  Pay close attention to his ratios.

  Best wishes and have a great Thanksgiving.

  Frank

  I'm looking forward to his interpretations of Phil Callahan's
  paramagnetism and his Biodynamic overview,

  Part III The Recipe

  Assuming that it is possible to grow crops with great flavor, high
  levels of nutrition, excellent keeping qualities, and a high resistance
  to disease and insect attack, how does one go about doing it? Obviously
  it starts with the soil.

  Astera's Dictum v1.0: Food of high nutritional quality can only be
  grown in a fully mineralized, biologically active soil in which energy
  is flowing or being released.

  Biology, i.e. living organisms and their remains, has been the focus
  of "organic" growers since the 1920s, more especially since the 1950s,
  and is the only aspect that most "organic" growers have any knowledge
  of or experience with so far. For most of the this time, the emphasis
  was on adding more organic matter to the soil in the form of compost
  and manure; only in the last fifteen years or so has the emphasis
  shifted more towards the living soil microorganisms, what the popular
  buzzword calls the SoilFoodWeb.

  Energy as used here means energy flow or movement from higher to lower
  potential. The flow of electric battery current through a light bulb
  filament is a simple example; as the current flows the resistance to
  that flow in the filament causes it to give off heat and photons of
  light. Chemical potentials in the battery are trying to come into
  balance, taking the path through the light bulb filament. When the
  chemical imbalance is achieved, the battery is dead. There are three
  main schools of thought on energy in plant growth: the Reams Biological
  Theory of Ionization or RBTI based on the work of Carey Reams, the
  science of Paramagnetics based on the work of Phil Callahan, and the
  Biodynamics approach that originated with Rudolph Steiner. All
  valuable, but none of them well known or accepted by "mainstream"
  agriculture, chemical or organic. We'll get back to these.

  One does not need to know all that much to add biologically active
  organic matter to the soil. If one does that, and soil moisture is
  present, there will be an energy release and flow that will result in
  the growth of soil organisms and plants. Given light, moisture, and
  warmth, growth is pretty much guaranteed. Nutritional value is not; all
  that can be counted on is that the plants will produce some quantity of
  carbohydrates and proteins from the combination of the air and water
  elements Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen, and Nitrogen. To achieve high
  nutritional value, however, the crops must also contain the soil
  minerals that our body needs; the essential mineral nutrients.

  96% of the human body is made up of the four air and water elements
  Oxygen, Carbon, Hydrogen and Nitrogen. Much the same goes for plants.
  Here is a short list of the major mineral elements our body needs to
  maintain good health, in descending order of amount required: Calcium,
  Phosphorus, Potassium, Sulfur, Sodium, Chlorine, Magnesium, and Iron.
  Minor and trace essential minerals include Manganese, Zinc, Copper,
  Cobalt, Molybdenum, Selenium, Chromium, Tin, Vanadium, Silicon, Boron,
  Iodine, Fluorine, Cadmium, Arsenic, Nickel, and Lead. If any of these
  are absent from your diet, out of balance with each other, or not
  available in sufficient amounts, the body will be unable to grow,
  repair itself, or reproduce. All of 25 of these and possibly another 30
  or so are essential for human health and reproduction. They are NOT all
  essential for plant health. Plants have no known need for Lead, Cobalt,
  or even Sodium for that matter, so just because a plant looks perfectly
  healthy is no guarantee that it will provide the minerals that a human
  or animal needs.

  It is unfortunate that planet Earth's crust does not have these
  minerals equally distributed, nor does it have them in the quantities
  needed in many places for robust plant or animal health. Grazing
  animals make up for this unequal distribution by covering a lot of
  territory. Predators eat those grazing animals and get their minerals
  by doing so. Hunter-gatherer humans also cover a lot of territory, as
  do pastoral nomads who follow their herds. Humans dependent on local
  agriculture are stuck with the minerals naturally found in their area.

  Because rivers get all of the minerals washed into their drainage
  systems and deposit those minerals at their banks and mouths,
  river-bottom soil and river deltas contain the richest mix of essential
  mineral nutrients. The Nile river is our poster child for this
  phenomenon. The annual Nile floods carried minerals washed down from
  millions of square miles of Africa, each year flooding and depositing
  those nutrients along the shores of Eqypt. The lower Nile valley was
  the breadbasket of North Africa from the Pharaohs' times until the
  Aswan High Dam was built in the 1960s. Now much of Egypt goes hungry
  while it imports food and fertilizer and the Nile's fertility silts up
  the area behind the dam. One has to laugh or cry.

  Worldwide, the valleys of the great rivers were the cradles of
  civilization, simply because of the wide assortment of essential
  minerals in their soils. A few other places approached or matched that
  level of fertility, such as the Great Plains of North America, the
  Chernozem soils of the Ukraine, and the Loess areas of China and the
  Mississippi Valley. All were the result of either a fortunate
  combination of rocks from which the soil formed, or windblown dust from
  large areas, or both.

  Of course ancient and even modern people knew nothing about the
  mineral makeup of their soils; they only knew that some areas grew
  crops that brought health to people and livestock, some areas didn't.
  The knowledge of mineral elements and chemistry as a science didn't
  exist until the late 1700s; the first chemical assays of crops and
  soils weren't done until the 1830s, and the Periodic Table of the
  Elements wasn't put together until the late 1800s. Furthermore, despite
  over two centuries of advances in the fields of chemistry and
  nutrition, very little knowledge of the mineral basis of soil fertility
  or nutrition has filtered down to agriculture.

  Our goal should be to match or exceed the fertility and mineral
  balance and availability of the great breadbaskets of the world, so
  let's get to it.

  I'm going to start here with how I grow high-brix nutrient dense
  crops. There is at least one other method that deserves mention and we
  will touch on that.

  The method I use is largely based on the work of William Albrecht and
  Firman Bear in the 1930s and '40s in the USA. The essence of it is the
  Basic Cation Saturation Ratio or BCSR. Note first off that this BCSR
  idea is neither appreciated nor recognized by mainstream chemical or
  organic agriculture. That need not concern us overmuch as long as it
  works, right? The Basic Cations that we are talking about are Calcium,
  Magnesium, Potassium, and Sodium. They are called 'basic" because
  adding them to a water solution makes the solution more alkaline or
  "basic". They are cations because they have a positive charge, a +
  charge. Ca and Mg have a double plus charge ++, K (Potassium) and Na
  (Sodium) have a single plus + charge. Those elements with a negative -
  charge are called anions.

  Important notice: Anyone who wishes to follow the rest of this, unless
  they already have a good understanding of Cation Exchange Capacity
  (CEC), needs to do a few pages of outside reading here:
http://www.soilminerals.com/Cation_Exchange_Simplified.htm. I promise
  that it will be almost painless and possibly even enlightening. I'll
  wait.

  Done? Good. Now that everyone is familiar with CEC, we can talk about
  the BCSR and how to mineralize or re-mineralize our soils. First of all
  one needs to have the results of a standard soil test that gives them
  the % saturation of the four major cations Calcium, Magnesium,
  Potassium, and Sodium presently in the soil, as well as the total CEC
  (Cation Exchange Capacity) of the soil. Here are some examples of the
  results of a standard soil test:
http://www.soilminerals.com/samplereportI.htm

  What we (ideally) want to end up with are the following cation
  saturation ratios:

  Calcium 60%-70%
  Magnesium 10%-20%
  Potassium 2%-5%
  Sodium 1%-4%
  H+ Hydrogen 5%-10%

  This will give us a well-balanced mineral base to start off with, and,
  with the anion ratios listed below, a pH of ~6.5 to 6.7.

  The major anions are Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Sulfur, and Chlorine. Here
  is how they should fit together with the cations above:

  Phosphorus should be equal to Potassium (actual P=actual K), which
  means phosphate (P2O5) should be 2x potash (K2O).

  Sulfur should be 1/2 of Phosphorus, up to around 400 lbs per acre.
  More is usually not needed except in soils that start out alkaline,
  i.e. pH greater than 7.

  Chlorine should be equal to Sodium, and not more than 2x Sodium.

  Nitrogen will generally take care of itself for most crops if the soil
  organic matter content is 4% or above. Some N loving crops like corn
  (maize) or onions may need some supplemental Nitrogen.

  I realize this is all a bit much at first glance. Please read it over
  a few times and I think it will begin to make sense. This is the only
  sure method that I know of to balance the soil minerals and grow those
  high-Brix nutrient dense crops. Just a few more minerals to look at
  today:

  Boron: 1/1000th of Calcium, but not more than 4ppm (parts per million)
  or 8 lbs per acre.
  Iron: 100-200 ppm (200-400 lbs/acre)
  Manganese: 1/2 of Iron, but more than 50ppm is not necessary.
  Zinc: 1/10 of Phosphorus
  Copper: 1/2 of Zinc

  That's it. Get the above list of minerals into the soil in the amounts
  suggested and most of the work is done. Nature will gladly take over
  from there, Please note, though, that these last five minor minerals
  must be in the soil in the right quantity; if not, if all of the majors
  are there without the minors, one is likely to have great yield but
  poor nutrition. The human body needs a lot more Calcium than it does
  Iron, and a lot more Iron than it does Copper, but all of them are
  equally essential.

  The other twenty or so essential minerals are only needed in very
  small amounts, usually 1 ppm or less. Standard soil tests don't check
  for them. They can be supplied with any or all of the following:

  Sea Salt
  Seaweed (Kelp meal is pretty commonly available)
  Various mineral deposits from ancient lakes, seas, or volcanoes
  Rock dust from quarries or rock crushing operations.
  (these would all be applied at a rate of about 400lbs/acre or 10 lbs
  per 1000 sq ft))

  All of the above is explained at some length in my book The Ideal
  Soil, along with how to calculate amounts to apply and which
  organic-approved mineral sources contain how much of what. Those
  interested can check it out here:
http://www.soilminerals.com/Ideal_Soil_Main_Page.htm There are a number
  of books about WHY to mineralize the soil, but so far The Ideal Soil is
  the only book that shows the reader HOW to mineralize their soil. (If
  anyone knows of any other how-to books on soil mineral balancing, let
  me know and I will gladly list them.)

  Quite a bit to take in at once, but what we have covered here will
  work for almost any food crop in any climate. There is no need for
  special formulas for special crops, no need to worry about pH. This
  mineral balance, combined with a biologically active soil with around
  4% humus, along with sunshine, warmth, and water, will provide all that
  is needed to achieve good to excellent Brix readings, great flavor and
  keeping qualities, and a high degree of resistance to insects and
  disease. We are also working on the assumption that it will provide
  excellent mineral nutrition, as all of the essential minerals are
  available to the plants, but that has yet to be proven. Our proposed
  project will be to prove the concept, correlating high Brix with high
  minerals, in order to establish the world's first nutritional standards
  for food

  It doesn't seem that I have room left in this not-so-short post to
  cover everything else I mentioned at the end of Part II, so I will just
  give a brief mention to the other school of mineral balancing, the
  Reams school, and wait to talk about the economics and ecology of these
  ideas in part IV.

  Carey Reams (1904-1987) was a somewhat eccentric scientist,
  agronomist, and Christian mystic who worked mostly in Florida USA. The
  rule mentioned above that actual Phosphorus should equal actual
  Potassium, or phosphate should be 2x potash, originated with Reams.
  Reams is also who we have to thank for bringing the refractometer into
  use in general agriculture. The Brix chart he devised is still
  considered the gold standard for food crops. Here it is again:
http://www.soilminerals.com/BrixChart_Reams

  Reams did extensive work with energy flow in soils, and came up with
  some ideas on the roles of energy and minerals that haven't always
  translated well into modern scientific terminology. Nonetheless he
  achieved great results and some of his students have gone on to teach
  and practice his methods very successfully. Unlike the standard soil
  test mentioned above and used by Albrecht and most mainstream soil
  testing laboratories, Reams preferred the LaMotte test, which uses a
  weak extracting solution, closer to that which plant roots themselves
  employ in the soil. The Reams system is not based on the BCSR, but on
  the measurement of readily soluble major nutrients in the soil. The
  mineral ratios that Reams called for, however, are essentially
  identical to the CEC saturation ratios of the BCSR. Here are Reams'
  ideal soil mineral amounts, as available nutrients per acre, based on
  the Lamotte soil test:

  Calcium: 2,000-4,000 lbs
  Magnesium: 285-570 lbs
  Phosphate: 400 lbs
  Potash: 200 lbs
  Nitrate Nitrogen: 40 lbs
  Ammonium Nitrogen: 40 lbs
  Sulfate: 200 lbs
  Sodium: 20-70 ppm

  The major difference in practice between the Reams school and what is
  loosely called the Albrecht school is that Reams emphasized frequent
  soil testing, as often as once a week, and applying needed minerals
  throughout the growing season as often as variations in the soil test
  results called for. The BCSR ratios that this author uses only require
  testing once or twice a year, spring and/or fall, and it has been my
  experience that once the major minerals are in place and balanced these
  one or two tests per year (or perhaps only when a problem arises) are
  sufficient to grow healthy high-Brix crops. More frequent testing may
  be justified for larger fields of high-value crops, but I have had a
  hard enough time convincing growers to test their soil at all. Enough
  said.

  In Part IV we will take a closer look at energy flow in the soil, at
  the economics and ecology of mineral balanced agriculture, and discuss
  its potential impact on human, animal, and planetary health.

  Michael Astera
http://www.soilminerals.com

I use a nickel in my garlic press for juicy things to keep out the pulp, but
then found that wrapping the sample in a piece of nylon stocking and putting
that in the garlic press works well to strain out the juice.  Makes sense
for home gardeners, who don't need great precision.
Kris

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Kraidy" <mike@...>


Prior to investing in the hydraulic press, we did what Kris talked about. We
chopped up the samples real fine..

Then we would put the chopped sample in a plastic bag and then began gently
squeezing with a good set of plyers, gathering the mass in one area and
squeezing it over and over. Then we would tilt the bag and hold that corner
up the highest and make a small hole in the corner of the bag. Then we would
tilt the bag so that all the juice would run to the corner with the hole
where it would beging to drip out. That would give us pretty good sample
really cheap and without destroying your garlic press, plus the sample can
be much larger.

Michael

--- On Tue, 11/24/09, Kris Johnson RR <cjohnson143@...> wrote:


From: Kris Johnson RR <cjohnson143@...>



There are other methods that look like a lot more bother, but maybe you need
a better garlic press, and don't use your full strength. I broke my first
garlic, which was plastic, I think, but I've used the current metal one for
years. I'm not terribly strong, but if I can't get juice out of something,
there basically isn't much juice to be had. Chopping the leaves makes it
somewhat easier to get the juice out, and of course having enough of the
product.

Kris

Hi i was wondering how compost tea plays into High Brix.  I searched the
archives for Compost tea, nothing came up.  My local extension has a little info
on it.  From the way they describe it it adds the good microbes back and is a
high nutrient live tea for them.  Feeding the critters in the tea and the ones
in my soil.

The description of the teas was not to educate you wonderful gardeners, but to
explain how it has been explained to me.  Is this accurate in description (i
know overly simplistic) and a positive to add for high Brix?  I know in the
Organic gardening realm it is highly emphasized in my area, but the same people
promoting do not know anything about High Brix.

Since it is winter i would not be adding it now, wondering for spring time. 
Trying to gather my info so after soil testing i have all my info collected
already.

I have not made it through all the various sites online about High Brix but the
couple i have i did not see address this.

TIA
Julia

Even made myself laugh J. I’m really new to all this stuff so I’m sure
I’ll have many more amusing questions. Looking forward to learning.
Thanks,
Joan



________________________________
From: RH <brixmanus@...>
To: BrixTalk@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tue, November 24, 2009 2:28:17 PM
Subject: Re: [BrixTalk] How to extract?

 
On Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 1:12 PM, Joan Green <joanellengreen@ yahoo.com> wrote:

>
> Anyone have any thoughts on using a juicer, to measure brix?

You are giving us all a chuckle. I tried holding my juicer up to the
light to get a reading and I can see nothing. :)

A juicer works for obtaining samples to brix. However, oftentimes a
lot of pulp can get though and distort your readings. And more often
than some think, you can have a lot of insoluble starch particles make
it to the juice. Those particles refract light, too. Years and
years ago I had some sort of starch correction table but it seems to
be long lost. What I tend to use these days if there is a problem is
to use a filter to get a clearer juice. If you don't have lab filter
paper, a coffee filter will do.

Worrying about "exact brix" is not where you reach for a
refractometer.. Refractometers- --brixmeters- --are great for estimating
or comparing. If money is on the table, such as in the orange juice
industry, they reach for the calibrated hydrometers.

HTH,
Rex Harrill






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I've heard of yucca being using in foliar sprays to help raise brix levels.
Does anyone know if aloe vera would have a similar effect?  If so, does
anyone have experience with harvesting the plant and processing it for use
as a foliar spray?

Thanks for any pointers!

Kathy Harris

Texas



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I do use larger samples in a mortar and pestle.  I consider the hydraulic
plant Sap Press as the gold standard of measuring brix.  I find the mortar
and pestle to be just about as good but more portable and quicker to run and
a lot quicker to clean up.  Unlike the garlic presses, a mortar and pestle
does not break.

Jon

-----Original Message-----
From: BrixTalk@yahoogroups.com [mailto:BrixTalk@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of Mike Kraidy
Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 11:31 AM
To: BrixTalk@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [BrixTalk] How to extract?

To correctly measure brix, you need to be thinking of larger samples,
samples several times to get good information.  Personally I use this little
baby...
 
http://www.specmeters.com/Nutrient_Management/Hydraulic_Plant_Sap_Press.html

--- On Tue, 11/24/09, Jon C Frank <Jon.Frank@...> wrote:


From: Jon C Frank <Jon.Frank@...>
Subject: RE: [BrixTalk] How to extract?
To: BrixTalk@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tuesday, November 24, 2009, 11:55 AM


 



I suggest a mortar and pestle.

See http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=JynkcAAJpFk

For demonstration.

Jon
www.highbrixgardens .com

-----Original Message-----
From: BrixTalk@yahoogroup s.com [mailto:BrixTalk@yahoogroup s.com] On Behalf
Of mickreilly59
Sent: Monday, November 23, 2009 11:08 PM
To: BrixTalk@yahoogroup s.com
Subject: [BrixTalk] How to extract?

Hi

I have just found this group while searching for information. I have a
question I hope someone here can answer.

I make and sell an organic fertilizer, I use brix measuments as a way of
calculating application rates. Nearly every day I am testing brix levels
for clients. Nearly every second day I am buying new garlic presses. I
have lost count of the number of presses I have broken trying to squeeze
juice from the likes of an olive tree. There must be an easier way.

What methods do you guys use to extract fluid?

------------ --------- --------- ------

This group operates in conjunction with RBTI@yahoogroups. comYahoo! Groups
Links








[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



------------------------------------

This group operates in conjunction with RBTI@...! Groups
Links

julia, i doubt that you realize how big a question you've just asked. thomas up
near you can talk in debth about microbe tea which is similar to but not the
same as compost tea.  to some compost tea and manure tea are about the same. the
given material is soaked in water and the soluables leached out and applied to
the soil. this would be more of a fertilizer. to some the material is soaked and
airated and then applied to the soil. this would be more like liquid compost.
various microbes in greater quantity than were in the original "mother". this
can be put on the soil or the plant itself. this has the distinct advantage of
compost without the potential disadvantage of adding too much potassium and
phosphorous to an already loaded soil. then to some the true microbe teas are
made by airating a "mother", but the various species of microbe can be chosen in
a lab environment and cultivated. be cautious about airating the manure teas 
these days as you can also multiply the negative microbes like ecoli if you get
cow manure from an infected animal. best to you, rick


To: BrixTalk@yahoogroups.com
From: slbooks4me@...
Date: Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:36:46 +0000
Subject: [BrixTalk] Compost tea





Hi i was wondering how compost tea plays into High Brix. I searched the archives
for Compost tea, nothing came up. My local extension has a little info on it.
From the way they describe it it adds the good microbes back and is a high
nutrient live tea for them. Feeding the critters in the tea and the ones in my
soil.

The description of the teas was not to educate you wonderful gardeners, but to
explain how it has been explained to me. Is this accurate in description (i know
overly simplistic) and a positive to add for high Brix? I know in the Organic
gardening realm it is highly emphasized in my area, but the same people
promoting do not know anything about High Brix.

Since it is winter i would not be adding it now, wondering for spring time.
Trying to gather my info so after soil testing i have all my info collected
already.

I have not made it through all the various sites online about High Brix but the
couple i have i did not see address this.

TIA
Julia





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Link below one video gives hint of John Evans success at raising 20 brix
vegetables
Looks like he may using Thomas microbe kit with some variations

If so well done Thomas.


http://www.chrismartenson.com/forum/investing-soil/30298

michael

Jilia
I should have looked at your post first b4 I posted the vido post because it was
on the same theme. sorry about that. John Evans is saying compost tea i8 the
reason for high brix in his garden. something I neglected these years.
michael

>
>   Link below one video gives hint of John Evans success at raising 20 brix
>
> vegetables
> Looks like he may using Thomas microbe kit with some variations
> If so well done Thomas.
> http://www.chrismartenson.com/forum/investing-soil/30298
> michael
>
>


He uses Biozome.  The compost that he adds to the water is a high
humus peat moss (for carbs) and then the fish for nitrogen and micro's.

He is also on good volcanic soils so he has a great base to work from.

Thanks for the video, good stuff.

Bill

>
>



--
Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child as
it is to the caterpillar.  (From the Organic Valley calendar, 2007)


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thanks for the reply Bill
In the video He  aerated the mixture with his compost I read the bios
application rates it appears he deviated and was able to stretch the mixture for
some dollar savings. Did i get that right?
mike

What about checking brix on olive leaves, they are extremely dry.
So therefore you have to seriously squeeze and yet still it is hard to get
even
a drop.

thanks,

Andy


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