Walter Byrd

I don't have access to forest floor stuff. I use manure instead.
I only use one potato - but it's a big russet.
I don't use yeast anymore, I have read that it creates the wrong kind of bacteria.
These days, I mostly use the JMS on my lawn.
I live in Denver. It is always dry, and now we are the middle of another drought. Lawns have suffered. I am hoping this JMS will help with my many brown spots, and barren spots.

Thanks for all the responses.

This is my first time trying this JMS idea.

As a follow-up question, I would like to ask: does it really work?

To make JADAM Microbial Solution (JMS) I put 4 gallons of tap water in a 5 gallon bucket. I waited 2.5 days for the chlorine to dissipate.  I added compost, boiled potato, yeast, and molasses. I waited 2 days, and there was foam on top. As I understand it, that means the solution is ready to use.

But here is the problem: I am supposed to dilute the solution 10 to 1, or even 20 to 1. But all I have is tap water. I have nothing to hold 40 to 80 gallons of tap water to wait for the chlorine to dissipate. Not knowing what else to do, I diluted the JMS with straight up tap water. I might have killed all the microbes, but oh well.

What should I have done? Everybody seems to say not to use the undiluted  JMS. But I wonder, if the JMS was disbursed over the soil, not poured on the plants directly, or even poured very near the plants, would it still be dangerous.

Maybe I should give up on the idea.

Thanks for all the replies.

As it turned out, the squirrels did not eat all the fava beans I planted. I planted about 25, and now have ten plants.
I think I planted 10 to 15 snow peas, and now have 3 or 4 growing plants.

I planted more peas, and I am trying this:
I heard that squirrels cannot resist bare soil. They have to dig into it, even if they are burying or digging up food.
We have this sage bush that grows like mad here in Colorado. I think it's called Egyptian sage. We trimmed that down to nothing. Kept the branches, and dried them out. I broke up the branches into about 6" pieces and covered the new area with those pieces. Sun can still get though, and sprouts also have some room.
So far, I am not seeing a lot of holes. Maybe this will do it.
I thought about taking the pieces, and poking them into the soil, so it would poke anybody who tried to walk on it. But have not done that - yet.

I have also heard that squirrels will dig up onions, and garlic, even though squirrels hate onions and garlic.
Squirrels have dug up many of my seed potatoes, but the squirrels don't eat them.

Squirrels have always been a big problem where I live.
I have read that fava beans were good for soil, and could be planted in cooler weather.
I bought some seeds, planted them, and the squirrels dug them up and ate them right away.
I suppose I could sprout them indoors. But then, I am afraid the squirrels would eat them as soon they grew.
Similar story with snow peas.

Anne Miller wrote:Why not make a hugelkultur bed with them?

Yes, put dried sunflower heads in the soil as you might get more pretty sunflowers.

How much time would it take for this to help the soil? I would think it would be years.

I need to build my soil. I have a lot of old dry sunflower stalks.

What is the best way to use the stalks?

Should I run them over with a lawn mower to mulch? This turns them into powder.

Should chop them into small pieces and mix them with the soil? If so, how long? A foot long? An inch long?

What about the dried sunflower heads? Okay to put those in the soil?

Thank you for the replies.

Would be interested in knowing about what it costs to move in, and about what it will cost a month. Willing to work also. We are in Denver, but willing to move.
I have tried looking through directories of ecovillages, but they all seem to be very reluctant to mention such costs. I find this frustrating since that is a critical element.