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Seeding "ACT" with piranha/voodoo/etc.

C

CC_2U

ML

The oldest tofu shop in Portalnd (circa 1903) produces huge amounts of tofu that is sold under their name in all of the mainstream and Asian markets in Portland.

It's the kind of place where you have to bring your own container - they have no retail packs at all. They're a wholesale producer but for over 100 years they've sold fresh tofu from the front of the business.

In a special room they have the fermented soy products doing there thing - miso (all levels of fermentation) as well as natto. It's an interesting place to stop off at on a Saturday afternoon and join the line of Asian-Americans waiting in line to get some of the finest tofu available.

Their miso preparations are off the chart as well - organic, well water, non-GMO seeds, etc. and cheap, cheap.

I always get a package of fresh fried-tofu which is really good. About the easiest way to get tofu into one's diet.

It almost tastes like real food - quite a feat, eh?

CC
 

mad librettist

Active member
Veteran
ML

The oldest tofu shop in Portalnd (circa 1903) produces huge amounts of tofu that is sold under their name in all of the mainstream and Asian markets in Portland.

It's the kind of place where you have to bring your own container - they have no retail packs at all. They're a wholesale producer but for over 100 years they've sold fresh tofu from the front of the business.

In a special room they have the fermented soy products doing there thing - miso (all levels of fermentation) as well as natto. It's an interesting place to stop off at on a Saturday afternoon and join the line of Asian-Americans waiting in line to get some of the finest tofu available.

Their miso preparations are off the chart as well - organic, well water, non-GMO seeds, etc. and cheap, cheap.

I always get a package of fresh fried-tofu which is really good. About the easiest way to get tofu into one's diet.

It almost tastes like real food - quite a feat, eh?

CC

CC try this one:

dust some cubes of good hard tofu with starch or rice flour.
dip in egg with a bit of water
roll in sesame seeds
fry

sesame crusted tofu is a great date food
every time i make it i wind up taking advantage of myself
you can do black and white sesame seeds to make it nice.
 

Cpt. Nefarious

New member
I was thinking about adding a little bit of the product Serenade, active ingredient Bacillus subtilis, to my tea. However, it smells awful and I am hesitating. Has anyone experimented with this already, any ideas?
 

silver hawaiian

Active member
Veteran
Bacillus subtilis

This is a ubiquitous soil bacteria which feeds on a wide variety of carbons, therefore it would be a likely candidate to multiply in a compost tea with molasses as a carbon food source. It is useful as it colonizes root systems and displaces certain harmful fungal and bacterial pathogens. One would expect this species to be naturally occurring in (vermi)compost and therefore inoculation from a commercial source is probably not necessary. That is unless the grower has reason to believe they require higher levels for a pathogen problem. It is rod shaped, gram positive and aerobic. It is an endospore forming bacterium which means it can enter a spore dormant state and survive far into the future in an unfriendly environ. (motile)

Bacillus megaterium

Megaterium means the big beast. It is valuable for mineralization of several nutrients/minerals, including calcium, making them available to plants and other microorganisms. It is also a ubiquitous soil microbe and also aerobic, gram-positive and spore forming. It is easy to multiply in the lab because it is able to feed from low nutrient conditions (eg. plain soil or [vermi]compost) It is a psychrophile meaning that it can survive and multiply in cold conditions (apparently down to 0 C). This all means that it could be multiplied in a compost tea but as mentioned above it likely already exists in (vermi)compost. (motile)

Bacillus amyloliquefaciens

Useful because it degrades proteins through excretions of enzymes. There are claims that it promotes P uptake, particularly in tubers. It is very similar to B. subtilis. And likely grows naturally in compost and therefore compost tea. (motile)

Bacillus pumilus

Classed the same as the bacillus species already discussed. It is even more ubiquitous than B. subtilis in soil/compost. It is valued for its anti-biotic (pumilin) properties specific to bacterial pathogens. As with the other Bacillus discussed it would be easily multiplied in compost tea but inoculation is unnecessary. (motile)

Bacillus licheniformis

This differs from the species discussed so far, in that it is a gram-positive, facultative anaerobic (motile). It produces mineralizing enzymes as do the others previously discussed and has anti-biotic (bacitracin) properties. This bacterium has similarities to B. anthrasis (anthrax) and can infect food causing food poisoning. Because it is a facultative anaerobe, I’m unsure if it will grow as readily in aerated compost tea. This bacterium is a denitrifier, the value of which is dubious (IMO) as this process NO3 can be converted to N2O or N2 a not so great gas which is released into the atmosphere (loss of nitrogen) rather than NO2 .


Paenibacillus azotofixans

This bacterium is a gram-positive, facultatively anaerobic, motile (diazotroph; fixes atmospheric nitrogen [as the name says] into useable forms of ammonia)
It fixes N under anaerobic conditions onl and is thought to mineralize/solublize organic phosphorous. Your guess is as good as mine as to whether it will multiply well in an aerated compost tea (ACT) because as in the previous it is a facultative anaerobe. It can grow in aerobic conditions but this is not ideal. I’ve always been a proponent of having some anaerobic organisms in the mix, just like nature.

Bacillus mycoides

This species of bacteria is non-motile (does not swim about) and can be identified by the colony shapes (apparently). It is aerobic and is valued for its anti-fungal properties, especially on leaf surfaces. It is another ubiquitous soil bacterium so it would (and probably does) multiply in ACT.

Bacillus laterosporus; more correctly named Brevibacillus laterosporus in the never ending taxonomy (wars) research

Is an aerobic gram-positive to gram variable, motile bacterium. Is toxic to mosquito larvae. It is another denitrifier, as discussed above and has anti-biotic properties. As with the other aerobic ubiquitous bacillus species, it is probably present in ACT anyway but could be likely easily multiplied.

Bacillus macerans; Apparently another misname by the genius Phds at AN? (keep up with the times boys)
Paenibacillus macerans; is I believe what they mean is another nitrogen fixer and I believe gram variable and I believe facultatively anaerobic trending towards aerobic making it a fairly easy multiplier in ACT.

Bacillus polymyxa & Paenibacillus polymyxa

Apparently they thought it would look better if they said the same organism twice. This species is part of a group, as is the preceding one, of nitrogen fixers which fix N only in anaerobic conditions. How this takes place exactly, I have yet to research. They also produce anti-biotics (polymyxin, colistin). These would likely grow to some degree in ACT as was mentioned regarding the other facultative anaerobes. (gram variable, motile)

Bacillus cereus

This bacterium is a denitrifier as previously described. (gram-positive, motile, facultative aerobe) It can cause infections in humans and animals and is toxic to some insect forms. It is air borne and can infect some foods (eg. cooked rice) causing food poisoning. It likely grows in ACT.

All of the above are referred to as Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) and every Tom, Dick and Dick is throwing batches together along with some of the fungal spores that I’ll get to later and trying to flog them on the market in an effort to capitalize on the so called ‘beneficial microorganism’ fad.

The thing to consider is that when you make a compost tea or just use compost these organisms balance themselves out closer to what nature intends, rather than what some entrepreneur thinks is suitable. If you are determined to use these, just shop around for the best bang for your buck, not the fancy sounding name.

More, when I have time…..

BTW: Endomycorrhizal spores will not even sprout in ACT, nor anywhere but proximal to roots or seeds.

Christing A, that's interesting. Great stuff.
 
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