Microbes in August

“The last 100 years have featured human solutions to microbial problems, but the next 100 years will feature microbial solutions to human problems.”

Anne Madden, microbiologist on www.TED.com (Meet the microscopic life in your home – and on your face)

Wow, this big statement has really resonated with me this month. It is exciting to work with the future! More and more people are proclaiming the benefits of microbes as the science stacks up.

Here is my diary of all the different ways I use microbes in August here at Spirthill, in my home, in the office and in the garden. It is not only a routine but also a solution to almost any problem – and I love knowing that it is 100% chemical free.

Daily

• Add Pet Nutrition Booster to our labrador Kit’s dry food and also to Vic the cat’s wet food. It helps their digestion and prevents worms and other nasties. Millie my sister’s dog is often with us as we share dog sitting, so she gets some fermented food supplement too. They all lap it up.
• At this time of year I spray the animals’ fur and bedding with Air Freshener A LOT. It prevents fleas because the microbes eat up the dead skin and hair the pests feed on, so the pests wander off to greener pastures.
• Drink my splash of Bio-live. I mix it with sparkling water and call it my ‘probiotic cocktail’.
• Spray Power Cleaner around the cat’s feeding bowl, leave for a couple of minutes and wipe clean. She is a messy eater and cat food can stick! But I find the bits wipe off easily and there are fewer flies too. If there are any dog/cat accidents the Power Cleaner swings into action too. I am confident it is the best disinfectant for the job as the microbes absorb any leftover imperceptible stuff.

Weekly

• Spray Plant Boost foliar feed on garden plants and vegetables with a diluted (1:100 or in other words 10ml of Plant Boost to 10 litres of water) mix to build up vitality and disease resistance. What I notice is that the leaves are thicker and greener, with strong new growth. The sweet peas are still flowering strongly and the tomato plants have toppled their canes, they are so laden with fruit.
• I use Plant Boost on black fly in the polytunnels too, or on any trees that show signs of disease. With regular doses, they bounce back well. I spray early in the morning or late in the evening when it is cooler and damper since the microbes thrive in moist conditions.
• We visit our new ponds at least twice a day on dog walks, and we marvel how adding Pond Balance has cleared the blooms of blanket weed that appeared in the spring. The watercress is flowering, and the lillies are in bloom. I notice this month that a few tendrils of blanket weed have reappeared so it will soon be time for another dose.
• Pour a little diluted Drains Clean and Clear down sinks, bathtub and shower tray last thing so the microbes can munch away and clean the drains overnight.
• My formula for the cat litter tray: wood pellets mixed with a little Drains Clean and Clear. Obliterates the odour (amazingly!), carbon neutral, chemical free AND I can put it on the garden afterwards.
• Every Tuesday lovely Tina the cleaner uses the Power Cleaner and Floor Cleaner throughout the office, brewery and living spaces. She loves how they smell and how they clean even though the changeover to mixing in a spray bottle took a bit of getting used to. She announced last week that the Multi Surface Cleaner works a treat on all the glass and windows.

Special Occasions

• Dirty barbecue grills come up smooth after a 24-hour bath in diluted Drains Clean and Clear. I’ve learned my lesson now and we’ll do it again at the end of the season to put the grills and tongs away clean.
• We hold regular meetings in the new South Barn, and I spray any tea and coffee stains with Textile Cleaner and watch them disappear. Sometimes I give stains a final wash with warm water but it is a miracle solution; those billions of microbes love to gobble up organic material.
• Whenever the dishwasher red light comes on I use diluted Power Cleaner (straight out of the spray bottle) instead of Rinse Aid. It does the job and I love knowing that the water that goes down the drain is carrying those beneficial microbes down too.
• Take GOO FOR YOU to our two granddaughters so their immune systems are boosted for all the new micro biomes they will meet in the next school term.

Happy spraying to you!