ONE STEP ATTA TIME

UN PASO A LA VEZ

This is a website for our shop for natural growing materials. We serve the Lake Chapala area and are located at Carretera Poniente 200 in Ajijic. We are west of Yves Restaurant and Dental Express, right beside Dra Justina.

We hope to encourage the use of natural and organic growing methods in this region. They are not always the easiest methods but usually the more healthy choice for people and the earth.

To begin with we will supply compost, vermicompost (worm compost), compost tea and composting worms. As we develop this endeavor we hope to provide more goods and services to the community. One step at a time.

Please note the extra 't' in onestepattatime . com This was my only way to obtain the 'dot com' domain.

HOURS: Tuesday 9:30 to 5, Thursday 10 to 4, Saturday 10 to 4, Sunday 11 to 2.

OWNERS: Marcos Ramos Macias & Tim Wilson

CONTACT: email > thegoodjob@hotmail.com (Tim) Whatsapp > 332 954 4349 (Marcos)

COMPOST

Our compost has been aged on average 7 to 10 months, has heated up naturally and been turned numerous times. It is made from donkey and horse manure with local shredded leaf & woody vegetation.

It is living compost, in that it is populated with beneficial microorganisms and you might find beneficial arthropods in there, like rolly pollies, rove beetles and millipedes along with earth worms. We maintain the finished compost in a pile which is kept watered thus alive. Dried up compost kept in sacks becomes less useful so we only put it in bags when we know it is going home with a gardener. This also gives us a chance to see if any pests like June bug larva have snuck in there.

The price for compost is 75 pesos for an 18 liter sack.

COMPOSTING WORMS

We have raised a large population of composting worms. There is a mix of 2 or 3 species. Most are Eisenia Fetida and Andrei but I suspect also some Eisenia Hortensis, as we have some larger worms.

Worms must be pre-ordered as we harvest them, separate them from the vermicompost, weigh them, then place them in peat moss for transport. [ thegoodjob@hotmail.com : Whatsapp; 332 954 4349 ]

The price for worms is 500 pesos per pound or 900 pesos per kilogram.

COMPOST TEA (ACT)

Our compost tea (ACT) is aerated for 36 to 48 hours using an airlift apparatus which I patented in the US. Microorganisms such as bacteria, archaea, flagellates, amoebae [some ciliates] and fungi are extracted from v-compost (vermicompost and compost) and multiplied by the millions into water.

The concept for using ACT is to boost the natural nutrient uptake of plants and to increase the soil population of beneficial microbes. Natural or organic growing and plant feeding occurs as protozoa, like flagellates and amoebae, consume bacteria and archaea.

The protozoa retain only a small portion of this energy for sustenance and release (poop) 70% to 90% in ionic nutrient form directly available to the roots of plants. In case you were wondering, this is basically how compost and and organic fertilizers work but over a more extended period. I will post some descriptive articles later on in this site.

Because the liquid has been aerated, mostly aerobic microorganisms will be present and it must be used within 24 hours of taking it home. Remove the lid if you keep it for a length of time prior to using. Use it as soon as possible. You may mix it with an equal amount of non-chlorinated water but personally I prefer applying it undiluted to the soil followed by watering normal amounts.

We will have ACT available every Tuesday. I will assay every batch microscopically and record video data to ensure adequate microbial populations. Links to these videos will be posted here. You can view an example of this type of video on my Youtube channel;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpRdnN8fySc&t=58s

It will be better if you notify us ahead if you wish to purchase ACT but we will use any excess ourselves.

[ thegoodjob@hotmail.com : Whatsapp; 332 954 4349 ]

The price for aerated compost tea is 75 pesos per 4 liter (1+ gallon) container.