Home >> Ron’s Articles >> Separate the Wheat from the Chaff

Ron’s Articles

Separate the Wheat from the Chaff

July 2008

This idea behind this well-known biblical advice is to make the effort to select what is useful and reject what is worthless. Ancient people would toss a blanket filled with sheaves of grain up so the wind could blow away the chaff leaving the heavier grain behind.

There's some truth in all sayings but I have to discount this one based another favorite guideline. "Waste not. Want not." I had the chance to buy several tons of corn chaff at a great price. It got me to thinking, "What organic material is truly worthless?" My mission in life is to recycle, reuse, recharge and renew. But what possible use could I find for corn chaff. One the good side, our garden center covers 18 acres so I have room to store stuff while I ponder its usefulness.

I haven't developed a new product in about 5 years. All my Rons Blends have been working so well there was no need. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." But with all the rain this year my landscape customers were plagued with fungus. We'd tried some of the suspended organism products. Basically beneficial bacteria, fungus and microbes are brewed up, then isolated away from a food source and put into a state of hibernation. When applied they're supposed to keep the harmful organism from attacking your landscape. It worked pretty well but it seemed too artificial and processed to me. For the money I was paying I didn't get the desired results.

So, I started tinkered and came up with a new blend. Within a short time we were seeing great results with my new fungal fighter - a blend of peat moss, earthworm castings and corn chaff. There's only one problem. While less expensive than the suspended stuff, it's still about $3 a pound. Have you priced earthworm castings lately? Plus there's a big hang up about peat moss not being an environmentally friendly in Texas because it's shipped in from Canada, Michigan, Minnesota, Florida or California. But don't flip out. I didn't cause this to happen. Someone else ordered it and then cancelled. And since there isn't much of a market for peat moss here, I hauled it off just to keep it out of the landfill.

With the pressing fungal problem at bay, I started looking for uses for corn chaff. I opted to start on another pressing problem - fire ants. I threw a handful or two on each mound. I checked back a week later and found absolutely no fire ant activity. I've had similar results using oats, grits or cornmeal, but this corn chaff is so much more cost effective. It's a cheap material that goes to waste. Oats sell for over a dollar a pound. At our Garden Center we're thinking of bagging corn chaff 30 pound bags and selling it for about $10. If you're interested, give us a call.

I was two for two with this 'worthless' corn chaff. What else could it do? Call me reckless or creative, but unless I perceive real danger, I'm willing to try it. And, I know danger. Remember, I'm the firefighter/ paramedic.

I don't go to doctor unless I'm in danger of dying because they just give you antibiotics. So when I came down with staph infection on my arms I turned to organic self medication. My compost tea is packed with beneficial microbes, so I dipped my arms in it. Then I rubbed corn chaff all over my arms. The infection cleared up in no time. I've also tried this with poison ivy - same results. I'm amazed with what I've been able to do with this so called waste product.

Next I thought about an experiment I'd run over 12 years ago. I used Herculean methods to remove the dallisgrass that accounted for over 50% of my y turf. The most effective technique was to top dress the crowns of dallisgrass with a half inch of both dried molasses and cornmeal. It would heat up enough to burn the crown out while stimulating and recharging the soil to feed the more desirable turf grasses such as St. Augustine, Bermuda and Buffalo grass. Those now make up over 90% of my turf all thriving on less than an inch of supplemental water per week. This year I didn't have to turn on my sprinklers until June.

Most of our property drains into my pond. But I have some uneven spots in the back where water collects. So with all the rain this year I've had some serious fungal problems. I had a big patch of fungus in my yard. I couldn't resist trying straight corn chaff - no expensive worm castings or iffy peat moss. I just sprinkled it out - about a handful per 5 square feet. That was about a month ago.

Tonight I was strolling around my property thinking about writing this month's article and I was super pleased. All the fire ants are gone and I don't have a bit of fungus. This is all the result of using a waste product.

My next test is underway. I've dusted corn chaff on my remaining dallisgrass. I'll report the results next month.