Gbiota is not about total self-sufficiency; it’s about filling the holes in our modern food system by growing the missing piece of our diet—fresh plants loaded with living microbes and bio-available minerals.

What should I grow?

“What should I grow?” sounds so simple, but it is not. Gbiota is about correcting deficiencies in our modern diet, not about being totally self-sufficient. I have tried full self-sufficiency and it is not easy – actually, it is just plain hard work and boring.

Gbiota is about filling in the holes left by our modern food system. That system is dominated by shelf life. We get food from all over the world via a highly complex distribution system which may be effective, but it takes time from harvest to table.

Microbe deficiencies – they breed and die fast

Modern growing involves a lot of chemicals, so even when plants are growing, the soil is often deficient in microbes. By the time that food reaches the table, any microbes that may have existed have long since died.

These are the very microbes that would naturally form our gut biome, the master regulator for our bodies. This is the number one deficiency in our food system.

Nutrient deficiencies

The second major problem is nutrients. Plants need a limited range of nutrients, but we, as animals, need a far bigger and more complex range.

There is simply no incentive for growers to ensure that the complete spectrum of nutrients is in our foods. Until shoppers carry a mass spectrometer in their shopping bags, they have no way of knowing what is actually in the food they are buying.

Inevitably, the profit motive results in growers ensuring that those nutrients essential to make the plants look healthy are added, but there is no financial incentive to add the nutrients essential for human health.

The net result is that our food is lacking critical nutrients.

Common deficiencies

The key nutrients commonly lacking are:

• Magnesium – affects everyone.
• Iron – particularly affects women.
• Zinc – particularly affects men (at least those still enjoying a bit of hanky panky).

But just adding minerals to the soil is not enough – microbes are needed to break them down so they become bio-available.

Microbes first, minerals second

So the number one objective is to grow food full of beneficial microbes, and number two is to include those missing nutrients which we have evolved to need.

The two are not separate. Microbes in the soil are essential to breaking down the minerals that may exist in the soil so they become bio-available.

Just burying a galvanised roofing sheet into the soil is not enough. It may be full of iron and zinc – two of the critical minerals we are short of – but until they are broken down into complex chemicals that make them bio-available, they are useless.

Microbes are critical

Whichever way we look at it, getting the right microbes – which are naturally present in healthy soil – is critical for our health.

So maybe we should ask, “Where do these microbes come from?” That seems a perfectly good question to ask, but it is not the most critical.

Microbes are simply everywhere. I have just read that every breath we take typically has four fungal spores floating around in the air. Should they decide to set up home and breed, our immune system would soon sort them out. Our bodies are a quite remarkable machine, as you would expect after a few million years of evolution.

We do need to introduce microbes in the first place, which is not a major challenge, but the real question is how to encourage beneficial microbes to breed while discouraging harmful ones that may end up killing us.

Eco-balance

That is what Eco-balance (which is at the heart of the Gbiota technology) is all about.

Partly this is about conditions – particularly the moisture level – which is why I spend so much time talking about avoiding soils which are saturated for any length of time.

But to breed, microbes have to be fed. Partly that comes from decaying organic matter, but plants also exude sugars which are food for microbes.

Different species of plants exude different sugars which attract particular species of microbes – for example, sunflowers are particularly good at attracting and feeding mycorrhizal fungi.

We need a broad spectrum of microbes

The key message is that we need to be growing a broad spectrum of plants so we end up with the broad spectrum of gut biota needed for a healthy intelligent control system.

Companion planting

There is yet another reason for having multiple plants. Cruciferous vegetables, members of the cabbage family, are among the most nutritious vegetables – something well understood by the hordes of insects which devour them at astonishing speed.

We don’t want to use toxic chemicals; they will just kill off the microbes we are trying to breed. But by growing companion plants and harvesting at the baby green stage, it is possible to have a viable crop.

Harvest at the adolescent stage

Companion plants may provide some protection, but as soon as they are attacked by insects, their natural protection mechanism is to produce bitter chemicals so they don’t taste good.

However, if the entire crop is harvested at the baby green stage as a mixture, it will still taste sweet and be highly nutritious.

Ease of use – Ecobox and Tribox

The aim of the Ecobox system is to create a system where people who do not have gardens or gardening skills (my nominally fictitious character Mary, the single mum with three kids and three jobs) can have ready access to fresh vegetables full of beneficial microbes and nutrients.

Keen gardeners take a great deal of interest in the intricacies of gardening – the nutrients, the soil pH, the various species, etc. But the Marys of this world simply do not have the time, so we have to rethink how we can make this accessible.

Within the Gbiota movement we have growers who really enjoy these intricacies, so the plan is simple:

• They set up Gbiota beds to breed beneficial microbes and worms.
• They add minerals to grow the needed living, nutrient-rich soil.
• They produce the variety of seeds needed for successful Gbiota Triboxes and make these available online.

This inoculant is highly concentrated, so a 4 kg pack is sufficient for up to four Tribox towers for three months.

While we are setting up local growers, I can supply these inoculant and seed packs – at least in Australia. (Contact me at colin@gbiota.com if you are interested in becoming a Gbiota grower breeding beneficial microbes.)

Steps in setting up an Ecobox

These are the main steps needed to set up a Gbiota Ecobox.

1. Select boxes

Select suitable nesting boxes from the local hardware store. Twenty litres is a good size, but a bigger box can be partially filled and used as a terrarium.

The exact boxes are not critical as long as they nest. One box is not enough; four to six towers may be needed for a continuous supply.

2. Drill holes

Drill holes in the bases and lids. I have been using multiple holes, but I am now trialling just one large central hole; it is easier and saves the bother of ensuring the holes line up between levels.

3. Order inoculant and seeds

The inoculant and seeds are then ordered online (from a local supplier or www.pickandeat.shop).

4. Collect organic waste

Collect organic waste. Typically this will be kitchen waste, which may take some time to accumulate, but to get started any waste such as grass clippings can be used. Failing that, commercial potting mix can be used.

5. Fill breeding (middle) box with organic waste

The middle breeding boxes are partially filled with whatever organic waste is available, while the growing boxes are filled with whatever growing mix is available.

6. Add inoculant to boxes

The inoculant is then divided up between the growing and breeding boxes. This inoculant contains both living microbes and worms (and worm eggs), so it needs to be placed in the boxes immediately on arrival.

A layer is first placed on the surface and thoroughly watered.

7. Seed, cover and water

The selected seeds are then spread over the surface. Generally, baby greens will be grown, which require a higher density of seeds than when growing specimen plants.

A light sprinkling of water is then applied and, possibly, a lid placed on the box to form a terrarium to keep the seeds moist and to stop birds eating the seeds, if that is a problem in your area.

8. Water regularly when needed

The boxes can be watered with clean water if needed, if the soil starts to dry between flushings.

9. Flush soil blood through both boxes

At least once a week the soil blood must be collected from the bottom water reservoir and poured onto the plants in the top growing box.

This is important, as the brownish-looking liquid (I call it soil blood) is full of living creatures and nutrients and will become anaerobic if left standing. It must be kept in circulation.

10. Start harvesting using tipping

The plants may be ready to start harvesting between two to four weeks after seeding.

Only the tips of the leaves are harvested, leaving the remaining leaves to power plant growth.

If they are regularly harvested the plants will remain in this adolescent state for quite some time, simply trying to regrow. Plants remain sweet and tender in this adolescent stage.

If they are not harvested regularly, they will move into the adult state, when they can become bitter – particularly if they are attacked by insects. Once they have moved from the adolescent to the adult stage there is no going back.

11. Reseed (partial or full)

To keep a continuous supply of vegetables, extra seeds can be planted in between existing plants.

12. Swap breeding and growing boxes

After a period of between eight to twelve weeks, the mix in the middle breeding box should be ready for growing.

The level will have dropped, so additional soil from the top box can be added. Then the boxes are swapped so the breeding box now becomes the growing box and the now partially emptied growing box becomes the new breeding box.

Plant groups

Below is a list of the various plant groups. They offer a wide choice, but there are three that really stand out:

• Baby broccoli – one of the most nutritious plants and easy to grow.
• Linseed – good for Omega-3, which is critical for heart conditions.
• Alfalfa – the workhorse of baby greens and also improves soil quality.

The advantage of multi-crop planting is that there is always some plant that will flourish. Some plants seem invincible whatever happens. I always have some spinach, long leaf lettuce (an indestructible Chinese plant) and purple amaranth growing in my garden so I always have some veggies available.

Baby greens

• Baby Broccoli
• Chinese Broccoli
• Alfalfa
• Linseed
• Purple Amaranth
• Ruby Chard
• Sorrel
• Tatsoi
• Mizuna

Salad veggies

• Lettuce
• Celery
• Chervil
• Cress
• Watercress
• Mustard
• Radish
• Rocket
• Spring onion

Legumes

• Adzuki Bean
• Mung Bean

Cruciferous vegetables

• Broccoli sprouting
• Cabbage red
• Cabbage green
• Kale
• Kale Red Russian
• Bok Choy

Herbs

• Basil sweet
• Chicory
• Coriander
• Dill
• Kohlrabi
• Mustard
• Shiso
• Oregano
• Parsley
• Sage
• Thyme
• Lemon Balm

Diabetic-supporting plants

• Fenugreek
• Echinacea
• Bitter Melon
• Spinach
• Silverbeet
• Zucchini

Root crops

• Carrot
• Onion
• Beetroot
• Jicama

Ask for help if needed

This is a very simple system which is easy to learn, but if it all looks a bit complicated then do what I do with my mobile phone – get my granddaughters to sort it out for me. They really enjoy making us oldies look stupid.

Well, your granddaughters may be whiz kids on their mobile phones but they may not know too much about growing, so come to me at colin@gbiota.com for help – that is why it is a subscription site.