What did you do in your garden today?

[Mini Horses]

Haven't looked at Outside Pride but, will. I just don't NEED seed. Like to keep sources lined up tho. Dollar seed is sent in hand pkg of clear plastic, labeled with contents, much like your own saved seed. They will pkg large quantities. But for the odds I wanted, smaller was great, especially for $1...not 5-6. I want just a few seed for the yellow and purple cauli....eye candy in the garden! My one "never tried" wanna do it.

ETA...dollar seed had no colored cauli....been looking and find $4-5 for 25 seed + s/h. Prob bite the bullet before long. So roughly $15. for both.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Did a little bit of raised bed upkeep. Most of my gardening efforts were inside today - starting seeds in the garage.

 

[flowerbug]

got outside for a change. made progress. feel good and am happy to have accomplished something for a change out there. tomorrow hope for even more progress. that's all i can ask for really. back is doing ok.

 

[tortoise]

I learned that plants take up iodine from the soil. I don't use iodized salt much. I have iodine supplements, but they contain an inactive ingredient that makes me sick. I am thinking to pulverize the iodine supplement tablets and add them to garden amendments.

I also have a feather pillow we all hate. I am thinking to add the feathers to my garden for a slow-release nitrogen. My soil is VERY low in nitrogen, so it needs all the help it can get.

Azomite and blood meal are on my shopping list too.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Started putting out cardboard. It's a big job... Also watered the freshly planted seeds in the raised bed - then found that the seeds I started in the garage are sprouting. YaY!

 

[R2elk]

I learned that plants take up iodine from the soil. I don't use iodized salt much. I have iodine supplements, but they contain an inactive ingredient that makes me sick. I am thinking to pulverize the iodine supplement tablets and add them to garden amendments.

I also have a feather pillow we all hate. I am thinking to add the feathers to my garden for a slow-release nitrogen. My soil is VERY low in nitrogen, so it needs all the help it can get.

Azomite and blood meal are on my shopping list too.

In my experience, adding feathers to the soil is not very productive. They take a long time to decompose. Whenever I add coop cleanings to the garden they usually contain feathers and the feathers tend to make more of a mess than anything else. The shafts seem to take forever to decompose.

If you want to increase the nitrogen in your soil, add fresh chicken droppings in the fall and till them in at that time. By spring they will be fine.

 

[Messybun]

I learned that plants take up iodine from the soil. I don't use iodized salt much. I have iodine supplements, but they contain an inactive ingredient that makes me sick. I am thinking to pulverize the iodine supplement tablets and add them to garden amendments.

I also have a feather pillow we all hate. I am thinking to add the feathers to my garden for a slow-release nitrogen. My soil is VERY low in nitrogen, so it needs all the help it can get.

Azomite and blood meal are on my shopping list too.

Mine is extremely low in nitrogen too, the only place I can grow things has taken me years of work and mixing chicken manure in. I’m about to expand my garden spot for next year and I plan on getting as much horse manure as I can to start turning into the soil. At least inside my fence is better. I’ve had animals fertilizing and clover growing in it for years. Next person to get this property will be far better off.

 

[Mini Horses]

you want to increase the nitrogen in your soil, add fresh chicken droppings in the fall and till them in at that time. By spring they will be fine.

Absolutely. It's hot, so gotta be careful to let it compost some. That's why fall and till is best. But light side dressings on heavy feeders in spring can work if from an aged, composted pile first. Garden gold!

I'm planning a burn pile in my area...and burn off any current growth, toss coop clean out and wait.. Wait is the hard part. Been looking at seed this morning for only the 2 that I feel I "need"....s/h made them unacceptably expensive. So, by adding something else, a spread the s/h cost over more. . Any seed addict can see that makes sense!!

 

[flowerbug]

Mine is extremely low in nitrogen too, the only place I can grow things has taken me years of work and mixing chicken manure in. I’m about to expand my garden spot for next year and I plan on getting as much horse manure as I can to start turning into the soil. At least inside my fence is better. I’ve had animals fertilizing and clover growing in it for years. Next person to get this property will be far better off.

*nods* i think years ahead for my gardens when it comes down to composting in place (aka bury and let the worms figure it out). if i bury the longer term items down deep enough they're usually somewhat decomposed the next time i get to that space down that deep. often i find places where i've buried things and it has turned into material that looks just like peat moss. it's a treasure hunt.

if you are doing rotations of different crops you should be able to get by without a huge amount of fertilizer being required or added. i only add my worm compost (and worms because i don't sort them out) to crops that are the heaviest feeders (tomatoes, onions and some peppers) the rest of the crops do well on 2nd year or even 3rd year rotation through that space.

another way to get some nitrogen is to have some alfalfa, large red clover, trefoil and clovers, you can chop this and use it as part of a mulch and eventually that's prime fertilzer thanks to the worms.

keeping the worm buckets has been such a great learning experience for me and not using any synthetic chemical fertilizers has also been good. it makes me think of the longer term and how to keep nutrients cycling in place and also aware of how much i harvest from an area so i know what i have to return to that same space.

harvesting sod (letting an area go fallow and then taking chunks of what grows and burying it) after a few years is also a way to take advantage of what nature, weeds, worms, ants, etc. can do for you in bringing up nutrients from your subsoil (and below that your bedrock). this ultimately your base carrying capacity for the bulk minerals and some trace elements for a location. so above that for minerals you only have to account for what you remove and what you might have to supplement for plant growth, but once you have an area properly set up there shouldn't be too much need to bring in trace elements. the harder parts are keeping your erosion rate within bounds and also keeping certain issues from getting worse (salinity if you irrigate, hard pan layers if you till, etc.)

and of course, road kill will be a highly rich source of nitrogen and other nutrients not normally used in a garden. while it may not be pleasant at times at least it is usually available.

 

[Hinotori]

Good horse manure is the very best for a garden in my opinion. I don't have that so I do use chicken. Feathers decompose quickly here, but not for Mom. I have to bag stuff for her when they aren't molting as feathers will last years where she is.