The Next Step
So, we've taken some seeds, put them in soil and watered them. Now how can we make it look like we know what we're doing when people come over. Well, we hedge our bets.
Feeding the Plants, Feeding the Soil
Some people have incredible backyard gardens that they've been showing off for years. They do have skills, after so much experience, but their secret is that they constantly replenish the nutrients that are being used by their plants.
Compost--I've briefly mentioned compost before and I will talk more about it in another chapter. Compost is partially decomposed organic material, with many nutrients immediately available to plants and others slow-released as the compost breaks down further. Compost mixed into the planting holes or used as top dressing is the best, most basic way to feed your plants and your soil.
Compost tea can be made and watered into the soil, but I prefer adding the coarse materials and letting them break down over time. Straight compost has the same effect as compost tea.
Fertilizer--I don't use chemical fertilizers, anymore. I used to spray Miracle-Gro on everything, with good results, don't get me wrong, but I became concerned about using concentrated chemical compounds that can leach into the ground water over time and never break down. My dad used ammonium nitrate fertilizer in his garden. It was in the form of little white pellets that you had to scoop out with a tin can, because the stuff burned your skin if you scooped it in your bare hands. Run off of chemical fertilizers contributes to algae growth in bodies of water like lakes and ponds. There are organic contributors, as well, but unchecked algae growth is an ugly by-product of current large scale chemical agriculture practices.
Amendments--There are several nutrients that plants use most and use up fastest, depleting the soil. Nitrogen is number one. Nitrogen can be replaced by planting cover crops and turning them into the soil, by using composted manures to top dress the soil, by using grass clippings as mulch or by adding blood meal.
Phosphorus is the next element that has to be replenished often. Bone meal mixed into the planting soil will break down, releasing phosphorus and calcium.
Potassium is as important as the others. I scatter wood ash over the garden several times a year to add potassium, but kelp meal would be a good choice too.
Worm castings became wildly popular back in the Seventies and they are probably still the most popular organic soil amendment. I have used outdoor potting soil that contained worm castings, but I haven't used straight castings. I'd like to, I just haven't. I do try to increase the population of earthworms in my soil so I have my own source of castings. Since I started this garden plot, I've gone from no earthworms to very large earthworms everywhere I dig.
Plant food--Plant foods are booster shots for your plants through the course of the season. Organic plant foods tend to be slow release, easily available nutrients. Liquid or water soluble plant foods are diluted and then watered into the soil around plants.
Dry plant foods are worked into the top layer of soil, or side dressed around the plants.
I like to mix dry plant food into the planting soil and then feed every two to three weeks through the summer with diluted liquid plant food. I've been using a mix of one-half cap full of Nature's Care, one tablespoon of fish emulsion and one teaspoon of epsom salts in two gallons of water in my watering can and then applying up to a half gallon of the mixture around the base of each of my tomato and pepper plants. I can no longer find the Nature's Care liquid anywhere, so I'll be looking for a new liquid plant food soon.
Some people insist that using epsom salts does nothing for your plants, while others swear by it. All I know is, since I started using it, I have the sweetest tomatoes I've ever tasted. Epsom salts contain certain micro nutrients that may be missing from your soil, including magnesium.
Foliar feeding--Plants can absorb nutrients through their leaves very quickly. I do foliar feeding occasionally instead of watering plant food in. I mix a dilution of the products above with half measures of the plant foods to water. I fill a two gallon pump up sprayer with the mixture and apply it to my plants, completely wetting the leaves and stems. My plants are growing so fast right now it's hard to tell if foliar feeding works better than watering in, but I'll take the results either way.
I read somewhere that organic gardening isn't about growing plants, it's about growing soil. That's a good way to think of it and feeding the soil is how it's done.
Stephen
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