CHAPTER 4

Fertilizers and Garden Teas

Just as soil structure is essential to building a healthy garden, soil nutrition is equally important. Plants need a variety of nutrients to perform their best: primary nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium), secondary nutrients (sulfur, calcium, and magnesium), and a collection of micronutrients.

Plants growing in their native soil and conditions are able to extract the mix that they need from the soil and work within the ecosystem. Fallen plant material, soil wildlife, and companion plants create a cycle of resupplying nutrients back to the soil. In nature, fallen plant leaves decompose in place, building the soil and feeding the microorganisms. These plants may contain all that they need to feed the next year’s growth, or they may have a symbiotic relationship with other plants.

In home gardens, we often disrupt the natural soil feeding systems that exist. We clean up spent plant material as opposed to letting it compost in place. The plants we grow may not be native to our area, or we may harvest parts of the plants that would continue its lifecycle such as flowers, fruit, and seeds. To have a lush and productive garden, nutrients need to replace that which we are removing and support the plants in growing the way they are meant to.

In most cases, adding an adequate amount of compost and organic mulch is enough to provide the nutrition plants need. There are times when a little extra nutrition can help boost fast-growing annuals, container gardens, indoor plants, and other types of gardens that do best with supplemental nutrition in the form of fertilizer.

Natural vs. Synthetic Fertilizers

Natural fertilizers are derived from minerals, plants, and animal products while synthetic fertilizers are synthesized chemicals of nutrients. While plants will use both natural and synthetic fertilizers indiscriminately, there are some important differences in how they function. Synthetic fertilizer molecules are made to be readily available to plants, and therefore can be hard to regulate. It’s easy to overapply synthetic fertilizer and cause plants to take up too much nutrition, too quickly, causing fertilizer “burn.” Additionally, leftover nutrients from synthetic fertilizers are washed away through the groundwater and can be a detriment to the ecological health of the surrounding areas and waterways.

Natural fertilizers are more forgiving because, often, they are not as readily available for plants. Soil wildlife such as bacteria, fungi, and insects break down the organic matter into plant-available forms. This supports the living biome of the soil, regulates the speed at which the nutrients are available, and encourages the plant to grow stable roots and expand the area that they collect nutrients from. Fertilizers from natural sources are a wonderful way to support plant growth while protecting soil life.

Primary Nutrients

Primary nutrients—N-P-K or nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium—are required by plants in relatively large amounts. An imbalance of the primary nutrients can severely affect your ability to produce healthy plants.

Nitrogen: Nitrogen is the nutrient that stimulates plant growth above the soil. Nitrogen is also important in photosynthesis. An overabundance of nitrogen can cause plants to be tall and leafy, without producing flowers or fruit.

Phosphorus: Phosphorus stimulates root growth and flowering. It helps to establish young plants and aids photosynthesis, respiration, and growth.

Potassium: Potassium promotes all-around plant health, vigor, and disease resistance.

Secondary Nutrients

Secondary nutrients—sulfur, calcium, and magnesium—are also important to plants and are required in moderate amounts.

Calcium: Calcium is important for root and cell development and for ripening fruit and seed.

Magnesium: Magnesium helps plants absorb phosphorus, nitrogen, and sulfur. It also helps with seed ripening and germination.

Sulfur: Sulfur helps plants absorb calcium, magnesium, and potassium.

Micronutrients

Micronutrients are required by many plants and make up healthy soil. Trace elements such as iron, zinc, molybdenum, manganese, boron, copper, cobalt, silicon, and chlorine help plants grow heroically and fight off disease and pest threats.

Soil Amendments

Soil amendments are materials that can be added to the soil to amend its structure, pH, and available nutrients. Soil conditioners are an amendment that is primarily added to modify the soil structure to create space for air, water, and roots. Fertilizers primarily supply nutrients to support plant growth and feed the soil’s microorganisms.

In many cases, organic amendments serve both as a soil conditioner and fertilizer. For instance, adding compost and mulch as a topdressing to gardens each year is a great way to continue to build healthy soil by adding organic materials that aerate the soil, hold on to moisture, and contain nutrients. If, however, after working to build the soil, your plants are not performing well or if there are excessive pest or disease problems, there are other natural materials that can be beneficial for the soil.

Observation, Experimentation, and Lab Testing

Whenever you read about soil amending and fertilizing, you will likely see a recommendation to do some soil testing first to determine what amendments you may need to add. There are home tests available that can evaluate the N-P-K levels in your soil and lab tests that can monitor a few more factors as well.

For a healthy home garden, soil lab tests are often not a worthwhile expense. In most cases, soil testing covers only pH, soil structure, and some nutrients levels. Most of this can be approximated through the DIY tests from chapter 1 in addition to observation and experimentation.

If you have any concerns about toxicity in the soil, like heavy metals, pesticides, and herbicides, it’s certainly worth finding a testing facility that can perform a thorough evaluation of your soil health and provide recommendations how to repair it.

The bottom line: Unless you are farming agricultural land or have serious health issues with your soil, following the recipes and ideas in this book will allow you to build garden health over the long term while giving you the skills to learn what works and what doesn’t in your space.

COMPOST

Adding garden compost to your garden beds is a free and environmentally friendly way to improve the organic matter, microbes, and soil structure. Regularly add properly finished and screened compost to garden beds as it is ready throughout the year.

LIME

Garden lime is ground limestone rock, which is a slow-release amendment for treating acidic soil. It contains calcium carbonate, so it not only raises the soil pH, but it also adds calcium. Dolomite lime contains magnesium as well.

ROCK PHOSPHATE

This is a slow-release mineralized source of phosphorus for amending soil. Most home gardens have adequate amounts of phosphorus in the soil and therefore rock phosphate is not needed. (See the sidebar “Phosphorus in the Home Garden.”)

MINERAL ROCK DUST

Mineral rock dust has many other names such as glacial rock dust, soil remineralizer, and mineral fines. It is a slow-release, finely crushed rock that contains secondary nutrients (magnesium, iron, and manganese) and trace elements. Rock dust helps remineralize the soil and improves soil structure, moisture retention, and drainage.

GREENSAND

Greensand is a shallow marine mineral that is mined. It provides iron, potassium, magnesium, and manganese. Greensand also helps improve the soil structure by loosening hard, compacted soil while also improving its moisture- and nutrient-retention properties. Greensand is quite versatile as a soil amendment. It can absorb excess water in clay soils and hold water for plant availability in sandy soils.

BONE MEAL

Bone meal is finely ground bovine, poultry, or fish bones that provide a high level of phosphorus. There is a long-standing recommendation that bone meal should be added to the planting hole of new shrubs and trees, but additional phosphorus is not needed in most home garden soils. (See the sidebar “Phosphorus in the Home Garden," on page xx.)

BLOOD MEAL

Blood meal is a byproduct of cattle and hog farming that is very high in nitrogen and full of trace minerals. It comes in a dried powder form and can be included in certified organic soil mixes (although this doesn’t necessarily mean that the animal or farm was certified organic). Alfalfa meal is a plant-based alternative to blood meal.

ALFALFA MEAL

Alfalfa meal is a source of nitrogen and potassium plus a broad spectrum of other minerals, vitamins, amino acids, and the growth hormone triacontanol. It helps improve the soil structure and helps plants access nutrients. Alfalfa meal is also a great amendment to activate the compost pile.

KELP MEAL

Kelp meal has low levels of nitrogen and potassium, but it is used more as a soil amendment due to its multitude of readily available trace elements and over 60 naturally chelated minerals. Kelp meal also improves soil structure, prevents nutrient leaching, and increases soil’s water-holding capacity. The benefits of kelp meal can aid the soil for many years after its application.

WOOD ASH

Wood ashes can be added to garden soil to raise soil pH, and they are also a source of potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Note that wood ash can cause salt injury, so it’s best to use less than one would use lime in the garden.

BIOCHAR

Biochar is the charcoal left over from burning lumber waste or other organic material at a very high temperature in a low-oxygen environment, which is called “pyrolysis.” The resulting material is pure carbon, which is exceptional at holding nutrients and moisture in the soil. Raw biochar needs to be inoculated, or “charged,” with nutrients or it will absorb nutrients from the soil. Combine raw biochar with compost and compost tea or worm castings and leachate for one month to inoculate it before adding to soil. Alternatively, add biochar directly to your compost pile and it will be added to the garden when the compost is finished.

OYSTER SHELL FLOUR

Oyster shell flour is another name for finely ground oyster shells, which consist of approximately 95 percent calcium carbonate and many minerals. It supports root development, raises the pH in acidic soils, and aids plants with nutrient absorption. It’s beneficial when added to soil where one plans to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, and other vegetables that succumb to blossom end rot, which is a sign of calcium deficiency that results from inconsistent irrigation.

WORM CASTINGS

Worm castings are worm-digested organic material—a.k.a., vermicompost. They are nutrient-rich and contain many microbes. Worm castings retain soil nutrients and moisture allowing both to be more available for plant uptake. Worms filter out heavy metals and contaminants from the soil, which makes castings an excellent fertilizer for organic gardens.

COFFEE CHAFF

Coffee chaff is the light and papery outer husks of coffee beans that are removed when the beans are roasted. Coffee roasters produce an abundance of chaff as a waste product and are often happy to give it away to eager gardeners. Coffee chaff is rich in nutrients and has an oily or waxy consistency, so it is best added in moderation to the compost bin rather than directly to the soil.

MYCORRHIZAE

Mycorrhizae are beneficial fungi that live in the soil. Visit a forest and gently pull back the humus layer on top to see the white, weblike networks of mycorrhizae that help plant roots draw nutrients, stimulating plant growth and root development. When garden soil is disturbed through digging or turning, the mycorrhizal network is destroyed. Many bagged soil mixes can be found that contain these beneficial fungi; however, there is a question as to whether or not they can live in a bagged product and be transferred successfully to the garden. The best way to add mycorrhizae to a garden is to create a hospitable environment for them to grow as they do in the forest. Layer compost and mulch on the top of the soil and leave the soil structure below undisturbed.

ANIMAL MANURES

Organic animal manures are inexpensive soil amendments, but they vary widely in nutrient content depending on the type of manure and its age. Fresh animal manures that have not been composted with bedding (like straw) have higher nutrients. As manure ages and is exposed to rain, its nutrition levels drop. Manure should be composted at high temperatures to kill any pathogens that can be transferred to the soil and root vegetables. Be sure to look for manure from local organic farms to ensure that you are not adding unwanted medications, pesticides, and herbicides to your garden.

MUSHROOM MANURE

Mushroom manure is a byproduct of mushroom farming. It is usually made up of the composted substrate medium used to grow mushrooms. This substrate can contain a wide variety of ingredients, such as animal manure, animal bedding, wood chips, peat moss, gypsum, blood meal, soybean meal, potash, lime, and chalk. Look for organic mushroom manure as a soil amendment for garden beds. Use this rich manure sparingly or allow well-composted manure to sit uncovered from fall to spring before adding it to the garden to avoid salt injury.

N-P-K of Animal Manures

SOURCE OF MANURE	N-P-K*	BENEFITS	WARNINGS
CHICKEN	3-2-2	Very high in nitrogen. Weed seeds destroyed when digested.	Must be composted. Too strong for direct application.
COW/STEER	1.3-2-2 08-0.5-0.5	Easily composted.
HORSE	0.5-0.2-0.6	Rich in organic matter. Often includes straw.	Can be filled with undigested herbicides like Clopyralid and Aminopyralid that will harm plants. Use caution.
SHEEP/LLAMA	0.4-0.3-0.8	Well digested and high in potassium.	Labor-intensive to collect manure from field grazers.
RABBIT	2-1.4-0.6	High in nitrogen and phosphorus.
MUSHROOM	0.7-0.3-0.3		Usually still contains animal byproducts in its composted substrate.

*N-P-K can vary widely from these numbers as it depends on the source, animal feed, and composting methods. Ask for data from the supplier for the most accurate numbers.

WHEN TO AMEND?

As organic amendments are much slower to release nutrients into the soil, amend gardens in fall for spring planting to give the amendments time to become available to plants. The exception is composted manures, as many of the nutrients are already soluble and ready for plant uptake.

Phosphorus in the Home Garden

Rose and bulb fertilizers are often labeled as “bloom boosters” because the high levels of phosphorus encourage flowering in plants. If you’re noticing that your container plants and hanging baskets aren’t flowering as much as they should be, then adding some additional phosphorus could be the key to more blooms. That being said, the ground soil in a home garden probably has adequate amounts of phosphorus. Adding more than is needed by the plants can run off into water systems, which creates environmental issues. Even more concerning is that phosphorus is a finite resource and humans are consuming it for agriculture purposes at alarming rates. While farmed land may need phosphorus to be replenished, in the home garden it is only needed when a soil test shows a deficiency or when fertilizing plants in potting soil.

Fertilizer Recipes

There are many pre-blended fertilizer mixes available to purchase commercially, but it can be much more economical (and satisfying) to create your own blend of organic fertilizer.

GRANULAR NATURAL FERTILIZER BLENDING

Many natural fertilizers are sold in granular form. The packaging will list its N-P-K analysis and possibly list any other secondary nutrients and micronutrients it contains. Granular natural fertilizers are easy to use, forgiving to blend, and release nutrients slowly in the soil. Even better, the dry granules can be mixed together to create fertilizer blends to best support the types of plants you are growing.

The key to making your own dry organic fertilizer blends is to create variety in your blend so that there are different types of available N-P-K as well as sources for secondary nutrients and micronutrients.

Fertilizing Sick Plants

Fertilizers are intended to enhance the production of your garden, not solve plant health issues. Plants can be sick for many reasons, and if you are adding organic matter and supporting healthy soil, then soil fertility is not likely to be the issue. Plant health issues are best looked at individually and tested to look for solutions. Air temperature, soil temperature, overwatering, underwatering, herbicides, pesticides, plastics, diseases, fungi, pests, and soil toxicity are just some of the reasons that plant health can fail. Fertilizing won’t help in those cases.

Creating your own dry fertilizer blends is meant to be used as a plant booster that works along with the other components of this book, such as building healthy soil with compost and mulching.

If you have specific nutrient deficiencies they will show up as plant health indicators such as disease, pests, dieback, and discoloration. If your plants are not performing well, and you think that it might be a nutrient deficiency, there are some things you can try:

• Revisit soil health, structure, and pH.

• Try adding a balanced fertilizer blend.

• Send away soil for a lab test (although keep in mind that some nutrients are not evaluated in soil tests).

• Contact your local Master Gardeners Extension Service for advice.

• Remove the plant and try a different plant in its place.

GRANULAR FERTILIZER BLEND INGREDIENTS

There are many organic sources for dry granules that can be used as fertilizer. Some are easier to find than others; some are byproducts of animal farming; and some come from fishing, mining, and farming. In any case, it’s worth a bit of time looking at each one of the sources that’s available to you and evaluating whether or not it’s something that you want to use to fertilize your plants.

These are also the ingredients that make up many commercial organic blends. They can be certified as “organic” because the material is organic (in that it comes from nature), but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the materials come from certified organic farms. The source for each product varies widely and can have quite different N-P-K ratings. The following lists some examples of N-P-K on products available in North America.

Fertilizers and Water Solubility

While it seems that you could simply add the granules to a gallon (3.8 L) of water to extract the nutrients, it’s not that simple. The nutrients must be water-soluble to be converted from a dry application to a liquid form. As we discussed earlier, many organic fertilizers work because microbes need to consume and digest them to make the nutrients available to plants. For many of the dry ingredients, it is not possible to make a liquid fertilizer by dissolving it in water. There are a few that are at least partially water-soluble, though, and they make a lovely liquid fertilizers, like the recipe for "Indoor Plant Fertilizer,".

NITROGEN SOURCES	N-P-K	AVAILABILITY	NOTES
BLOOD MEAL	14-0-0	fast	repels deer
FEATHER MEAL	13-0-0	slow
FISH MEAL	9-4.5-0	moderate	odor can attract pests
SOYBEAN MEAL	7-1-2	slow to moderate	one of the largest GMO crops
SHRIMP MEAL	6-6-0	slow	source of calcium and chitin*
COTTONSEED MEAL	5-2-1	slow	acidic
ALFALFA MEAL	3-0-3	slow	growth hormone triacontanol
CRAB MEAL	4-3-0	slow	source of calcium and chitin*
PHOSPHORUS SOURCES
ROCK PHOSPHATE	0-3-0	slow
SOFT ROCK PHOSPHATE (SOLUBLE)	0-5-0	slow
MINERALIZED PHOSPHATE	0-13-1	slow	finite resource
BONE MEAL	2-16-0	slow to moderate
FISHBONE MEAL	6-18-0	fast
NEEM SEED MEAL	6-2-1	slow	also called Neem cake
POTASSIUM SOURCES
MINED POTASSIUM SULFATE/POTASH	0-0-50	very fast	very water soluble, doesn’t add bulk to the soil
KELP MEAL	1-0.5-3	fast
WOOD ASH	0-1-3	fast	can cause salt injury, use with caution
ALFALFA MEAL	3-0-3	slow
LANGBEINITE	0-0-22	moderate
GREENSAND	0-0-3	very slow
SEAWEED	1-1-17	fast

GRANULAR FERTILIZER RECIPES

All-Purpose Blend 7-7-7

Adding an all-purpose fertilizer can increase vegetable and flower production. Apply in early spring before planting.

• 3 parts blood meal

• 3 parts bone meal

• 1 part potassium sulfate

Easy Peasy Two-Ingredient Blend 2.8-3.2-2.4

Just two ingredients make up this fertilizer blend.

• 4 parts alfalfa meal

• 1 part bone meal

Plant-Based Recipe 3-1-2

This recipe has no animal products or mined minerals.

• 3 parts kelp meal

• 2 parts alfalfa meal

• 2 parts Neem seed meal

• 1 part cottonseed meal

Land and Sea Recipe 5-5-5

Nutrients from the sea make up the majority of this blend, with some mined minerals to balance it out.

• 2 parts fish meal

• 1 part fishbone meal

• 1 part kelp meal

• 1 part langbeinite

Annual Flower Boost 2.8-6.0-1.4

Adding fertilizers can increase both flower size, number of blooms, and keep blooms lasting longer.

• 3 parts shrimp meal

• 3 parts bone meal

• 2 parts alfalfa meal

• 2 parts greensand

• 1 part kelp meal

Container Garden Fertilizer 4-3-2

This container garden fertilizer includes fast-acting fertilizer for strong performance in a short growing season.

• 4 parts kelp meal

• 1 part fishbone meal

• 1 part blood meal

APPLICATION RATE

“Home gardeners tend to over-fertilize flower and vegetable beds. Plan to reduce or eliminate fertilizer applications in these areas if an inch or more of organic matter is incorporated into the soil of established beds at least once a year.” —University of Maryland Extension

The only true way to determine how much fertilizer your garden needs is to get a soil lab test done that will report how much fertilizer is needed. In the absence of a soil test, look to the application rates on the ingredients you are blending, and use those as your guideline, using the least amount suggested to start. Knowing that fertilizer is a supplemental source of nutrients, it is not necessary to have a heavy hand. Applying small amounts of fertilizer at regular intervals will allow you to judge the effectiveness and adjust your application depending on the results.

Texas A&M University System AgriLife Extension recommends using 2 to 3 pounds (0.9 to 1.4 kg) of fertilizer, such as 10-20-10 for every 100 square feet (9.3 square meters) of garden area. Use 2 pounds (0.9 kg) of fertilizer if the garden is sandy and 3 pounds (1.4 kg) if the soil is mostly clay.” Editor’s note: Metric measurements added by publisher.

That being said, there are a few general guidelines for different garden formats like raised beds, container gardens, and indoor plants.

GARDEN BEDS	2 lbs. per 100 sq. ft. (.9 kg per 9 sq. meters); determine needs based on soil test
RAISED BEDS (VEGETABLES)	1/4 cup per square foot (59 ml per .09 square meter)
CONTAINERS / HANGING BASKETS	1 Tbsp. per gallon (15 ml per 3.8 liter)

Save the Epsom Salts for Your Bath

The internet is filled with the magical powers of Epsom salts for your garden as a fertilizer and miracle cure from everything from pest problems to leaf diseases. But does your garden really need it? Likely not. Epsom salts are magnesium sulfate, and while magnesium and sulfur are secondary nutrients essential for plant health, they are rarely deficient in the home garden. If you are building healthy soil with compost and organic matter, there is surely more than enough of these nutrients for your plants. Epsom salts are much better used in your bathtub, where they can give your sore muscles some pampering after a day out tending to the garden.

Garden Teas and Foliar Sprays

Garden teas are home-brewed liquid fertilizer preparations that extract soluble nutrients to be spread back into the garden through the soil or through direct application to a plant’s leaves. Liquid fertilizers can be used as a soil drench applied to the soil when watering or as a foliar spray. Garden teas and foliar sprays should be used with caution and should be highly diluted to avoid injuring plants.

Green Garden Tea

Green garden tea is a great way to use garden and lawn trimmings to quickly add nutrients into water for the garden. Making garden tea is as simple as making tea, although in much larger batches.

Materials

Two 5-gallon (19 L)buckets, one with a lid

Drill

Lawn and garden clippings

Rainwater or dechlorinated water

Make It!

1. Drill holes in the bottom of one of the buckets to make a strainer. Set the bucket with holes inside the second bucket.

2. Collect garden clippings that are green, healthy, and full of nitrogen, like freshly mowed grass clippings from lawns free of chemical herbicide or fertilizer. Avoid any diseased, pest-infested plant material or seeds, as this process will not sterilize the plants.

3. Roughly chop the clippings by making a pile and cutting into it using hedge shears or running over them with a lawnmower. Pack the clippings into the nesting buckets two-thirds of the way full; submerge the clippings in rainwater. Stir to allow the water to saturate the entire contents of the bucket.

4. Put the lid on the top bucket and leave it in the garden for three days. Stir at least twice each day.

5. Strain the garden tea from the water by lifting the top bucket and allowing the water to drain through to the bottom bucket.

6. Dilute 1 part garden tea with 10 parts rainwater when watering the garden.

Making Foliar Spray

Make a garden tea into a foliar spray by diluting the mixture as directed in the recipe and straining it through fine fabric like cheesecloth, a nut milk bag, or a pillowcase. Add the liquid into a spray bottle and add a few drops of Castille soap to help it stick to the foliage. Apply the spray to leaves in the morning before the heat of day. Always test on one leaf/plant before widespread application.

Weed Tea

Weed tea is made a little differently than green garden tea, as the material is filtered through fabric to ensure that no weed seeds or plant parts are reintroduced into the soil.

Materials

One 5-gallon (19 L) bucket with lid

Cotton pillowcase

Drill

Rainwater or dechlorinated water

Weeds and wild plants

PLANT	NITROGEN (N)	PHOSPHORUS (P)	POTASSIUM (K)	CALCIUM (CA)
ALFALFA	x
BENTGRASS (Agrostis SPP.)
BORAGE (Borago officinalis)			x
BINDWEED (Convolvulus arvensis)		x	x	x
CHAMOMILE (Matricaria chamomilla)		x	x	x
CHICKWEED (Stellaria media)		x	x
CLOVER (Trifolium SPP.)	x	x
COMFREY (Symphytum officinale)	x		x	x
DANDELION (Taraxacum officinale)		x	x	x
DOCK (Rumex obtusifolias)		x	x	x
FENNEL (Foeniculum vulgare)	x	x
GARLIC (Allium sativum)
KELP (Laminaria digitate)	x			x
LAMB’S QUARTERS (Chenopodium album)	x	x	x	x
LUPINE (Lupinus SPP.)	x	x
MULLEIN (Verbascum SPP.)			x
OAK BARK (Quercus robur)			x
PIGWEED / REDROOT (Amaranthus retroflexus)		x	x	x
PLANTAIN (Plantago major)
PURSLANE (Portulaca oleracea)			x	x
STINGING NETTLE (Urtica dioica)	x		x	x
VALERIAN (Valeriana officinalis)
YARROW (Achillea millefolium)	x	x	x

PLANT	SULPHUR (S)	MAGNESIUM (MG)	MICRONUTRIENTS*
ALFALFA			Fe
BENTGRASS (Agrostis SPP.)	x		Mn, Cu, Zn
BORAGE (Borago officinalis)
BINDWEED (Convolvulus arvensis)
CHAMOMILE (Matricaria chamomilla)
CHICKWEED (Stellaria media)
CLOVER (Trifolium SPP.)
COMFREY (Symphytum officinale)		x	Fe
DANDELION (Taraxacum officinale)		x	Fe, Cu, Si
DOCK (Rumex obtusifolias)			Fe
FENNEL (Foeniculum vulgare)
GARLIC (Allium sativum)	x
KELP (Laminaria digitate)	x	x
LAMB’S QUARTERS (Chenopodium album)			Mn
LUPINE (Lupinus SPP.)
MULLEIN (Verbascum SPP.)	x	x	Fe
OAK BARK (Quercus robur)
PIGWEED / REDROOT (Amaranthus retroflexus)			Fe
PLANTAIN (Plantago major)	x		Mn, Fe
PURSLANE (Portulaca oleracea)	x	x	Mn
STINGING NETTLE (Urtica dioica)		x	Fe, Cu
VALERIAN (Valeriana officinalis)			Si
YARROW (Achillea millefolium)		x	Cu

*Micronutrients: Manganese (Mn), Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu), Cobalt (Co), Zinc (Zn), Silicon (Si)

Make It!

1. Finely chop the weeds using hedge shears, a lawnmower, or a leaf blower on reverse. Be careful when using electric tools like a lawnmower because rocks, roots, and twigs can fly out or damage the equipment.

2. Add the weeds to a pillowcase and set it inside a 5-gallon (19 L) bucket. Pour rainwater over the clippings to completely cover.

3. Put a lid on the bucket and leave it in the garden for 3 days; stir at least twice each day.

4. Strain the garden tea from the water by lifting the pillowcase and pressing out the water.

5. Dilute 1 part weed tea with 10 parts rainwater when watering the garden.

Comfrey Garden Smoothie

Technically, this concoction is a slurry, but the gorgeous green deliciousness looks and smells so good I’ve renamed it a garden smoothie. They both refer to the same thing, blending a solid food with a liquid to make a thicker liquid that easily delivers nutrients. In a smoothie, it’s typically fruit and vegetables blended into a delicious drink, and this comfrey smoothie is no different, except you don’t drink it. Instead, you serve it to your plants. Comfrey is glorious food for your garden and pureeing it in a blender is a great way to spread the goodness throughout the garden while watering.

The same reason comfrey is so prolific in the garden is the reason why it makes a good fertilizer. Comfrey is a vigorous grower in any soil because it has a taproot that reaches deep and is very effective at drawing up hard-to-access nutrients from the soil. When those big leaves are chopped, blended, and added to water, they will quickly send nutrients back to the soil.

Materials

1 part comfrey leaves

3 parts rainwater or dechlorinated water

Blender

Watering can

Make It!

Cut up the comfrey leaves and add them to a blender. Fill the blender with water and purèe the leaves into a slurry. Use immediately, 1 tablespoon (15 ml) per gallon (3.8 L) when watering; discard any leftovers into the compost bin.

Miracle Plant or Invasive Weed?

If you grow comfrey, then you are either a huge fan of this super herb or you think I’m completely off my rocker for suggesting it be included in the home garden. Comfrey—and many other medicinal wild plants like dandelions and stinging nettle—is so prolific in the garden that oftentimes a gardener is cursing these as horrid weeds rather than praising their tenacity. Yet that is exactly why we should be praising them. Their deep taproots that are nearly impossible to dig up will break up hard, compacted soil and mine deep down for vital minerals. The soil loosens, and the plants then drop their leaves full of nutrition to compost in place and rebuild the soil.

Amazing, right?

And just to make sure there are plenty of these plants to do the hard work of repairing the soil, they set a gazillion seeds and plant themselves everywhere. In the 1950s a sterile comfrey variety called ‘Bocking 14’ was developed for gardeners who wanted to include this lovely plant without it taking over the entire garden. If you have ever tried to dig one up, you know that even the tiniest part of the root will grow back into a robust leafy giant in just a few months. If you want to include comfrey, but fear the repercussions, you have a safer option by planting ‘Bocking 14’. For everyone else, plant comfrey, harvest it liberally, and reap the benefits.

Indoor Plant Fertilizer 5-2-5 (Undiluted)

There are times when it’s easier to use a liquid fertilizer than a granular one, such as when you are watering houseplants. In summer, houseplants respond to warmth and light, and it stimulates their growth. But due to the closed system of soil they live in, they are completely dependent on their human plant parents for available nutrients.

It’s good practice to add a slow-release dry fertilizer at planting and again annually. In summer, plants will benefit from an application of an additional water-soluble fertilizer. And you will appreciate having one that doesn’t have a strong odor! Many homebrew liquid fertilizers are filled with microorganisms that support healthy outdoor soil but are not great for indoor soil.

Materials

1 tablespoon (15 ml) soluble seaweed

1 tablespoon (15 ml) alfalfa meal

1 tablespoon (15 ml) blood meal

1 tablespoon (15 ml) soft rock phosphate

1 gallon (3.8 L) rainwater or dechlorinated water

Make It!

1. Measure the ingredients and add them to a glass bottle or jar with a lid. Stir well to combine and shake well before each use.

2. Dilute the fertilizer by adding 1/2 cup (120 ml) of the liquid fertilizer blend into 4 cups (950 ml) of water in a watering can. Water houseplants with the diluted fertilizer mix monthly in spring and summer and discontinue use in fall and winter.

Use the diluted fertilizer immediately. The prepared fertilizer can be stored in a cool, dark location for up to 3 months. Discard if the liquid shows signs of spoilage such as discoloration, mold, or an unpleasant odor.

Alfalfa Tea for Seedlings and Roses

Alfalfa is prized as a cover crop and as a fertilizer for its high levels of nitrogen. It is also rich with vitamins (A, D, B1, B6, E, K, and U) and minerals (calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and zinc) and also contains the growth hormone triacontanol. This growth hormone makes alfalfa tea a great fertilizer for seedlings when applied after they have developed their first two true leaves. The American Rose Society also sings its praises and recommends feeding homebrewed alfalfa tea to roses and perennials.

Materials

1/2 cup (120 ml) alfalfa meal

1 gallon (3.8 L) rainwater or dechlorinated water

Make It!

You can easily adjust the volume of this recipe for your garden needs. For a smaller amount to feed seedlings, add the ingredients to a large, glass Mason jar with a lid and infuse in a warm place in direct sunlight. For a larger amount to feed roses and perennials, add the ingredients to a 5-gallon (19 L) bucket or large bin.

1. Measure the ingredients and add them to the container of your choice.

Stir well, cover with a lid, and set in the sun. For best results brew for at least 36 hours, stirring at least twice each day. The brew is ready when the solid material settles at the bottom and the liquid above is an orange color. It should smell sweet and fresh, like hay.

2. To apply, move the tea out of the sun to cool, and then stir the ingredients again. Pour the tea directly from the jar or bucket onto your plants, being careful not to displace soil and roots. Strain the mixture through a pillowcase if you prefer to add it to a watering can.