Post by ogeezer on Mar 10, 2007 6:37:17 GMT -6
If the soil is weak, your plants will be weak and subject to insect infestation. For healthy plants, periodic treatment of fertilizers is advised but this can be a costly undertaking with large gardens and landscaped plantings. Therefore, instead of buying fertilizers, make your own from items you might have around the old homestead.
FISH EMULSION
Plants sprayed with this mixture seem more insect repellent, and generally show some renewed growth. The only pitfall is the fishy, oceany odor that is detectable for a day or two after the application. Next time you go fishing, and the fillets are in the "frig", take all the fish remains (bones, guts, head, fins) and puree them in a blender to a smooth consistency of a milkshake -- outside where the fish smell doesn't waff thru the house.
Strain the liquid to remove any solids and fish scales. Then pour a few ounces per gallon of water in your sprayer, and spray apply to plant foliage. The plants will love you for it. Treat plants with this mixture about every 60-90 days during the growing season or as directed by a plant's fertilizing needs. Keep leftover strained emulsion in a sealed container in the "frig", making sure to label it so some midnite frig-raider doesn't mistake it for a chocolate shake. Phooey-Yuk! Spit-spit!
EARTHWORM COMPOST
Another of the easiest fertilizers to make comes from an earthworm compost pit. You add kitchen scraps, grass clippings, leaves, etc. into the pit, and as it is processed by the earthworms, you soon have a rich, black garden amendment. Adding compost in volumes of about 10% into your garden is generally all that is needed to increase the health and insect repellency of your trees, vegetables, and other garden plants.
RABBIT DROPPINGS
When it comes to animal fertilizers, the best readily-available fertilizer is rabbit droppings. Rabbit droppings have the highest nitrogen content of any of the commonly available barnyard manures, such as cow, horse, pig, etc. Rabbit droppings are small, compact, and nearly odorless. One organic gardener described them as "miniature, time-released, fertilizer capsules."
If you raise rabbits, or know someone who does, you’ll have a source of one of nature’s best natural fertilizers. Rabbit hutches built atop an earhtworm compost pit yields low labor "earthworm caviar." Fertilizer provided by our earthworm compost pit is about the best you could find anywhere, and it’s FREE.
EGG SHELLS
If you’re in the habit of buying all sorts of liquid fertilizers and other commercial treatments for your garden, you may be happy to learn that at least two commonly discarded kitchen scraps are ideal for many of your garden plants.
You’ve heard of "liming" the garden and lawn, right? Most people buy a bag of lime (calcium carbonate) every few years & sprinkle it into the garden. Were you aware that eggshells are 93% calcium carbonate?
In addition to the calcium, the eggshells contain about 1% nitrogen, about a half-percent phosphoric acid, and other trace elements that make them a practical fertilizer. Calcium is an essential plant nutrient which plays a fundamental part in cell manufacture and growth. Most roots must have some calcium at the growing tips.
Plant growth removes large quantities of calcium from the soil, and calcium must be replenished, so this is an ideal way to recycle your eggshells. We save our eggshells in a pan in our oven. The pilot light temperature slowly dries them out. Then we crush them by hand and powder them in the blender. The powdered eggshells are then placed around fruit trees, in potted plants and roses, and broadcast throughout the vegetable garden.
You can also solve your snail problems with the help of recycled eggshells. Instead of powdering the shells, use them at the hand-crushed stage, with plenty of rough, sharp edges. Scatter the crushed shells in circles around those plants that the snails are eating. Since the shells cause discomfort to the snails, they nearly always retreat and do not cross the shell barriers.
COFFEE GROUNDS (Tea grinds & leaves too)
Coffee grounds can be particularly useful in the garden, or, at the very least, added to your compost pile. Used coffee grounds contain about two percent nitrogen, about a third of a percent of phosphoric acid, and varying amounts of potash (generally less than 1%). Analysis of coffee grounds shows that they contain many minerals, including trace minerals, carbohydrates, sugars, some vitamins, and some caffeine.
They are particularly useful on those plants for which you would purchase and apply an “acid food,” such as blueberries, evergreens, azaleas, roses, camellias, avocados, and certain fruit trees.
We dry our coffee grounds in the oven, too. Then we scatter them lightly, as a mulch, around those plants which we feel would benefit from them. We don’t scatter them thickly when they are wet, because the coffee grounds have a tendency to get moldy.
The growth of plants that like or need lime can be stimulated by adding a mixture of ground-up eggshells and dried coffee grounds. Smile the next time you drink your morning cup of coffee and eat your breakfast of eggs, since the by-products of your meal are ideal for your garden, and no longer be “kitchen waste products.”
FISH EMULSION
Plants sprayed with this mixture seem more insect repellent, and generally show some renewed growth. The only pitfall is the fishy, oceany odor that is detectable for a day or two after the application. Next time you go fishing, and the fillets are in the "frig", take all the fish remains (bones, guts, head, fins) and puree them in a blender to a smooth consistency of a milkshake -- outside where the fish smell doesn't waff thru the house.
Strain the liquid to remove any solids and fish scales. Then pour a few ounces per gallon of water in your sprayer, and spray apply to plant foliage. The plants will love you for it. Treat plants with this mixture about every 60-90 days during the growing season or as directed by a plant's fertilizing needs. Keep leftover strained emulsion in a sealed container in the "frig", making sure to label it so some midnite frig-raider doesn't mistake it for a chocolate shake. Phooey-Yuk! Spit-spit!
EARTHWORM COMPOST
Another of the easiest fertilizers to make comes from an earthworm compost pit. You add kitchen scraps, grass clippings, leaves, etc. into the pit, and as it is processed by the earthworms, you soon have a rich, black garden amendment. Adding compost in volumes of about 10% into your garden is generally all that is needed to increase the health and insect repellency of your trees, vegetables, and other garden plants.
RABBIT DROPPINGS
When it comes to animal fertilizers, the best readily-available fertilizer is rabbit droppings. Rabbit droppings have the highest nitrogen content of any of the commonly available barnyard manures, such as cow, horse, pig, etc. Rabbit droppings are small, compact, and nearly odorless. One organic gardener described them as "miniature, time-released, fertilizer capsules."
If you raise rabbits, or know someone who does, you’ll have a source of one of nature’s best natural fertilizers. Rabbit hutches built atop an earhtworm compost pit yields low labor "earthworm caviar." Fertilizer provided by our earthworm compost pit is about the best you could find anywhere, and it’s FREE.
EGG SHELLS
If you’re in the habit of buying all sorts of liquid fertilizers and other commercial treatments for your garden, you may be happy to learn that at least two commonly discarded kitchen scraps are ideal for many of your garden plants.
You’ve heard of "liming" the garden and lawn, right? Most people buy a bag of lime (calcium carbonate) every few years & sprinkle it into the garden. Were you aware that eggshells are 93% calcium carbonate?
In addition to the calcium, the eggshells contain about 1% nitrogen, about a half-percent phosphoric acid, and other trace elements that make them a practical fertilizer. Calcium is an essential plant nutrient which plays a fundamental part in cell manufacture and growth. Most roots must have some calcium at the growing tips.
Plant growth removes large quantities of calcium from the soil, and calcium must be replenished, so this is an ideal way to recycle your eggshells. We save our eggshells in a pan in our oven. The pilot light temperature slowly dries them out. Then we crush them by hand and powder them in the blender. The powdered eggshells are then placed around fruit trees, in potted plants and roses, and broadcast throughout the vegetable garden.
You can also solve your snail problems with the help of recycled eggshells. Instead of powdering the shells, use them at the hand-crushed stage, with plenty of rough, sharp edges. Scatter the crushed shells in circles around those plants that the snails are eating. Since the shells cause discomfort to the snails, they nearly always retreat and do not cross the shell barriers.
COFFEE GROUNDS (Tea grinds & leaves too)
Coffee grounds can be particularly useful in the garden, or, at the very least, added to your compost pile. Used coffee grounds contain about two percent nitrogen, about a third of a percent of phosphoric acid, and varying amounts of potash (generally less than 1%). Analysis of coffee grounds shows that they contain many minerals, including trace minerals, carbohydrates, sugars, some vitamins, and some caffeine.
They are particularly useful on those plants for which you would purchase and apply an “acid food,” such as blueberries, evergreens, azaleas, roses, camellias, avocados, and certain fruit trees.
We dry our coffee grounds in the oven, too. Then we scatter them lightly, as a mulch, around those plants which we feel would benefit from them. We don’t scatter them thickly when they are wet, because the coffee grounds have a tendency to get moldy.
The growth of plants that like or need lime can be stimulated by adding a mixture of ground-up eggshells and dried coffee grounds. Smile the next time you drink your morning cup of coffee and eat your breakfast of eggs, since the by-products of your meal are ideal for your garden, and no longer be “kitchen waste products.”