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Join us friends, for an informative chat about garden amendments.
In this short discussion, we will go over which garden amendments we use, the benefits each one delivers to the health of your soil and plants, when to add amendments, how to add them, and why we use them. When you are starting out with a fresh made bed, there are some inputs to consider to help build soil and feed your plants.
A quick note before we get started…
In the beginning it is of good practice to add some flavor to the pie, so to speak. Adding proper amendments to your garden beds will give your soil and plants a kickstart to fertility. The key to healthy plants is healthy soil. Soil takes a little bit of time to build.
When your soil has become fertile and full of life, store bought amendments will be needed much less. Putting in the work now will save you time and money in the future.
Table of Contents
- Join us friends, for an informative chat about garden amendments.
- Top 10 Garden Amendments
- Bone Meal
- Blood Meal
- Azomite
- Green Sand
- Plant Tone
- Wood Ash
- Rabbit Manure
- Worm Castings
- Compost
- Sphagnum Peat Moss
- How to Apply Garden Amendments to Your Soil
Top 10 Garden Amendments
Amendments that we use are applied to the beds before introducing plants. This action takes place every time we plant/refresh a bed. When one crop is done, we apply amendments again before planting the next crop. So, lets get right into the amendments we choose to use.
Bone Meal
Bone meal is made from animal bones. Rich in calcium and phosphorous. This is an organic fertilizer. Keep in mind, animals love this stuff. So, keep your fur babies away from it the best you can. They are very attracted to the scent and if they ingest it, it will cause digestive upset. There was one time I forgot to put the bag away and our dog ate the whole thing, it was not a pretty sight. Bone meal promotes flowering and healthy root development.
Blood Meal
Blood meal is dried blood that is ground into a powder. Usually comes from the slaughtering that occurs at meat packaging plants. Blood meal has a high nitrogen content and may still have a small percentage of phosphorous and potassium. Provides plants a boost in nitrogen for plants showing signs of nitrogen deficiency.
Some animals like deer, rabbits, and moles despise the the scent of blood meal. So, this supplement not only benefits the plants, but also has the added benefit of potentially keeping animals that want to snack on your crops, out of your garden. Blood meal promotes healthy foliage growth.
Azomite
Is a natural and organic way to fertilize and remineralize your soil. Also known as rock dust, Azomite has over 70 trace minerals that plants and soil need to thrive. Your soil is almost guaranteed to lack essential minerals.
Green Sand
Is an organic soil amendment that helps to loosen up heavy soil and improves drainage. Green sand will add potassium and micro-nutrients to the soil. Contains potash which will make all plants happy.
Plant Tone
Plant tone is a great all around organic slow release fertilizer. Also enhanced with humates and beneficial microbes.
Wood Ash
Is an excellent source of lime and potassium and provides many trace minerals that plants and soil benefit from. Wood ash can be helpful for pest control including snails and slugs. Many concern themselves with wood ash being known to cause a rise in ph. I have never found a reason to be concerned. One would have to use quite a lot of wood ash to notice any significant changes in soil ph.
Rabbit Manure
If you can find a source of rabbit manure, jump on it! Or consider raising your own rabbits. Rabbit poop is one of the best ready to use fertilizers right out of the butt. From butt to garden, rabbit manure is about 2% nitrogen, 1 % phosphorous, and 1% potassium. Rabbit fertilizer will not burn your plants and does not need to be composted before using, like chicken manure does.
Worm Castings
A.k.a. worm poop a.k.a black gold is a gentle, natural, and effective fertilizer helping plants grow larger, stronger, and grow more abundant higher quality fruits, flowers and veggies. Contains beneficial bacteria and fungi supporting organisms that are important in the soil food web. Worm castings improve soil structure by increasing aeration and enhancing moisture retention.
There is a long list of reasons why you should be using worm castings in your gardening practices. Although store bought worm castings can be expensive, anyone can start their very own worm farm easily and affordably that will produce worm castings. It is a smart and efficient move to start a worm bin of your own.
Compost
Good quality compost is, by far one of the most important amendments you can use. Once you have brought your soil to life, compost will be all that you will need.
Sphagnum Peat Moss
Sphagnum peat moss promotes drainage. Retains just the right amount of water. Does not contain bacteria, fungus, harmful chemicals, or weed seeds. Peat moss is known to be acidic, but I have never seen any adverse effects after using it. Peat moss is a must when setting up a new bed; I have been using it for as long as I can remember.
I use 1 part peat moss to 1 part compost and mix together well before building up a new bed. I also used to use 1 part vermiculite or perlite in the mix, but that was mostly for use as a potting soil for built raised beds and containers.
How to Apply Garden Amendments to Your Soil
This step is simple.
- Grab a handful of one amendment at a time and sprinkle it along the length and width of your bed.
- Covering your beds liberally. This will take multiple handfuls of amendments depending on the size of your beds.
- After all the ingredients of your masterpiece have been applied, now we simply use a garden rake to mix in the amendments 2-3 inches deep.
- Smooth out the bed with the opposite side of the rake (the straight side) and then water in the amendments.
A small word from the experienced…
Something I hear a lot of from those who seem to know it all, is, well that seems like a lot of work. What I am really hearing is, I am too lazy to go through all of that. Then of course, I hear the complaints later on about their unhappy plants and them being completely puzzled about what went wrong. Keep in mind that I only do this once, at the beginning. I never feel the need to apply additional fertilizer throughout the growing season.
Feeling overwhelmed while setting up a new bed for success, is unnecessary. Do it right once and you will not have to revisit these steps during your crops life. After following these behaviors for a few years and building soil health, adding amendments will no longer be necessary. At this point, your soil will have established a healthy ecosystem and soil that will only need a fresh topping of quality compost, from here on out, before planting.
And that is our process of using our preferred supplemental garden amendments that continue to deliver successful results.
Happy healthy crops, means stronger more resilient plants, with less disease and pest pressure. So, get out there! Get your hands dirty with some good bacteria from the soil and enjoy some free vitamin D.
For more information about soil health read this article.
Until next time…
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