Grow Your Own
(Page 12 of 13)
May/June 1970
By Jeanie Darlington
LEAVES are a good source of minerals as well as of N, P & K, and they add organic matter. They can be used as a mulch, in compost piles, worked into empty garden beds in the fall, or dug into trenches between rows. When using large amounts of leaves, especially oak, it is wise to add ground limestone to offset their acidity unless the leaves are being used on acid loving plants such as rhododendrens and azaleas.
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GREEN MANURE is really a soil conditioner, but it also adds fertility. Soil tilth (looseness) and fertility can be improved by sowing a green manure crop in the fall and turning it under in the spring a good 8 weeks before planting. Barley, buckwheat, rye, oats, pearl millet and comfrey and many legumes are good to use. With legumes, such as clovers, field peas, soybeans, vetches, and alfalfa, it's a good idea to innoculate the seed. Coating the seed with nitrogen fixing bacteria enables the plant to utilize the nitrogen in the air, thus raising the yield and fortifying the soil with added nitrogen.
There is a different strain of bacteria for every type of legume, so you must specify which type of legume you plan to grow. Legume innoculants are supplied in California by Nelson Laboratory, 1145 W. Fremont Street, Stockton, 95203. Seed catalogues also sell "garden mix" cultures, but these are only useful on pea and bean vegetable seeds. A 30 cent packet will treat 5-10 lbs. of seed.
GRASS CLIPPINGS are fairly rich in nitrogen and good for working into the soil, as a mulch, or as a compost ingredient.
WOOD ASHES contain 1.5% P and 7% K. The potash will leach away, however, if they are allowed to stand in the rain. They can be mixed into the soil or added to the compost pile. They are alkaline.
SAWDUST is very low in nitrogen and can cause a deficiency while it decays if it is worked into the soil. But it is fine as a mulch if you sprinkle some nitrogen rich ingredient on the soil before you apply the sawdust. It is thought that sawdust will help neutralize highly alkaline soils. Or you can put the sawdust in the compost pile, if you add plenty of extra nitrogen. The same rules apply to WOOD CHIPS, although the bark causes them to have a slightly higher nutrient content. The nurseries sell redwood soil conditioner, but it is chemically enriched with nitrogen.
HULLS and SHELLS of cocoa beans, buckwheat, oats, peanuts and rice are wonderful mulch and compost material. Hulls tend to be richest in K, although peanut shells analyze 3.6% N, 0.7% P, and 0.45% K. Cocoa bean hulls - 1% N, 115%o P, and 2.5% K can be bought in nice 75 lb. burlap sacks for $1.00 from the Guittard Chocolate Factory in Burlingame, California.
Activated sewage SLUDGE contains 5% N, 3-6% P and can be bought in 50 lb. bags at just about any nursery under the name Milorganite. It's from Milwaukee's very best sewers and tends to be on the acid side.
And now we come to the slaughterhouse by-products. TANKAGE contains 3-10% N and 3-10% P, depending upon whether it is meat or bone tankage. BLOODMEAL analyzes 15% N, 1.2% P and 0.7% K. When used as a fertilizer, 5 lbs. per sq. ft. is plenty. In the compost pile, it speeds breakdown and it is available at most nurseries. BONEMEAL is too, and it is an excellent source of phosphorus. It contains 1-4% N, 25-30% P. It is more effective on a well aerated soil, so use it with compost at 5 lbs. per 100 sq. ft. , or add it to the compost pile to aid breakdown. It helps reduce soil acidity.
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