Today, I took some time to use some of my homemade compost tea on some of the plants in my polytunnel and in pots, to give them a boost as the weather finally begins to warm up where we live. This is a general-purpose feed which I tend to use a few times over the growing season for leafy, nitrogen-hungry plants.
I did a spot of weeding in my garden, gathering weeds (chickweed, fat hen, nettles etc..) to make a weed based liquid feed. This is also a good feed for nitrogen-hungry plants. And since some of the weeds I use are said to be good dynamic accumulators the solution should have a good range of both macro and micronutrients required by my crops.
I also took note that the comfrey in my forest garden is growing strong, and in a month or so, I will be chopping some of it to make my comfrey liquid feed. I find that this is a great alternative to commercial tomato feeds.
So I thought this would be a good time to talk a little about liquid fertilizers that I use in my organic garden. I recently wrote this topic on the subject for Treehugger:
https://www.treehugger.com/organic-liquid-fertilizers-make-for-plants-5183892
In an organic garden, the primary strategies for maintaining fertility are companion planting, chopping and dropping, and mulching. Adding plenty of organic matter really is the best way to take care of the soil. But liquid fertilizers, I find, can be useful for providing a speedier boost and improving yields.
If you would like to read more, here is an earlier article on the topic:
If you would like to order my consultancy on this topic, please do get in touch. I would be glad to explain how I can help you make the most of your garden.
EWSP Consultancy 