Homemade Fertilizers and the Escapades of Starting a Veggie Garden!

Being our first summer at our new house, planting a garden was a lot more 'involved' than throwing a bunch of seeds in the dirt and doing a rain dance. We had to pull up the sod ( which we gave to Kev's boss ) and create a place to till up for our garden. We rented the sod cutter from Home Depot.  I'm not going to lie that Kevin did the majority of this. (I'm waaaaay too free spirited to make straight lines when shaping up our rectangular garden! HA!)

 

 Hayden and I did, however, help roll up the sod and pile it on the trailer. TALK ABOUT A WORK OUT! I was a visual representaion of a hot mess after that was over! Each roll of sod was about 50-60 pounds, and beleive me.. I made it my goal to search for the smallest piles to carry each time! Here are some picture of that process.

And that was just the beginning. Once it warmed up... the tilling began. The tiller only dragged me off the garden patch a couple times in an out of control frenzy. One more year and I think I will have control of that thing!  WARNING: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!  I till in my bare feet. Sometimes I feel like a less devoted Cody Lundin from 'Dual Survivor', I prefer bare feet to foot wear.

 

Arkansas dirt does not look fertile in the least. It's dry and balls up in chunks. It looks like clay. I never in a million years would have expected a seedling to break through the crackly hard surface.. but our broccoli proves otherwise!

 Being that this is the first year gardening in this soil....we don't know how things will turn out. There are a bunch of fertilizers that you probably have at home already. We did till some store bought fertilizer and lime into our garden. As well as some home made things! Not to mention about a ton of cow manure...
Benefits of Cow Poop!

Kevin knows one way  to garden... mostly revolving around chemicals and man made stuff... I am slowly
  introducing him to other, more natural ways to fertilize.

Some great fertilizers you have at home include:

I got these from a frugal living website... they explain things a lot simpler than me!

Instead of lime... use egg shells! Way cheaper!

 What You Do:
1. Save your eggs shells, and allow them to air dry.
2. Then, place the dried shells in the blender, and pulse until they are powdery-fine.
3. Sprinkle in your garden.
Why This Works:
Eggs shells are made up almost entirely of calcium carbonate – the main ingredient in agricultural lime.

Instead of regualr fertilizer, use epsom salt!

What You Need:

• 1 Tablespoon Epsom Salt
• 1 gallon water
• A watering can

What You Do:
1. Combine the Epsom salt and water.
2. Use the solution to water your plants.
3. Repeat once a month.
Why This Works:
Epsom salt is made up of magnesium and sulfate – both vital plant nutrients
. Some magnesium-loving plants to try it on: houseplants, roses,
peppers, tomatoes and potatoes.


And lastly, a good compost pile!  We have started one this year and hope to use that, along with the salts next year in our big garden.

Here's a good link and starting a compost : Make a compost pile!

For now, I'm going to try the salts on my seedlings I just planted and I will keep you posted on how that goes. I'm trying to keep away from miracle grow... It works so well though! But with my little one running around... I just worry he will take a swig... or two. I'm still trying to keep him from guzzling his bath water! And what kid can resist bright blue 'juice' sitting outside in a bucket.. calling his name!

Although we have taken less ' natural' means to growing our garden, I'm proud of it so far!

If anyone has any tips on great, natural fertilizers, please let me know! I can read until the cows come home, but I will some proof from people who actually had some success!