The short story is we would like to get more nitrogen into our raised beds. This fall we will do a legume mix cover crop (to help that) and this past winter we did rye grass and dug it in a few weeks back. After a soil test kit (a cheap and old one) we believe we need to get some more nitrogen into the soil. After some digging around (grin) it looks as though blood meal will be our ticket, and maybe some nettle tea (if the smell doesn't overwhelm our small property). It looks as though we can add the powdered blood meal directly to the soil, or dilute in our watering. My thinking is that adding the blood meal directly into the soil now and letting it mellow in will be the best for the garden... or am I wrong and I should just water with a mix of the blood meal mixed into the water? And then why does it say water INsoluble on the package (link below)? Is this just so it doesn't wash away in the first rain? Perhaps this reinforces just mixing it in to the soil. Here is the product I am thinking I need (though will listen to anyone who has a better idea): http://www.groworganic.com/big-red-blood-meal-13-0-0-50-lb.html Oh yes, while we are not organic freaks, it would still be nice to be chemical free because our entire garden is all for vegetables. Is blood meal still the way to go? Thanks much for your help...
Blood meal is a great source of nitrogen. I use it in my garden too along with other organic ingredients. If you read Steve Soloman's book "gardening when it counts", you'll get an incredible amount of knowledge directly applicable to the PNW. He has a organic fertilizer recipe worth the price of the book alone. He recommends seed meals mostly for nitrogen.
Thanks Tree Nut. I now have that book on order from the library. I could have also mentioned we plan on using the 4-4-4 Mama Gaia organic fertilizer as well... but thought the blood meal would be a "quick release" nitrogen fix that we may need. This is the page (link) that made me think blood meal was the best choice (ie. quick release) but still am unsure just what that means. Does it not "last" as long in the soil because it is quick release? Will it be gone after a few good rain storms? Maybe we need the blood meal, and a longer release "seed" type of meal? I'm 8th in line for the book, and that may be some time now, so unless someone offers why the blood meal might be harmful in our case... I suspect that will be our start at adding nitrogen. Coupled with a side of nettle tea...yumm, the veggies are going to love all the tlc.
Check that you aren't using a product that could contain "prion disease" on your food crop- Bovine spongiform encephalopathy AKA Mad Cow disease. This applies to bone meal too. Perhaps a "lasagna garden" would be a safer bet?
Thanks David. Our beds are all topped up (to the edge of raised beds) and ready to go other than getting some nitrogen in there. So I am excited about the lasagna gardening, and starting to think that NOT disrupting the soil and the micro/macro-envirnoment that exists there, is a way for us in the future. About the blood meal and BSE... perhaps this is why Tree Nut's comment about Steve Soloman's book recommending mostly seed meals as opposed to animal based ones. Because we have maybe 10 raised beds at around 4x8' I think I will be doing some experimenting over the coming years as I'm just new to all these ideas.
Last fall we collected soil samples from a local organic demonstration garden and sent them out for nutrient analysis; this garden had recently experienced some soil and plant health problems. Every single one of the sites that was tested came back with nutrient readings off the scale. In large capital letters the report warned “DO NOT FERTILIZE THIS SOIL.” The excessive addition of nutrient-rich compost to this landscape contributed not only to plant health problems but to nutrient loading of adjacent natural waters http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~linda ...ltural Myths_files/Myths/Compost overdose.pdf
Thanks for that reading Ron B. I could see that being applicable to many people. Our case was that we did test the soil and found a major nitrogen deficiency (reading very low); which is also what we've witnessed in our growing in the last two years.
http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=67940 You might want to read this thread. I posted my version of Steve Soloman's fertilizer recipe. Unless you have your soil tested by a lab you will never know exactly what you need, but this recipe works for the acidic rained out soil we typically have in the Pacific north west. The most important thing is to have your soil properly balanced, as too little or too much of any one nutrient will cause problems. The recipe in that thread is nutritionally balanced for high demand vegetables.
Thanks Tree Nut. As our test revealed we are only low in the N of NPK, I will go with the blood meal, or seed meal if I can get that instead and see how we do this year. It is completely probable that I would like to move to a more balanced "each year application" approach in the future. Hopefully Steve Soloman's book will help direct me with that too. If I remember in the fall I will post an overall synopsis of what our situation WAS, and how we made out. Each year we are slowly "dialing it in" and I like to make incremental changes rather than something that has many variables... because then I can't ascertain with specificity of what is helping the most. That said, in the future, I suspect the garden will like something similar to what you've suggested for the gardens balanced diet. Thanks for sharing that recipe and book title.
Needing to apply N only is typical for this region. But soils vary both naturally and as a result of human activities, one building lot can (and often does) have more than one type of soil. A subdivision made on a river bottom over soil that is fertile and deep will not have the same growing conditions as a neighborhood erected on a mound of cemented glacial till. Both situations (and various others) occur here in the same region, there is no one kind of uncooperative soil that every gardener throughout the area will be facing.
