From my garden to yours

A monthly application of fish emulsion fertilizer keeps the organic garden growing in the manner to which we should be accustomed. With a macronutrient (nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium) analysis of 5-2-2, fish emulsion enhances compost and compost tea in my garden’s fertilizer schedule. Ocean-bound garden nutrients also contain plenty of essential trace elements.

Ground up fish scraps are “cooked” into a liquid broth, which is then deodorized and bottled. Quart- and gallon-size jugs are available at garden centers that carry “natural” gardening supplies. The odor is a little strong at first, but rapidly dissipates after the application dries.

From the jug, I thin the emulsion to half strength with water before applying it at recommended rates. Used as a foliar fertilizer, the garden plants absorb the nutrients through their leaf surfaces. Seedlings thrive when dosed with a weak mixture of fish emulsion applied with the watering can. General garden and lawn application through the hose-end sprayer covers large areas of the homestead at a time. Do not over apply, as excess fertilizer runoff of any kind is harmful to the environment.

As both a general fertilizer and plant tonic, fish emulsion is an important component when growing food crops using natural and practical methods. Rest assured that crops will grow stronger and the landscape will maintain its healthy glow when using this fishy fertilizer.

Seaweed has been used as a soil supplement for thousands of years. Collecting and spreading seaweed, or vraic, as it’s called in the English Channel Islands, builds soil where other quantities of bio-mass are not available. I’ve even lugged home a few buckets of it on family visits to Cocoa Beach.

Seaweed products are used as mineral tonics to supplement the macronutrient found in plant fertilizers. In addition to a wide spectrum of trace elements necessary for plant growth, seaweed provides plant vitamins, enzymes and hormones. As a bonus, the slimy factor of seaweed helps build soil structure.

I’ve used various seaweed products in my gardens. Maxicrops is a water-soluble powder and Neptune’s Harvest is a concentrated liquid. I find that liquids are easier to apply as a foliar spray for the benefit of immediate absorption into the leaf surface. Kelp meal is a granular soil enhancement, tilled into the soil at the surface root zone. As an addition to the compost pile, seaweed would complement the myriad of other soil-building activities.

Next time you see me at the beach vraicking, don’t be shy — grab a bucket and join me in collecting a load of free soil tonic.