Synthetic fertilizer richer than manure

Plantoid, great explanation. I totally agree.

BrotherNorm, I understand what you said. I was very fortunate when I began a few years ago. I had a pile - and I say that lightly - it was a pile of leaves, grass clippings, kitchen scraps, etc. Never turned it - I was totally ignorant about that part. Then came the day that I discovered the SFG book. Tackled that compost pile and discovered what was under all the mess at the top. Black gold. Well, I set about building 2 4x4's and a using a couple of old bench bases 1x4's. Did the mixing and filled them up. Didn't have a clue if it would work. Wow, did it ever. Did it need improving? Yes after I got more experience. But that first year was not a loss. This year - 3 years later and 6 more squares - I have a harvest that is amazing.

This whole thing is a learning curve. Mel knows what he's talking about. Our own compost is so necessary. We get to choose the right ingredients and watch over the process rather than counting on a commercial producer who is considering the "bottom line".

The best way I know to almost guarantee a live bacterial initial compost mix using bagged ingredients so it has a reasonable amount of trace elements & nutrients is to buy a mixed box of dried blood,fish &ground up bone meal .

Sprinkle it over the mix at slightly above the reccommended rate per square year when making your MM before it gets the final mixing before it is watered .

Then when the beds are filled and watered in leave the bed for a week or so to let it start decaying/working , then sow and plant up the bed but you will need to wear rubber gloves for it can be quite nasty ( Infection producing ) to you if you get it in a cut.

The big problem for a two tiered recipe is that most will not know the actual nutrient content or the materials used on making the bagged compost . Most people do not understand the difference between manure and composted manure or composted bark

llama momma wrote:I am starting to wonder if the whole 5 way compost thing should be prefaced Heavily with something like: For the first year gardener, it is Absolutely Crucial to First secure a Local source of either aged manure or a variety that does not burn such as rabbit, llama manure, etc. This will ensure a high nutrition level right from the start.
Then proceed the first year to make that manure 50% of the mix and have vermiculite and peat around 25%. This way the garden is up and growing with success the first time. It's basically how I started 2 years ago. For the other composts, I had only 3 wagon fulls (a childrens little red wagon) of spent composted flower garden greens to add to a 4 by 8ft first time garden. Next, in the course of the first year a newbie must work on producing their own 5 way compost to feed the garden later on for optimum results.
My sfg is still heavy on manure but the results are very good.
It's got to be so discouraging for a new sf gardener to purchase bags of crap that doesn't always work. I know I would have quit altogether.

I am getting SO discouraged. I purchased the "real Mel's Mix" 12 beds worth! almost 50-60 bags!, wasn't supposed to be a bag of "crap". I don't have enough of our own compost to re-do all 12 of our beds, so we are "limping" along waiting on GroWell to "make it right". I have a cucumber plant with 5 leaves and a tiny cucumber hanging off of it. It's probably 10" high? It's almost like parts of my garden are miniature. 12" high corn with tassels and pollen, no corn, next bed has a 7' high corn with a corn cob growing. I hate to vent, but I'm sooo frustrated. Finally went out and bought a bag of fertilizer, hoping to get something going. Sorry for the vent............

Southern Gardener, do you know if there are any rabbit or llama farms near where you live? If you could get your hands on some of that manure you can put it fresh into the garden, that would help some.

i have an entire barrel of alpaca manure, would that work? I had 3, but i put two of them in our compost pile. I can get just about as much as I want of it I think. I didn't want to burn the plants?

southern gardener wrote:i have an entire barrel of alpaca manure, would that work? I had 3, but i put two of them in our compost pile. I can get just about as much as I want of it I think. I didn't want to burn the plants?

YES! wont burn the plants.

:::::::::running to the barrel:::::::::::::::::::: I will go put some around the base of my trellis garden, and see how it works! Thank you!. the other part of my frustration is, I used our own compost on some of the beds, but it apparently didn't compost long enough (it was BLACK and couldn't recognize anything??) but now I have weeeeeeeeeeeds! how did that happen?

southern gardener wrote::::::::::running to the barrel:::::::::::::::::::: I will go put some around the base of my trellis garden, and see how it works! Thank you!. the other part of my frustration is, I used our own compost on some of the beds, but it apparently didn't compost long enough (it was BLACK and couldn't recognize anything??) but now I have weeeeeeeeeeeds! how did that happen?

It's going to take a little while to see results and please know that alpaca poo is not super chock full of nutrition like other manures (this is why it doesn't burn), but it is considered a great soiled conditioner.

Weed seeds happen from homemade compost that has not had a temperature of at least 140F for several days. There are numerous threads with this info and Cornell has a fabulous composting information site.

Remember, gardening is a process, not an event. As we learn and grow, so do our gardens. Increase the health of the soil and you will get nice healthy garden vegetables.

Hello gardener and farmer,
Remember, we have only this one Earth. We need to give back what we have taken off from her. Treat our Earth as a gemstone. Organic fertilizers help improve soil structure and nutrient content over time. While chemical fertilizers simply add water-soluble chemicals which are either absorbed by the plant roots or leach away, potentially polluting water resources, organic fertilizers add organic matter that helps the soil to retain moisture and nutrients. Sandy soils in particular can benefit from the addition of organic fertilizers, or from the use of organic matter like well-rotted compost and manure used as a soil fertility additive or mulch. These latter organic matter fertilizers have the added advantage of often being free from livestock farms, poultry farms or wood-processing facilities which compost their discarded bedding and wood chips. We used our farm-made fertilizer. Only chicken manure, rice bran, fish powder, rock minerals and self-made bio charcoal (from Lichee-trees). All ingredients we activating 2 weeks before using with EM (effective microorganisms) – easy and successful. For today best luck and regards, ThaiGer.

ThaiGer wrote: Hello gardener and farmer,
Remember, we have only this one Earth. We need to give back what we have taken off from her. Treat our Earth as a gemstone. Organic fertilizers help improve soil structure and nutrient content over time. While chemical fertilizers simply add water-soluble chemicals which are either absorbed by the plant roots or leach away, potentially polluting water resources, organic fertilizers add organic matter that helps the soil to retain moisture and nutrients. Sandy soils in particular can benefit from the addition of organic fertilizers, or from the use of organic matter like well-rotted compost and manure used as a soil fertility additive or mulch. These latter organic matter fertilizers have the added advantage of often being free from livestock farms, poultry farms or wood-processing facilities which compost their discarded bedding and wood chips. We used our farm-made fertilizer. Only chicken manure, rice bran, fish powder, rock minerals and self-made bio charcoal (from Lichee-trees). All ingredients we activating 2 weeks before using with EM (effective microorganisms) – easy and successful. For today best luck and regards, ThaiGer.

Well said, and to the forum.

Kay

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