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Plants take all their nourishment in the form
of soups, and very weak
ones at that. Plant food to be available must be
soluble to the action
of the feeding root tubes; and unless it is
available it might, as far
as the present benefiting of your garden is
concerned, just as well not
be there at all. Plants take up their food
through innumerable and
microscopic feeding rootlets, which possess the
power of absorbing
moisture, and furnishing it, distributed by the
plant juices, or sap,
to stem, branch, leaf, flower and fruit. There
is one startling fact
which may help to fix these things in your
memory: it takes from 300 to
500 pounds of water to furnish food for the
building of one pound of
dry plant matter. You can see why plant food is
not of much use unless
it is available; and it is not available unless
it is soluble.
The terms "manure" and "fertilizer" are used
somewhat ambiguously
and interchangeably. Using the former term in a
broad sense--as meaning
any substance containing available plant food
applied to the soil, we may
say that manure is of two kinds: organic, such
as stable manure, or decayed
vegetable matter; and inorganic, such as
potassium salts, phosphatic rock and
commercial mixed fertilizers. In a general way
the term "fertilizer" applies
to these inorganic manures, and I shall use it
in this sense through the
following text.
When it comes right down to the practical
question of what to put on
your garden patch to grow big crops, nothing has
yet been discovered
that is better than the old reliable
stand-by--well rotted, thoroughly
fined stable or barnyard manure.
There are other organic manures which it is
sometimes possible for one
to procure, such as refuse brewery hops, fish
scraps and sewage, but
they are as a rule out of the reach of, or
objectionable for, the
purposes of the home gardener.
There are, however, numerous things
constantly going to waste about the
small place, which should be converted into
manure. Fallen leaves,
grass clippings, vegetable tops and roots, green
weeds, garbage, house
slops, dish water, chip dirt from the wood-pile,
shavings--any thing
that will rot away, should go into the compost
heap. These should be
saved, under cover if possible, in a compact
heap and kept moist (never
soaked) to help decomposition. To start the
heap, gather up every
available substance and make it into a pile with
a few wheelbarrows
full, of fresh horse manure, treading the whole
down firmly. Fermentation
and decomposition will be quickly started. The
heap should occasionally
be forked over and restacked. Light dressings of
lime, mixed in at such
times, will aid thorough decomposition.
Chemical fertilizers should be avoided. The
disadvantages far out weight the advantages.
Mulching enriches and protects soil, helping
to provide a better
growing environment. In your backyard Mulching
is one of the
simplest and most beneficial practices you can
use in the garden.
Mulch is simply a protective layer of a material
that is spread on
top of the soil. Mulches can either be
organic--such as grass
clippings, straw, bark chips, and similar
materials--or inorganic--
such as stones, brick chips, and plastic. Both
organic and inorganic mulches have numerous benefits.
Mulching
benefits include:
• protects the soil from
erosion
• reduces compaction from the impact of heavy
rains
• conserves moisture, reducing the need for
frequent watering
• maintains a more even soil temperature
• prevents weed growth
• keeps fruits and vegetables clean
• keeps feet clean, allowing access to garden
even when damp
• provides a "finished" look to the garden
Manures
& Fertilizers |
Gardening Tips | Growing Vegetables
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