My Garden – Rookie Mistakes in Your Garden?

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Even if your vegetable garden is the envy of neighbors, it’s still easy to make rookie mistakes that waste precious resources, your time, effort and growing time.

1. Unwise watering. Too much, too little, too hard, too soft they’re all watering mistakes that will wreck your garden. Before adding water, poke a finger a couple of inches into the soil. If it’s moist, save the water don’t water your plants. If it’s dry, gently at the base of plants. Better yet, wind a drip hose ($13 for 50 feet) through your garden; that way, you will deliver moisture to the roots without wasting water on leaves and to evaporation.

2. Forgetting to test. Even veteran gardeners forget to test their soil every year to make sure it has the pH and nutrients plants need. For about $10, you can send a sample to your state extension service and receive a complete analysis. Or, buy a DIY test kit at your local garden center. When you know what your soil is made of, either select plants that thrive in that type of earth, or amend soil to match your garden’s needs.

3. Planting garden divas. Of course you love summer tomatoes, but they can be tricky to grow during summers that are too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry. So newbies should try growing a couple of tomato plants just for fun, then load gardens with foolproof veggies and herbs, such as beans, peppers, oregano, and parsley. If you must grow a tomato, plant cherry tomatoes that can survive anything summer can throw at them and even yield fruit into fall.

4. Planting too much. One cherry tomato plant can yield 80 fruit, and a single zucchini plant can keep your neighbors in zucchini bread through winter. So don’t plant more than you can eat, put up, or share with friends. The National Gardening Association says an edible garden of about 200 sq. ft. should keep a family of four in veggies all summer. If you do grow more than you need, can and freeze excess and donate it to a local food bank or plan a swap with fellow gardeners.

5. Growing everything from seed. Some crops, such as salad greens, radishes, carrots, peas, beans, and squash, are easy to grow from seeds that germinate in a couple of weeks. Experience will tell you that eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, and tomatoes are better grown from seedlings, which someone else has nurtured for months. Pick plants that are short and compact. Avoid leggy plants with blooms that are liable to die on the vine as the plant acclimates itself to your garden.

6. Assuming you know. Gardeners often read seed packages and figure they know everything about growing vegetables. Wrong! The more you know about your hardiness zone, soil, weather, insects, and vegetable varieties, the better your garden will grow. So curl up with a good gardening book, and surf the web for garden bloggers that share your passion.

7. Relying on pesticides. Don’t bring out the big guns, which can contaminate the watershed, until you’ve tried less toxic ways to get rid of garden pests. Ladybugs and praying mantis, which you can buy at garden supply stores, will eat garden intruders, such as aphids and beetles. Non toxic insecticidal soaps will take care of soft-bodied insects (don’t use if ladybugs are around).

Heirloom Tomato Salad

1lb. mixed fresh tomatoes, chopped
1/2cup thinly sliced red onions
1/4cup ATHENOS Crumbled Feta Cheese with Basil & Tomato
1/4cup KRAFT Tuscan House Italian Dressing
2Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
2Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

COMBINE ingredients.
Hint Use a variety of different colored and shaped tomatoes when making this seasonal salad. Just chop, quarter or halve the tomatoes depending on their size.

Salad can be made ahead of time. Prepare as directed, but do not add cheese. Refrigerate up to 8 hours. Toss with cheese just before serving.

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Cantaloupe Or Muskmelon? Both Are Delicious And Easy To Grow.

Cantaloupe and Muskmelon are can be grown in USDA Hardiness Zones: 4 to 11. They prefer Full Sun exposure, a somewhat Sandy soil that is slightly Acidic to Neutral.

What we gardeners commonly refer to as ‘cantaloupe’ is actually (most likely) not a true cantaloupe, rather, it’s a type of muskmelon. (True cantaloupe has a rough, warty rind and is not widely grown or commercially available in the US.) Also known as Rockmelon in some parts of Australia and I don’t know why. Muskmelons are a heat loving fruit with a long growing season. Their cultural and growing requirements are very similar to other melons like watermelons. They have a net like, tan rind, and sweet orange flesh. The names muskmelon and cantaloupe are often used interchangeably by home gardeners. I will use the name cantaloupe when writing about Muskmelons and Cantaloupe.

Cantaloupe likes loamy, well-drained soil. Handle them gently when you transplant. Add lots of compost to the area before planting and after planting. Mulching with black plastic will serve multiple purposes. It will warm the soil, hinder weed growth and keep developing fruits clean.

Fertilize when vines start growing. While cantaloupe vines are growing, blooming, and setting fruit, they need 1 to 2 inches of water per week. Water in the morning, and try to avoid wetting the leaves. Reduce watering once fruit are growing. Dry weather produces the sweetest melon.

Once fruit begins to grow, prune end buds off vines. Your plants may produce fewer melons, but they will be larger and of better quality. Vines produce male and female flowers separately on the same plant. They often begin producing male flowers several weeks before the females appear. Don’t give up or become discouraged when the first blooms do not produce fruit. Blossoms require pollination to set fruit, so be Bee friendly. Use no insecticides that will harm bees!

When cantaloupe rinds begin to change from green to tan or yellow, the melon is probably ripe, but be careful not to pick too early. Look for a crack in the stem where it attaches to the fruit. This is a sign of ripeness. The fruit should be easy to separate from the vine, but if they fall off by themselves they are usually overripe. Harvest melons when vines are dry, and be careful not to damage them. They will soften after harvesting, but will not continue to sweeten off the vine.
Cantaloupe can be stored uncut for 5 or 6 days. If cut, they can last in the refrigerator for about 3 days, wrapped tightly in plastic.

Some of the varieties recommended by home gardeners are.
* Hale’s Best Jumbo – 80-90 days to maturity. Produces 3-pound, aromatic melons.
* Minnesota Midget – 70-80 days. Early variety suited for Northern gardens. Produces smallish 1-pound, sweet flavored melons.
* Bush Star – 90 days to maturity. Bush variety suits gardeners with limited space.
* Ambrosia – 85 days to maturity. One of the sweetest varieties.

* Source Heirloom Organics – How to Grow Cantaloupe A Guide to Growing Cantaloupe
* Source Backyard vegetable gardening – Growing Cantaloupe

Saving Seed from the Garden Not every plant’s seeds are worth keeping. Hybrid plants are developed by crossing specific parent plants. Hybrids are wonderful plants but the seed is often sterile or does not reproduce true to the parent plant.
Choose disease free plants with qualities you desire. Look for the most flavorful vegetables or beautiful flowers. Consider size, harvest time and other characteristics.

Always harvest only mature seed. For example, cucumber seeds at the eating stage are not ripe and will not germinate if saved. You must allow the fruit and seed to fully mature. Because seed set reduces the vigor of the plant and discourages further fruit production, wait until near the end of the season to save fruit for seed.

Seed contained in fleshy fruits like cantaloupe should be cleaned using the wet method. Tomatoes, melons, squash, cucumber and roses are prepared this way. Scoop the seed masses out of the fruit or lightly crush fruits. Put the seed mass and a small amount of warm water in a bucket or jar. Let the mix ferment for two to four days. Stir daily. The fermentation process kills viruses and separates the good seed from the bad seed and fruit pulp. After two to four days, the good viable seeds will sink to the bottom of the container while the pulp and bad seed float. Pour off the pulp, water, bad seed and mold. Spread the good seed on a screen or paper towel to dry.

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Beet’s (Beetroot) 101 – Growing, Harvesting And Cooking

Source Growing beetroot BBC Gardening
Stop that, don’t let your children see you making an ugly face while reading about how to plant, grow, harvest and eat your garden fresh beets.

Freshly pulled beets (beetroot) are wonderfully tender with a delicious earthy taste. Best of all, they’re really easy to grow from seed.

Beets prefer to be grown in moist, fertile soil in a sunny spot, but will also thrive in raised beds or pots. Sow seeds directly into the soil from mid-spring and for a fall crop plant in early August to September.

* To make a seed bed, remove weeds and dig or till using a rototiller. Removing any particularly large stones if you have rocks in your garden.
Level working over the area to be planted with a rake to leave a fine finish. Spread a general granular fertilizer across the site and rake into the soil.

* Seed can be sown directly into the soil from March to June in most of the U.S.A. Make a 3/4 to 1 inch deep trench with the corner of a rake, hoe (or a cane will do) and drop in your seeds every 3 to 4 inches apart.
Cover, water well. Note If you want a plentiful supply of beets, sow seeds every 14 to days keeping rows 8 inches apart.

If you have a small garden, beets are easy to grow in pots. To grow in pots (ideal for round varieties, not long cylindrical ones), choose containers that are at least 8 inches in diameter and at least 8 inches deep.
Fill loosely with multi-purpose compost leaving the compost just shy of the top of your pot.
Tap the pot gently to settle, and firm with your finger tips aiming to leave a 1 1/2 inch gap between the surface of the compost and the top of your pot. Sow seeds thinly across the surface and cover with 3/4 inch of compost. Water and thin out seedlings when they’re about 3/4 inch tall, leaving a 3 to 4 inch spacing between your plants.

Harvest your beets while small and very tender. Ping Pong ball to Golf ball size. To harvest, gently hold the tops and lift while levering under the root with a hand fork. Remove the tops by twisting them off with your hands to prevent the plants bleeding their juice. Don’t throw away beet tops (greens), they taste great and can be eaten fresh in salads or cooked and eaten like spinach.

Beets may be boiled, broiled, eaten fresh in salads, or pickled.
* Grate, slice or 1/4 small raw beets to be used in salads.
** Source Beet / Beetroot Cooking Tips
** Source How to pickle beets

*** Beets are a super food Beets are loaded with fiber, potassium, and folate, and are free of saturated fats and cholesterol. Researchers believe the red pigment in beets – betacyanin – may protect cells against cancer.

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May And It’s To Cold To Plant My Garden – What’s Up With That?

The Bad News Is: The 3rd morning of May. My temperature was setting at 31.7 (-0.16C) for more than 3 hours. It wasn’t a hard freeze but it surely was not beneficial for my warm weather plants like yellow summer squash and peppers. Checking my soil temperature I found my soil at two inches deep is 48 (9C)degrees, still a full 12 degrees below the 60 degrees (15.5C) needed for planting most summer garden crops. Note: When planting peppers you soil temperature needs to be 70+ degrees. Peppers germinate best with soil temperatures between 75 to 80 degrees.

The Good News Is: My weather guy is forecasting night time temperatures falling into the low 40′s and pushing into the low 80′s by Tuesday next week. What a difference a year makes. May 3rd 2012 we had a low of 60 degrees and a high of 97 degrees, squash and cucumber were in full bloom.

Brrrr, I just went out an inspected my peppers and squash. I think the peppers will recover from this cold spell, but I’m not so sure that the squash will recover. If they don’t look any better in a day or so I will rip them out and replant squash the same time I plant my cucumber seed.

It warmed up a bit and this afternoon I (using a tractor and box blade) moved another 500 or so pounds of old hay and cow dung onto my compost pile. It seems that I can use my homemade compost faster than I can make it!

offkilteracres

Find of the day Texasprepper2 Greenhouse Build Post If your in need of a cheap, easy to build (DIY) green house, check out this site.

He has a very good and easy step by step How To description on building this green house and it’s supported by a lot of good pictures making this an easy cheap functional green house project.

From my For What’s It’s Worth Department: Don’t forget today is World Naked Gardening Day – May 4th 2013

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Tomato’s From Seed to Your Table

Bamboo Tomato Trellis

1. Don’t Crowd Seedlings.
Don’t Let Seedlings Grow Into Each Other. If you are starting tomatoes from seed, be sure to give the seedlings room to branch out. Close conditions inhibit their growth, so transplant them as soon as they get their first true leaves and move them into 4″ pots about 2 weeks after that.

2. Provide lots of light.
Tomato seedlings will need either strong, direct sunlight or 14-18 hours under grow lights. Place the young plants only a couple of inches from florescent grow lights. Plant your tomatoes outside in the sunniest part of your vegetable plot.

3. Put a fan on your seedlings.
It seems tomato plants need to move and sway in the breeze, to develop strong stems. Provide a breeze by turning a fan on them for 5-10 minutes twice a day.

4. Preheat the soil in your garden.
Using Black Plastic to Warm the Soil. Tomatoes love heat. Cover the planting area with black or red plastic a couple of weeks before you intend to plant. Those extra degrees of warmth will translate into earlier tomatoes.

5. Bury them deep.
Bury tomato plants deeper than they come in the pot, all the way up to a few top leaves. Tomatoes are able to develop roots all along their stems. You can either dig a deeper hole or simply dig a shallow tunnel and lay the plant sideways. It will straighten up and grow toward the sun. Be careful not to drive your pole or cage into the stem.

6. Mulch Later.
Straw Makes a Great Vegetable Garden Mulch. Mulch after the ground has had a chance to warm up. Mulching does conserve water and prevents the soil and soil born diseases from splashing up on the plants, but if you put it down too early it will also shade and therefore cool the soil. Try using plastic mulch for heat lovers like tomatoes and peppers. (See Tip #4)

Vertical Tomato Trellis

7. Remove the Bottom Leaves.
Tomato Leaf Spot Diseases. Once the tomato plants are about 3′ tall, remove the leaves from the bottom 1′ of stem. These are usually the first leaves to develop fungus problems. They get the least amount of sun and soil born pathogens can be unintentionally splashed up onto them. Spraying weekly with compost tea also seems to be effective at warding off fungus diseases.

Tomato Cage

8. Pinch & Prune for More Tomatoes
Tomato Suckers in the Joint of Branches. Pinch and remove suckers that develop in the crotch joint of two branches. They won’t bear fruit and will take energy away from the rest of the plant. But go easy on pruning the rest of the plant. You can thin leaves to allow the sun to reach the ripening fruit, but it’s the leaves that are photosynthesizing and creating the sugars that give flavor to your tomatoes.

9. Water the Tomato Plants Regularly.
Blossom End Rot. Water deeply and regularly while the plants are developing. Irregular watering, (missing a week and trying to make up for it), leads to blossom end rot and cracking. Once the fruit begins to ripen, lessening the water will coax the plant into concentrating its sugars. Don’t withhold water so much that the plants wilt and become stressed or they will drop their blossoms and possibly their fruit.

10. Getting Them to Set Tomatoes.
Successive Ripening of Cherry Tomatoes. Determinate type tomatoes tend to set and ripen their fruit all at about the same time, making a large quantity available when you’re ready to make sauce. You can get indeterminate type tomatoes to set fruit earlier by pinching off the tips of the main stems in early summer.

Finding More Help
The Bad News is there’s more than 10 or 15 different tomato diseases, bacterial and virus that can effect home gardener tomato crops.

Blossom end rot

Powdery mildew

The Good News is most tomato diseases, bacterial and virus infections can be easily treated if properly identified and treated in a timely manner.

Iowa state university link is for those of you that garden in the northern 1/2 of the U.S. and the University of Texas link provides information that most often effect southern state tomato gardens.

No matter where you live both sites have a huge amount of useful information on Identifying and treating tomato diseases. Don’t be discouraged or intimidated by the sheer numbers of tomato diseases. I’m pretty sure you will not suffer from all of them this year. in fact, insect control very well maybe your biggest problem in a home garden.

Iowa State University Contains Pictures, description, Control and Treatment of tomato disease, bacterial and virus infections.

Texas A and M University Contains Pictures, description, Control and Treatment of tomato disease, bacterial and virus infections.

Insect control just like disease control starts with properly identifying the insect(s) that are causing your problems.

Adult potato beetle

Potato beetle larva

Colorado State University link will help you identify and control some of the most common tomato insect pest.

Texas A and M University link will help you identify and control some of the most common tomato insect pest.

University of Kentucky College of Agriculture contains a lot of useful information on identifying and control of the Colorado Potato Beetle. This insect pest will attack Tomato’s, Egg Plants and Peppers as well as Potato’s.

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Hyper Active Worms – Or – Caffeine Induced Wide Awake Worms!

I have put down so much old coffee grounds in my porch pots the earth worms now have insomnia from all the caffeine! I don’t know where the grounds go. It seems like within two weeks after I put a large coffee can full of coffee grounds in a porch pot they just disappear. Composting into a really good potting soil I hope.

Two nights past it got down to 31 degrees again! I’m hopeful that it was winters last cold blast and I can now start planting frost tender spring garden seeds and seedlings. This morning at 5am it was 58 degrees and forecasting 70 for today’s high but with a 20-25mph northwest wind it feels much colder than the current 60 degrees. Pretty much the same forecast for the next 7 – 10 days.

After SNL(Son-N-Law) tilled in that last ton or so of old grass bedding hay mixed a lot of cow dung about two weeks ago, my garden soil is taking on an appearance of fine garden soil. That red clay based garden soil is taking on a nice dark rich color from all the humus and livestock dung that has been tilled in to compost down during the past 60 days or so. Over the past 2 months I think my SNL has spread and tilled in at least 2 tons if not more old soiled, livestock bedding hay along with a lot of fresh manure.

I have six yellow summer squash seedlings needing planted. I will need to cut the bottom out of 6 large 35 ounce coffee cans to put over the seedlings to give them a little wind protection and I hope, keep the damn rabbits from eating my seedling. I am resorting to harsh rabbit control measures. One box of #5 shot shells and a 12 gauge shot gun. Rabbits that are not processed for my consumption and frozen will be fed to our catfish and crawdads (crayfish). It has been a very reproductive winter for rabbits!

I have a patio container made from a 30 gallon plastic barrel cut in half (length wise) I’m going to try planting some lettuce seed in that container and see how that works out.

My daughter got me 6 pepper seedlings today. Three Hungarian (hot) peppers and three Jalapeno (hot) pepper seedlings. All peppers along with six yellow summer squash seedlings will get planted tomorrow afternoon.

I checked today and at 4 inches deep the soil temperature was 54 degrees. That’s a full 20 degrees to cool for pepper seeds to germinate. So it will still be sometime until I can garden soil plant the remaining pepper seed I have on hand. This year it looks like it will be the first week of May or later before I can plant and reliably germinate warm weather crops like pepper, okra and black eyed peas.

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Pickle On A Stick – Or – Another Cucumber Trellis Idea

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It will soon be time for planting cucumbers in my Tiny Garden. Looking for ways to maximize production, conserve space and minimize weeding and watering chores I discovered two cucumber trellis ideas that I really like.

Pyramid style trellis would make a interesting addition to your garden as well as being a functionable vegetable trellis. It can be scaled to any size that fits into your garden size and can be used to trellis any vine plant such as pole beans, peas or cucumbers or as a flower tower covered with morning glory’s.
I have some old salvage 2 by 6 boards that I’m going to run through the table saw ripping them down into 1 3/4 inch wide by 1 1/2 thick boards to use in constructing my pyramid. Adding a little bit of string for the vines to climb on, then planting cucumbers on the south and east sides finishing up by planting a few morning glories on the north and west sides.

I have a salvage cattle panel that is 16 feet long by 52 inches tall. I think that if I form it into an arch 4 or maybe 5 feet wide at the base (bottom) it will be tall enough that I can walk under the arch without bumping my head and make finding and picking cucumbers a simple task.

I’m going to make this arch kind of, sort of the entry way into my tiny garden.

After much searching, I have found most of my drip irrigation parts. I will soon start laying out my rows and design new and better self watering devices to provide ample water for my vine plants and other water loving garden plants. I’m trying this year to stop or at least reduce the use of over head watering with sprinklers that tend to compact my clay based garden soil and can encourage fungus infections in the garden.

Filling a couple of porch containers today I was impressed at the quality and quantity of compost derived from a large pile of chipped trees I got for free last Fall. I’m adding a bit of semi-composted cow manure and grass hay as well. Pure wood chips make great soil amendment adding lots of organic material to your soil, but, can be low in nitrogen content.

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Last Frost – I Hope – Spring Garden Plans Are Well Under Way

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Today using the doddle bug I got him last summer, Ronny {sun-n-law1.0) hauled about a ton more cow manure and old soiled bedding hay from the barn dumping it on this years garden plot. In a day or two the garden will be dry enough to till in all the hay and manure. One final raking and I will start planting this years garden.

Corn, mustard, radish, beet root {maybe}, pinto beans, onion sets and celery will go in first. Followed in a week or so with yellow summer squash and cucumbers. Tomato’s, pepper and okra will be planted the first week of May along with a row or two of black eyed peas.

This morning early I dumped out the 22 long rifle shells and reloaded my 22 rifle with 22 shorts. So far today I have harvested 4 garden eating cotton tail rabbits that I processed {about 5 pounds of fresh rabbit meat} and put in my freezer. Nothing is wasted, I keep all the fresh rabbit meat. Anything I don’t want to keep is put in our fish pond to feed the catfish and crayfish. Grinning, now rabbits are truly a renewable food source! They breed, well, they breed like rabbits!

The newest addition to our tiny farm is a lap goat. Bottle fed and almost 2 months old now. He will be about 65 to 70 pounds at 1 year of age and A mature Boer (2 years old) male can weigh 240-300 lbs.

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Care And Feeding Your Dirt – Garden Soil 101

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Know Your Dirt. These are common soil preparation and soil amendment recommendations. No two places in the world have the same soil conditions nor can you apply the same procedures in the southeast U.S. that work well in Ohio or else where.

A soil test is best. With that said, I know that most gardeners will never take the time nor spend a few dollars to have their garden soil tested. Not knowing what you garden soil really needs means that we must use that shotgun approach to soil care. Almost without fail garden soil is low or very low in humus and nitrogen.

Nitrogen can be added to your soil using a pure nitrogen fertilizer like 20-0-0 but I recommend a better balanced fertilizer like 13-13-13 or maybe something like 10-5-5.
Tilling in a good compost material will add both nitrogen and humus to your soil and most of us need both nitrogen and humus added to our garden dirt.
I do not recommend applying raw manure or livestock bedding in the spring time. Add this type of materials in the fall, till in well, thus giving raw manure and livestock bedding 3 or more months to decompose before planting time.

Caution Tip Don’t over do the nitrogen! To much nitrogen on root and fruit producing crops can cause your vegetables to be all nice green foliage and produce little or no eatable roots or fruits! High levels of nitrogen is fine for leaf crops like leaf lettuce, spinach, arugula and so on.

Container gardening can be a real challenge to get and keep your fertilizer levels correct for the crop(s) you are growing. Having such a small amount of soil to work with and the need to water almost daily quickly leeches all nutrients from your container soil. Mixing in well composted manure before planting is very helpful. Fertilize every two weeks or so at 1/2 the recommended application rate used when fertilizing garden soil.

Source Carl J. Rosen and Peter M. Bierman, Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, University of Minnesota Using Manure and Compost as Nutrient Sources for Fruit and Vegetable Crops
Manure and compost not only supply many nutrients for crop production, including micronutrients, but they are also valuable sources of organic matter. Increasing soil organic matter improves soil structure or tilth, increases the water holding capacity of coarse textured sandy soils, improves drainage in fine textured clay soils, provides a source of slow release nutrients, reduces wind and water erosion, and promotes growth of earthworms and other beneficial soil organisms.

Fresh vs. composted manure. Fresh, non-composted manure will generally have a higher N content than composted manure. Caution Fresh manure may contain high amounts of viable weed seeds, which can lead to weed problems. In addition, various pathogens such as E. coli may be present in fresh manure and can cause illness to individuals eating fresh produce unless proper precautions are taken. Always carefully wash all vegetables under cold running water. Cook meats and vegetables to a temperature of 160 degrees to kill bacteria like E. coli that may be present on meats, fruits or vegetables.

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DIY Manure Tea

Reviewer Rose blog ask me if I ever used Manure Tea. The answer is Yes I have. On my last move to my Tiny Farm somehow me and my manure tea barrel got separated and the 50 gallon barrel never got moved to my tiny farm.

I now make a dried fertilizer from manure simply because I find it more convenient for me to make and use than the constant messing with a barrel or bucket of liquid manure tea. Either is a good choice, You decide which one works best for you.

Manure tea works well, you can see it’s effect with in about 24 hours after application.
I have included Wiki How To plans on making a 5 gallon manure tea bucket and a Link to Mother Earth News, All their published materials and photographs are copyright protected.
Source © Mother Earth News How to Make Manure Tea Fertilizer

Source Wiki How to Make Manure Tea
1 Fill a 5-gallon (18.9 l) bucket with the desired amount of water.
2 Shovel your manure into a large burlap sack or pillowcase.
3 You should use 5 parts water to 1 part manure.
Tie a knot in the sack to secure it.
4 Place the sack into the water.
5 Cover the bucket with a towel to keep flies away.
6 Allow the sack to steep in the water for several days.
The manure tea should reach a deep, golden brown color.
7 Remove the sack from the water after its been fully steeped and allow it to hang over the bucket until it no longer drips.
8 Dilute with clean water.
9 Apply to your plants and watch them grow beautiful and healthy.
The manure tea can be applied in a variety of ways. Place it in a spray bottle for easy misting, or in a watering can for better saturation. A hose-end sprayer can be utilized for
larger areas. Manure tea can also be poured directly onto a compost pile to speed
decomposition.

If you need a faster steeping method, you can add forgo the sack and simply add your manure directly to the water. This can shave several days off the process. You will have to stir the tea frequently and strain it through a cheesecloth to remove the solid parts.
Manure tea made exclusively from grass-fed animals is said to be the perfect plant food for organic vegetables. Despite its detractors, it is believed to be safer and healthier than chemical-laden processed fertilizers.
Make sure to use manure that has been well-aged in the sun for several months as fresh manure is much too strong and could burn your plants.
This manure tea can be used every day. It promotes strong roots, brightly colored foliage. It is also said to protect plants from some fungal diseases.
A good ratio for diluting your manure tea is approximately 1 cup (8 oz.) of tea to 1 gallon (3.8 l) of water.

Warning Some may advise against using manure tea on plants grown for food due to the risk that it could contaminate the food with bacteria. }Bacteria contamination is of no concern if you cook your food to 165 degrees. A good washing under running water for vegetables you will consume uncooked.} It is suggested that it be applied at least 60 days prior to harvesting if the food is to be consumed without being cooked.

Things You’ll Need
1 5-gallon (18.9 l) bucket or container
Large burlap sack or pillowcase
Manure
Water
Container lid or towel
Shovel

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