Regenerative means to tend, regrow, renew, or restore nutrients back into your soil. There are many ways to add beneficial ingredients to the soil organically.
Today, I will share a few ways I fertilize and sustain a healthy environment for my vegetables.
Eggshells:
I save eggshells all year long to use throughout the following growing season.
- Bake broken-up shells at 250° for 2 hours.
- Put them through a blender to make a powder.
- Into a large container add:
1 oz or 1 part powdered shells
10 oz or 10 parts Vinegar
Note: Use a large container as it will volcano and foam. Store it for a week to ferment until bubbles stop rising to the top of the jar.
RATIO: 1 tsp to 1 gallon of water
It can be used on Tomato plants for bottom-end rot as a foliar spray every 2 weeks.
95% Calcium and various macro and micro-nutrients such as magnesium, potassium, iron, and phosphorus.
Eggshells are also good for plant growth and to stimulate root development.
Banana Peels
Banana peels contain calcium, which promotes root growth and helps add oxygen to your soil. Magnesium, which assists with photosynthesis. sulfur, which allows plants to develop strong roots and repel pests.
It is a great source of immediate Potassium for all plants during the flowering/fruiting season.
3 Banana Peels chopped
1 quart of rainwater
- Gently simmer the peels to make a tea or soak chopped peels in water for three days or more.
- Drain well and store in gallon containers for fertilizing throughout the growing season.
RATIO: 1 part solution - 10 parts rainwater
Weed Tea:
Chop weeds and put them into a 5-gallon pail to ferment, the longer the better.
You will want to keep a lid or secure cloth on top to keep out insects. When it has fermented and made a strong tea, remove all the debris from the pail and strain the water if desired.
Great source of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and trace minerals that the plants thrive on.
RATIO: 1 part solution to 10 parts rainwater.
Wood Ash:
1 part or 1 gallon of Ash
5 parts or 5 gallons of rainwater
- Stir the mixture well to dissolve the ash in the rainwater. I allow the larger pieces to settle to the bottom of the pail before I add them to my garden.
RATIO: 1 cup / 1 gallon of rainwater
The solution can be sprayed once per week on your vegetables if desired.
Ash is a source of potassium (potash), phosphorus, and magnesium. If you compare it to commercial fertilizer, the average wood ash solution would be about 0-1-3 (N-P-K).
In addition to these macro-nutrients, wood ash is a good source of many micronutrients needed in trace amounts for adequate plant growth.
Rice Water:
I don't have any photos of saving rice water but it is quite simple.
I gently rinse my rice in cold water two or three times before adding the rice to the rice cooker. I just pour the water into a bowl after each rinse. I save it in a gallon jug to use when watering my house plants.
Note: You can also use other water like pasta water, and water from blanching vegetables like kale, and broccoli to add some nutrients back into the soil.
I use regenerative solutions to fertilize my vegetables all season long. I believe that feeding my plants every two weeks with all the homemade solutions gives my vegetables a high level of nutrients for a much healthier diet.
Fertilizing is easy when I combine all the solutions (by their ratio) into one gallon at once. It may take a bit of effort but oh my, the results are amazing and my vegetables are so nutrient-dense compared to anything I would buy at the local grocery store.
May your gardening season be a bountiful one and perhaps you will try making some #homemade, #organic solutions for your plants.
Until next time, this is Sunscape
Sun. Scape. Ing Your Day
