I'm always looking for ways to have a better garden for less money. I've read several places about making liquid fertilizer, sometimes called manure tea, to give a boost to plants.
It is super simple. Here is how I did it.
Place your dry ingredient into a five gallon bucket. I used chicken manure mixed with wood shavings - filling the bucket about a fifth full. You can also use fresh grass clippings but then you would want to fill the bucket about 2/3 full.
Fill the bucket with water and let sit for three days. Stir about once a day. I sat the bucket by my compost pile, covered it loosely with a lid, and warned the children to not play in it. After three days, the nutrients should have seeped out into the water. Longer than that will just increase the stinky fermentation!
Strain the liquid into another bucket. I used a piece of fencing but the holes were hardly small enough to trap all the solids. I need to look for an old strainer at the thrift store that I could keep out in my garden shed for the purpose. I threw the solids in my compost pile.
The strained "tea" needs to be diluted before using it to water plants. Dilute both manure tea or grass clipping tea one to one.
Then pour it into your watering can and go find a hungry plant! Use it up in a day or two. You can pour any extras on your perennials or your compost pile.
Like any time you fertilize, be careful you don't fertilize plants that are drought stressed. Water your plants first, then fertilize.This time of year, as the perennials are coming out of dormancy, is a great time to fertilize. It is hard for plants to get nitrogen from the soil when it is cool. You can use the fertilizer on potted plants and I even used this homemade fertilizer on the plants I was starting indoors from seed.
Have you tried making your own fertilizer? What is your favorite frugal gardening tip?
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