How Does your Garden Grow?
For compost tea, take an old pillow case or muslin bag you make, and fill it about halfway with compost. Then tie it off with a cord and let it steep in a container of water for a day or so and then use the resulting "brew" to water your plants.
I tend to just leave the compost "tea bag" in the bin and add water until I've leached out all I can possibly get from the compost, and then dry it out and bit and work it into the garden to add organic material.
Gumbo Anyone?If you have poor soil, compost is one of the best things you can add. Heavy clay (called Gumbo down south) soils benefit greatly from the additon of compost, but you need to be very careful when you work it in. Spread 4 or 5 inches of coarse compost on top of slightly damp, not wet, clay soil, and work it in. Heavy clay soils can take upwards of three to five years to get to a decent workable condition, so unless you want to dig it out all and bring in topsoil, I'm afraid there is no shortcut for this type of soil. A good way to start is to mix 50% coarse compost, 50% good topsoil, and till it into your existing soil to a depth of 10 to 12 inches. For clay soils, you will probably want to use a commercial rorotiller, and never, ever, ever, work it when wet. Again, this type of soil takes a long time to amend, but the good news is your soil is very rich in nutrients. Patience, grasshopper.
Cover crops also work wonders, and red clover, buckwheat and alfalfa are three of the best. Not only will they add to the nutrients of your soil, but buckwheat has roots that can go down 8 feet or so.. terrific for breaking up heavy soils. Cut the plants back and let the roots remain where they are, decomposing.
Compost also enriches sandy soils that drain too quickly, by providing the means to hold that water by which your roses take up nutrients *in* the compost. Talk about doing double duty. Top dress existing plants, or work it in from the beginning. And thank all you hold holy that you have sandy and not clay soils.
I hope you are convinced, if not by my bragging, then by some
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