What Is Garden Alchemy? Whether you are a brand-new gardener or have many homegrown tomatoes under your belt, this book is full of recipes, concoctions, experiments, and projects for you to play with in your garden. Using nature as a guide, the recipes come from the earth and work to build on the foundation Mother Nature has created. Get started with Garden Alchemy by completing the soil testing recipes in chapter 1. This will help you to get to know your unique garden soil. Then you can go through the recipes like a cookbook, finding those that look interesting to you and giving them a try in your space. Before long, you will have some new favorite natural ideas for growing a lush and thriving garden, along with the confidence that you know what truly works for your individual space. A Compost Recipe for Success Healthy compost results from a combination of four ingredients: nitrogen, carbon, air, and moisture. 1 PART NITROGEN SOURCE (GREENS) Green compost ingredients are those with higher nitrogen content, such as grass clippings, garden trimmings, and kitchen scraps. These materials rot quickly and are full of the compounds needed for fast microbial growth. They are usually quite wet and heavy and can get stinky fast unless you balance them with enough brown material. When choosing greens for your compost bin, limit any one item to no more than 20 percent of the total of greens. This will help to mitigate any issues that could come up by packing the bin with so much of one item that it quickly throws the whole mix off. 2 TO 3 PARTS CARBON SOURCE (BROWNS) Brown compost ingredients are those with higher carbon content, such as paper, finely shredded woody material, and straw. Browns are dry and bulky, creating spaces for air to reach the greens. They do not decay rapidly without greens because they do not hold enough moisture. COMPOSTING SHOULDN’T BE GROSS If you think composting is yucky or dirty, you aren’t doing it right! Compost should smell fresh, sweet, and earthy, like the forest. Overly stinky compost is not properly in balance, but it is an easy fix. Too many greens, too much of one type of greens, or too much water in your compost could cause it to become soggy and smell bad. Compost can start to stink when there aren’t enough carbon materials to balance out wetness. In this case, remove any of the soggy, offending materials, add more brown materials, and turn your compost to introduce air. In most cases, this will help remedy the problem. Keep These Materials Out of Compost Pesticides and herbicides Compostable grocery bags Evergreen clippings Meat, bones, dairy, or animal product food scraps Pet waste Diseased plant material Plants that have gone to seed Large logs, thorny branches Special dietary needs? You bet! Worms are raw-food, gluten-free vegans. Materials Kitchen scraps, such as: Raw vegetables Egg shells Coffee groundsFlowersGreen leaves from garden Avoid: cooked food, dairy, meat, bones, vinegar, oil, citrus, or juicy produce (e.g., tomatoes, watermelon) Also, do not include any plant seeds, as worm digestion does not create the heat necessary to sterilize the seeds. (In fact, the seeds would be thrilled to germinate in nutrient-rich worm castings!) Worm Food Recipe Worms love to eat what you give them, but having a balance of different materials ensures the environment stays healthy. Just like composting, a good rule of thumb is to make sure that no more than 20 percent of their food is made up of one material. Make it! Feed the worms weekly, alternating placing the food through the four corners of the bin. By the time a month has gone by, the worms will have had time to digest the scraps in the first corner. The worms can easily survive for a month without food so don’t worry if you need to go on vacation. Just feed them when you get home, and they will be happy to hold down the fort until you are back.
✔ Author(s): Stephanie Rose
✔ Title: Garden Alchemy: 80 Recipes and Concoctions for Organic Fertilizers, Plant Elixirs, Potting Mixes, Pest Deterrents, and More
✔ Rating : 4.7 out of 5 base on (494 reviews)
✔ ISBN-10: 0760367094
✔ ISBN-13: 9780760367094
✔ Language: English
✔ Format ebook: PDF, EPUB, Kindle, Audio, HTML and MOBI
✔ Device compatibles: Android, iOS, PC and Amazon Kindle
Readers' opinions about Garden Alchemy by Stephanie Rose
Lucy Garraway
This book completely captured my heart. The characters were so relatable, and their journeys resonated deeply with me. The writing was poetic and powerful, leaving me with a sense of awe. I'm grateful to have experienced this literary gem.
Melody Blake
What an intellectual journey! The themes explored in this book challenged my perceptions and sparked introspection. It's refreshing to read a book that provokes such thought.
Aileen Menzie
The way this book explored the complexities of human nature and relationships was both profound and relatable. It touched my heart in ways I didn't expect.
