How to Grow More Vegetables : And Fruits, Nuts ... - Shroomery

ed and walking across the board. If you add a lip to the bed,
do it after tamping down the soil.
Adding Fertilizers and Compost
Add fertilizers and other amendments one at a time. Avoid
windy days, and hold the fertilizer close to the bed surface
when spreading. Use the different colors to help you. The soil
is dark, so sprinkle on a light-colored fertilizer (such as oyster
shell flour) first, then a darker fertilizer (such as alfalfa meal),
and so on. It is better to underapply the fertilizers because you
can go back over the bed afterward to spread on any leftover,
but it is difficult to pick up fertilizer if too much falls in one
place. Aim for even distribution. Next, add compost and/or aged
manure. After all are applied, sift in the fertilizers and other
amendments by inserting a spading fork 2 to 4 inches deep at a
slant, then lifting it upward with a slight jiggling motion.
Several things should be noted about the nutrients added
to the upper 3 to 4 inches of soil. (1) The nutrients are added
to the upper soil layer as they occur in nature. (2) The nutrients
are relocated through the soil when larger soil organisms
and when water flows downward. (3) Organic fertilizers break
down more slowly than most chemical fertilizers. By utilizing
natural nutrient cycles, plant-available minerals are released
over an extended period of time.
(Left) Casting fertilizer onto a bed’s
surface; (right) sifting in fertilizers with
a spading fork. (A “twist dig” is now
being used to sift in fertilizers also.
It is easier on the back and does not
require bending over as far. This
method requires three motions at once:
[1] a slight up-and-down motion with
the left hand, [2] a twist back and forth
holding onto the D-handled spade with
the right hand, and [3] a slight pushing
in and out of the handle through the
left hand with the right hand. Develop
this skill by practicing.) Do not rake
the bed to smooth it out after sifting in
fertilizers, as this usually creates irregular
concentrations of fertilizers that
were previously spread evenly.
FERTILIZATION 59