Garden Alchemy

80 Recipes and Concoctions for Organic Fertilizers, Plant Elixirs, Potting Mixes, Pest Deterrents, and More

Stephanie Rose

• Publisher: Cool Springs Press
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9780760367100
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Horticulture
• Index: Biological Sciences

Garden Alchemy is a hands-on guide for do-it-yourself gardeners who want to turn their garden into gold using natural recipes and herbal concoctions (while saving both time and money!). This gardening recipe and project book is packed with over 80 ideas to naturally beautify your garden, using organic methods that regenerate your soil and revitalize your plants. By following the processes that are closest to nature, it brings the gardener in sync with the garden, allowing plants to thrive with less effort and less cost. Recipes for mixing your own potting soils and homemade organic fertilizers give you the freedom to choose what ingredients make their way into your garden. Step-by-step instructions for building a compost pile, concocting soil tests, and constructing inexpensive DIY seed-starting equipment are accompanied by gorgeous, full-color, step-by-step photography. You'll also find recipes for natural pest deterrents and traps, garden teas, and growth-boosting foliar sprays to help your garden grow strong all season long. Garden Alchemy starts with home experiments to help you get to know your soil and customize recipes for your individual needs. The rest of the chapters share how to decipher and combine natural ingredients to make the best quality amendments and elixirs. Detailed descriptions of earth-based materials demystify common ingredients, such as mycorrhizae, biochar, and greensand, and help you learn how to fix common garden problems with minimal effort. The simple method of making use of what you have available supports plants better than brand-name products. Dozens of recipes and projects include:

• Homemade seed bombs, disks, and tapes
• Granular and liquid natural fertilizer recipes
• DIY rooting hormone
• Herbal anti-fungal spray
• Plant propagation instructions
• Soil care recipes to adjustthe pH and manage fertility
• 13 specialty potting mixes
• 7 clever traps for common garden pests

Written by Stephanie Rose, the creative gardener, permaculturist, and herbalist behind the popular website Garden Therapy, this fun and beautifully illustrated book is packed with great ideas and inspiration for DIY gardeners who want to embrace their creativity and have more control of the garden's care.

CHAPTER 1

Soils and Mulches

Learning about your soil is the first step to a healthy and productive garden, and it’s a lifelong journey. The soil in your yard may be different than the soil from a prior home. It can be quite different from your neighbor’s land. And it can even differ around your property.

While it may seem like the best way to start the gardening journey is to haul in a load of brand spanking new soil and start fresh, that strategy can be fraught with challenges. Bulk topsoil or garden soil can come from a variety of different sources and can contain undesirable things, such as pesticides, herbicides, and plastics. Adding poor quality soil to a garden can cause damage that could take many years to repair.

Even if you do get excellent quality topsoil and the first year of gardening is wildly productive, those easily accessed nutrients will soon be depleted. After that, the new soil will need to be amended annually until it becomes rich with the organic matter and microbes that make up living soil. A much less expensive and productive way to is to start by amending the soil you have. But before you can do that, you need to assess it.

Take some time to meet your soil. Learn about its natural structure, pH, and health. In this chapter, I’ll share some simple home tests for evaluating your soil as a foundation for the garden alchemy you will use to grow a healthy, regenerative, and thriving garden. Learning to work with what you have is a skill that will save you time, energy, and money in the long run.

At-Home Soil Testing

A soil test is an important first step in getting to know the soil you are working with. Basic home tests can give you a better understanding of the soil composition and pH, which will serve as a basis for the recipes in this book.

With just a bit of information about your soil, you will begin your relationship with the land, learning about what works and what doesn’t work for your space. Some of the plants you grow will effortlessly take root, while others may struggle despite your best efforts. Learning to work with your soil as opposed to fighting its nature will bring the gardener in sync with the garden.

While this strategy works well for many home gardeners, if plant problems are persistent and your efforts are not resolving the issues, lab testing provides a detailed qualitative assessment of your soil, including nutrients, toxins, and microbes.

Simple Squeeze Test

This quick and simple test can be done right in the garden with minimal time or disruption. Take a handful of soil from the garden and squeeze it into a ball. Poke it with your finger and observe the results:

• If it sticks together, it’s clay.

• If it falls apart somewhat, it’s loam.

• If it falls apart completely, it’s sand.

How to Collect a Soil Sample

To collect a soil sample, dig...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• What Is Garden Alchemy?
• Chapter 1 | Soils and Mulches
• Chapter 2 | Propagation
• Chapter 3 | Compost
• Chapter 4 | Fertilizers and Garden Teas
• Chapter 5 | Birds, Bees, and Bugs
• Resources
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Index
• Dedication
• Copyright