This spring, I prepped my beds by adding the bone meal and organic fertilizer about a week before planting.
I understand they are slow to break down so it wasn’
t wasted. But it also gave me the opportunity to see if something would try to dig from the smell of the bone meal.
I lost about 1/2 an onion crop once, because I used blood meal and something went after that. So now I add first and wait and if nothing disturbs the soil, then I plant.
We had a neighbor last night, warn us that he’s seen a bear around.
I received a notice from Fedex that our 5 Bidee Beds were enroute and will be here Thursday. I started removing the old raised bed walls rhat I made from pallet wood, lined with plastic yesterday. I will finish removing the remaining four and a half this morning and take them to the transfer station this afternoon. Then I will shovel the soil up from the sides and cut a gap transverse in the middle for the bracing rods and that way I can assemble the beds and Barb and I will be able to drop them over the soil pile, and rake the soil level.
I replaced two the beds last spring and the Birdee Beds are real quality. Birdee had asignificant sale this spring and so we are continuing the upgrade process. The pallet wood did their job, but they have had it.
The garlic and shallots I planted last fall are doing we. I want to transplant cabbage this week as well as cucumber and pole green beans yet this week.
Good idea about letting the fertilizers sit to see if it attracts any digging!
I think my new strategy will be to use the liquid bone meal, once I see blossoms on tomatoes and peppers, cukes and zukes. I’ll also check the ingredients (again!) on my other liquid fertilizers to see if they incorporate calcium into the mix.
I always refer back to the box; it’s like when you’re baking a cake mix, which you’ve done 10,000 times already, and have to keep digging the box out of the trash to re-read the instructions, LOL!
Well, at least *I* still do that! ;)