Revised: April 2024
Gardening Series, Part 9
Nature Shift for Soil Balancing
With tips on fertilizers, mulch and other soil amendments.
Have you read these valuable insights from nature on soil? Healthy, balanced soil is critical to the health and growth of your plants. You're putting in a lot of time and effort now to prepare your soil. Let's take it up a notch!
In addition to the obvious, it may surprise you to learn that severe weather events, pollution and other man-made environmental damage, unchecked personal stress or stress from serious global events can also affect your soil.
To give your soil an extra balancing and stabilizing boost, use ETS for Soil and EoP.
It doesn't take long. And compared to the physical or strenuous work you've been doing out in your garden, this step will be a breeze.
Gut Gardeners
Follow the instructions for each Solution given in their brochures. (Links to both are given below.)
ETS for Soil Brochure
Follow the "Instructions for Use" section. Depending on the size of your garden or containers, you'll either be using
• SOIL AND LAND APPLIED DOSAGES, or
• STEPS FOR APPLYING TO LARGE AREAS.
Essence of Perelandra Brochure
When you administer EoP to your garden, you provide an exceptional foundation of balance to that area. Use the same five steps as written for administering EoP to projects and goals. Focus on strengthening your garden soil. The steps are at the top of page 7 in the brochure.
2.0 Gardeners
In the Garden Workbook, follow the steps on pages 202-203, "Nature Shift for Soil Balancing." You'll need two small, clean, clear glass bowls or clear drinking glasses with wide bottoms and labels that won't blow away. (We often use plant markers.)
All Gardeners
If you have finished your aerating, fertilizing and tilling, open your Garden Workbook to pages 165-168, "The Final Stage: Rolling On." Review this information to make sure you aren't forgetting any other preparations for planting.
Finding Fertilizers, Mulch and Other Soil Amendments
We often get calls from folks having trouble locating good sources of clean, healthy soil amendments and mulches. Here are a few tips.
READ LABELS!
Be careful and read labels on your fertilizers, soil mixes and mulches so you aren't unintentionally adding sludge or other unwanted chemicals to your garden. "All Natural" on the label does not mean organic. And "organic" doesn't always mean all natural, either. We've read the labels on some bags that appear at a glance to be perfect and healthy, but on closer look, contain serious warning labels for pregnant women, small children and animals who may walk on that soil.
FERTILIZERS
You probably have more available locally than you realize. Unless you're in the middle of a big city, there's a good chance you've got farm supply stores or farmers cooperatives within driving distance. Local farm coops often carry a nice range of organic fertilizers. If local farmers markets have opened, ask the farmers where they get their supplies. You can also find some good resources online. For smaller quantities and liquid fertilizers, online ordering may be a good option. (We provide a few links below.)
MULCH
This is a "think creatively" suggestion: Are there timber companies or small businesses that use logs from timbering to make wood products in your area? Find out if they offer mulch. There is a small company near us that makes oak staves for barrels. They grind the waste into a fantastic high quality hardwood mulch available at a great price. You just need to have (or borrow or rent) a pick-up truck. They use their tractor to load it in your truck and charge by the tractor bucketful.
NEW TO GARDENING?
Some of us Perelandra garden assistants had never really gardened before and one thing we learned: There are products called boosters, biostimulants or "inoculants" that are used when planting to boost some varieties of seeds such as beans, peas and legumes. Ask nature if you are to add any of these when planting. Order them now, so you aren't desperately searching for the inoculant you need at planting time. These come in a range of quality. Again, check the labels.
Some good online resources for inoculants, fertilizers and other soil amendments:
About Seed or Plant Substitutions
Sometimes a seed or plant variety seems to magically disappear from the planet between the time you test and the time your orders start arriving. Review how to address this with your nature partner here.
