A Seed Saver's Garden

[heirloomgal]

Adding alfalfa meal is also a great way to increase soil tilth especially heavy clay soil. It is generally weed-free and adds nitrogen and trace minerals to soil. Also contains a natural fatty-acid growth stimulant called triacontanol helps stimulate plant growth. You can use it in place or with other fertilizers . The best soil amendments added in my garden was mushroom compost. Just added few dump truck loads.

In my experience I found it took a long time to improve the hard pan clay soil by adding cover crops and or fertilizers. By adding mushroom compost and alfalfa pellets took less time to improve soil showing better growth , using less fertilizer and easier planting methods during the growth period.

Yes, I add alfalfa meal to my pepper pots and around the pole bean plants when I transplant them in early summer. It's lovely stuff. I do find it quite pricey though, a small bag containing probably 4 cups is $10. I almost wonder if I got it in the form of animal feed would it be more economical. I'm actually not even sure if there is alfalfa pellet animal feed? I use pellets with alfalfa in them for the guinea pigs, but that is fortified with lots of other stuff probably not suitable for putting in the garden. If I could find an inexpensive source of alfalfa meal I'd definitely use more of it!

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

Yes, I add alfalfa meal to my pepper pots and around the pole bean plants when I transplant them in early summer. It's lovely stuff. I do find it quite pricey though, a small bag containing probably 4 cups is $10. I almost wonder if I got it in the form of animal feed would it be more economical. I'm actually not even sure if there is alfalfa pellet animal feed? I use pellets with alfalfa in them for the guinea pigs, but that is fortified with lots of other stuff probably not suitable for putting in the garden. If I could find an inexpensive source of alfalfa meal I'd definitely use more of it!

Yes purchase from a feed store has better prices. A 50# bag is $19.99 at tractor supply.

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

@heirloomgal your amaranthus is a beautiful hot pink color. Never seen that color before.


I grew this deep burgundy color. It’s full of grain to process. Looks like its sending a message to the neighbors.

 

[heirloomgal]

@heirloomgal your amaranthus is a beautiful hot pink color. Never seen that color before.


I grew this deep burgundy color. It’s full of grain to process. Looks like its sending a message to the neighbors.
View attachment 70034

Hahahaha, quite a comical variety! Looks a bit like the Elephant Head variety?

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

Hahahaha, quite a comical variety! Looks a bit like the Elephant Head variety?

It is elephant head. Good catch…

 

[heirloomgal]

I'm rather astonished - the nicotiana plants held a layer of snow on their leaves for 24 hours and this evening once the snow melted, they look like this. As though they never had a problem. I researched a little, looking for bits that indicate it's so cold tolerant. I found nothing, in fact, most articles read: 'very frost sensitive'. Humph. I wonder what is going on here. And the plant is self seeded, so considerably younger than those I've planted other years, by a couple months.

The spookification begins. DD and I had so much fun making these and coming up with imprint ideas.

My favourite one, wonderfully gross looking.

 

[Alasgun]

Yes, I add alfalfa meal to my pepper pots and around the pole bean plants when I transplant them in early summer. It's lovely stuff. I do find it quite pricey though, a small bag containing probably 4 cups is $10. I almost wonder if I got it in the form of animal feed would it be more economical. I'm actually not even sure if there is alfalfa pellet animal feed? I use pellets with alfalfa in them for the guinea pigs, but that is fortified with lots of other stuff probably not suitable for putting in the garden. If I could find an inexpensive source of alfalfa meal I'd definitely use more of it!

You can buy a 60lb bale of Alfalfa at a feed store or from a farmer and run it thru the chipper shredder for a lot less! It does not have to be in powder form to work!

 

[heirloomgal]

You can buy a 60lb bale of Alfalfa and run it thru the chipper shredder for a lot less!

I didn't even think of that!! Brilliant! And the alfalfa bales are actually almost the same price as straw!

 

[Decoy1]

I don't know my amaranthus family very well @Decoy1, but it didn't have 3 colors so this may not be the one. It looked like this. I did try callaloo once though, made for me by a Jamaican friend and it was possibly the best green I'd ever eaten. Just delicious. No idea where she got it from though.
View attachment 70029

Lovely colour!

I’ve read around this some more and found that callaloo isn’t necessarily Amaranthus tricolor. It can be other edible amaranths too. It’s simply that edible amaranth is known as callaloo in the Caribbean and by different names elsewhere.

 

[Branching Out]

I didn't even think of that!! Brilliant! And the alfalfa bales are actually almost the same price as straw!

A while back I bought a 500g sack of alfalfa seeds from OSC with the intention of growing my own mulch, but I haven't tried it yet. This conversation is inspiring me to get those seeds in the soil come spring.

And I agree that buying fertilizers, hay (for mulch or for animal feed-- we used to buy flakes of hay for our pet bunny), and soil amendments in bulk from farmers' coops or feed stores is definitely the way to go. We buy pelleted alfalfa in 20kg sacks at the feed store for about $20. It's available year round and is easy to work with (for those with allergies the compressed pellets are a bit dusty, but not super dusty like hay). In the spring they also offer alfalfa meal as a seasonal product. I add pellets when I bump up spring and summer seedlings outdoors, as well as in the garden for garlic, tomatoes, peppers and flowers. The powdery alfalfa meal is stored in a bucket indoors over the winter, so I can add it to my potting mix when I bump up seedlings. I just called to check prices and a 70lb bale of alfalfa hay at our local coop is $29CAD($21USD). Across the line in Washington State they quoted $27USD, which converts to $40CAD.