If you’re like me, you are anxious to hit the ground running in your vegetable garden. While we all want to plant our crops, it’s important to focus on soil care first.
While that might sound tedious, I can assure you it doesn’t take much time at all. And your vegetable crops will reward you with abundant harvests as a result. I’d say that’s worth it!
This is the topic for my newest video. Here’s what I cover in it:
- Learn one of the most amazing facts about soil microorganisms
- The importance of waiting for your soil to warm up and dry out before working with it
- Why you should be gentle with your soil and not overwork it
- The types of soil nutrients we add to our raised beds, based on what we’ll be growing in each one
- The difference between sandy and clay soil, and how compost improves both types
- Examples of which nutrients work best, esp. for root crops
- My fertilizer routine for transplanting young seedlings into our garden
Even though this video primarily focuses on soil care, you can see that I also discussed fertilizer types a bit. That’s because I think it can be very confusing knowing which type to use.
Here’s a quick explanation about using fertilizers for vegetable crops
- Fertilizers have three numbers on their packaging. The numbers represent — always in this order — the percentages of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium that they contain.
- It’s so important to use the RIGHT type of fertilizer because they can have a big impact on how crops grow. For example, what if you’re growing root crops? These include carrots, parsnips, turnips, rutabagas, beets, onions and shallots. They need phosphorus in order for them to produce those roots we all love to harvest! In that instance, you need to use a fertilizer that’s high in phosphorus (the middle number should be the highest). If you instead feed them with a high-nitrogen fertilizer, they’ll have lovely leaves and tiny roots. Bone meal is my favorite source for phosphorus.
- What if you’re growing crops that need to bloom and set fruits? I’m referring to crops like squash, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and pumpkins. They also benefit from fertilizers that are high in phosphorus.
- If you’re growing leafy crops such as broccoli and cabbage, they require nitrogen. That means the first number on the package should be the highest.
- I have a video that goes into more detail about which fertilizers to use. Here’s a link to Fertilizer Basics on my YouTube channel.
And here is this week’s video on the importance of soil care:
Was my video helpful? I hope so and also hope it impacts how you care for your soil. It makes all the difference! And did you know I have over 660 videos on my YouTube channel? (I can’t believe it either!) My goal is to help you be successful at all types of gardening, and especially for growing your own food.