With the hot, dry weather that we’ve had you may find some of your plants need an extra boost. It’s quite easy to make a quick home brew that will give the some extra nutrients. Here are a few recipes that you should be able to concoct easily:
Comfrey Feed:
As your comfrey plants grow, cut the leaves off to leave about 8cm growth on the plant. You can do this several times in the season, but not after the summer as you need the plant to grow fully again during autumn before winter falls. Break the leaves up and pop them in a container of water. Leave the mixture, covered or under cover, for about 4 weeks until it turns a nice light tea colour (if it goes too dark just add more water as it’s a little over concentrated). It’ll smell bad but that’s a good sign that it’s ready!
Use the liquid to feed your veg plants with during the summer – it’s especially good for tomatoes – and throw the rotten leaves into the compost heap, or use them as a mulch.
Nettle Tea:
In much the same way as above, but using garden gloves to avoid stings, cut lots of nettle plants and pop them in a container of water to soak. Aim for 1 part nettles to 10 parts water. After a few days you can use the nettle tea as a feed for most plants, although it is particularly good for tomatoes, cucumbers and squashes.
Worm Cast:
Worm cast fertiliser is, in our humble opinion, the very best of them all. If you are planting new plants, simply mix and handful of wormcast into the soil before you plant your seedling. If you want to add it to established plants, make it into liquid form first by mixing 1-2 handfuls in a watering can (you might need to take off the rose though so as not to clog up the spout!)
Seaweed:
If you live near the coast, a few good handfuls of seaweed rinsed, chopped up and soaked in a bucket of water for 2 week will provide excellent nutrition.