Give your Plants a Weed Feed

If you can't beat 'em, feed with 'em. That could be the motto of Neil Strickland of Raymond, Mississippi. Neil fertilizes his entire vegetable garden and 3-acre orchard exclusively with a homemade weed tea. Just like cover crops, weeds contain traces of the "big three" nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. "And fast-growing weeds have many growth hormones and trace minerals," Neil says. He uses whatever is on hand for his brew, including horsetail (Ecjuisetum arvense), chickweed, comfrey, nettles, and even willow branches and grass clippings. "If you can use only one plant, make it willow branches," he says, "because they contain many growth hormones that are especially beneficial for transplants."

Ingredients and Supplies

55-gallon drum or several 5-gallon buckets

Silica-rich plants, like s t i n g i n g or false

nettles, or horsetail

Any type of will o w branch (watersprouts are especially good)

Green matter, such as fresh lawn c l i p pings, chickweed , and comfrey

Rainwater or chlorine-free water

Directions

1. C o a r s e l y c h o p some silica-rich plants, w i l l o w , and green matter, and fill the drum or buckets % to 'Л full of plant material.

2. Fill the d r um or buckets w i t h rainwater or chlorine-free water. It's important to use water that hasn't been c h l o r i n a t e d , because chlorine may kill the microbes that break down the plant matter.

3. Let the mixture stand in the sun for several days (preferably not too close to the house—this is a pretty fragrant fertilizer!).

4. Pour or drain the liquid off the top into a separate container.

5. To use, mix 1 quart of the fertilizer liquid in 5 gallons of water. Spray on plant leaves as a foliar fertilizer, or use as a soil drench

for vegetables, fruit trees, and ornamentals. (Neil often uses the liquid full strength on established plants and has not experienced any burning.)

Yield: About 30 gallons of nutrient tea

Note: Add more water and new weed material to the drum or buckets as you use the fertilizer and you'll have a continuous source of plant food. "It's like sourdough starter," explains Neil's friend, Kathleen Chapman, also of Raymond, Mississippi. "You have to keep it going by continuing to add fresh plants and more water. The sludge that remains in the bottom of the container contains microbes that keep the fertilizer cooking." Kathleen says that this weed tea keeps her flower and herb gardens lush and green all season long.