The Science of growing more Nutritious Vegs

How to make & use Organic Fertilisers at home.
[The Definitive Guide 2024]



This is a complete Guide on how to grow more nutritious, nutrients-packed Vegs,
and how to make & use organic fertiliser at home.

In this new guide you'll learn:

  • Our problem: overfed & undernourished; and Why you need nutrients-packed Vegs

  • How to produce Vegs that are nutritious again in 3 steps

    1. #1 How to improve your soil biology with organic matter & Microbial Inoculants

    2. #2 How to boost the soil fertility with mineral fertilisers

    3. #3 Bring nutrients to your soil and Vegs with liquid fertilisers

  • Fight back the pests Organic Pesticides

  • YOUR NEXT STEP: Checklist to get the best organic fertilisers

Let's get started, you'll be eating more Nutritious Vegs this season and beyond

In a hurry? Get the checklist for the Best Organic Fertilisers you need.

Last Updated with recent scientific research in April 2024

The Science of growing more Nutritious Vegs – Contents

  • Our problem?

    Overfed & Undernourished!

  • Produce Vegs that are nutritious again!

    Produce Vegs that are nutritious again with this Guide The Science of growing more Nutritious Vegs, and learn How to make & use Organic Fertilisers at home

  • Let's start by testing your soil

    Before we do anything, we need a baseline!

  • Step 1

    Improve your soil biology with Organic matters & Microbial Inoculants;

    and progress your skills with 3 levels!

  • Step 2

    Boost long-term soil fertility with Mineral Organic Fertilisers;

    and progress your skills with 3 levels!

  • Step 3

    Bring short-term nutrients to your soil & Vegs with Liquid Organic Fertilisers;

    and progress your skills with 3 levels!

  • Fight back with Organic Pest Control

    How to make natural pesticides

  • FREE: YOUR NEXT STEP

    Get the Checklist for the Best Organic Fertilisers you need for Vegetables and plants

  • Learn More

    • How to use organic fertilisers in your garden, how often

    • Learn more about natural soil amendments and organic fertilisers

I want to help you not only grow more Vegs, but more importantly, Nutrients-packed Vegs, 100% local, 100% organic.

With this guide I want to help you not only grow more Vegs, but more importantly Nutrients-packed Vegs, 100% local, 100% organic.

It is specifically designed to give you and your family the skills you need to make and use your own organic fertilisers; without relying on the big bad chemicals companies that rule our food production today and do so much long-term damage to our planet, and to you!

I'm sharing here as I would do with my family and friends what I've learned from others, tried, and practiced (and also what I've stopped doing!!) since my childhood in rural France – bring to you old methods that still work, and the latest scientific research in agricultural and horticulture technology that works (that's my Geeky trait!) – to better grow your own Vegs, at home.

And it works: our family continues to eat nutrients-packed Vegs grown organically throughout the year!

This guide covers all you need to know about how to make & use organic fertilisers to grow Nutrients-packed Vegs, so feel free to use the table of contents above to jump around.

Keep growing-

Anthony

Our problem? Overfed & Undernourished!

 

Beyond the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic there is so much more bad news coming: we have another major (in addition to Climate Change!) global epidemic crisis to deal with.

Our modern sedentary lifestyles, our global food production systems (and the people in white clothe creating much of today's food) are on target to produce 1 billion people considered "obese" by 2030. We simply eat too much, too much of the wrong and poor-quality food, and it's failing to nourish us with the nutrients we need.

In their "State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020" report, recent estimates from FAO indicate that 840 million people do not receive enough energy from their diets to meet their needs. The overwhelming majority of these people–799 million–live in developing countries. The global toll of people affected by micronutrient deficiency is estimated to be even higher and probably exceeds two billion. Micronutrient deficiencies can exist in populations even where the food supply is adequate in terms of meeting energy requirements.

To make matters worse, they also found that eating nutrients-rich food is expensive:

"Healthy diets – that reflect global guidelines and include foods from several groups and have greater diversity within food groups – are unaffordable for more than 3 billion people, and more than 1.5 billion people cannot even afford a diet that only meets required levels of essential nutrients."

— State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020

I've already shared other ways of growing nutrients-packed Vegs with Microgreens, and in this guide, I'll share how to use organic fertilisers to better grow Vegs in pots, containers and Vegs beds.

 

The Solution? Produce Vegs that are nutritious again!

So what's the solution? Just because you buy "organic vegetables" at the supermarket or even grow Vegs at home without any chemicals doesn't mean that you produce nutrients-packed Vegs.

In this guide, I'm on a mission to share with you how to better grow delicious and nutritious Vegs in your garden, with 100% organic methods to improve your soil in the long-term, bring more nutrients to your produce with organic fertilisers, and also how to avoid and deal with pests! And keep yourself and your family healthy.

I'll share the specific next steps you need to take to grow more Nutritious Vegs;
and for each step, I'll let you choose how far you want to take it (from Not Too Geeky to Just Geeky and then Ultra Geeky!):

 
 
  • Improve your soil biology with organic matters & Microbial Inoculants

  • Improve long-term soil fertility with Minerals

  • dd short-term Nutrients to your soil & Vegs

    • If necessary, how to deal with pests with organic pesticides;

    • You'll also get a checklist of equipment and organic fertilisers you need;

    • And guidance on how to effectively use and apply these organic fertilisers.

 
 
In this guide, I'm on a mission to share with you how to better grow delicious and nutritious Vegs in your garden, with 100% organic methods to improve your soil biology and fertility in the long-term, bring more nutrients to your produce with organi

In this guide, I'm on a mission to share with you how to better grow delicious and nutritious Vegs in your garden, with 100% organic methods to improve your soil biology and fertility in the long-term, bring more nutrients to your produce with organic fertilisers, and also how to avoid and deal with pests! And keep yourself and your family healthy.

 

Don’t believe me. Do a Brix test with any Vegs you buy from supermarkets (even Organic Vegs) … See how in this video!


I recommend you watch the Kiss the Ground Film to learn more about why our Soil matters and how you can contribute to make it better!

Kiss the Ground Film: sharing how we can restore our soils to not only reverse climate change but also improve soil fertility and the food we eat!

 

Why does Soil matters?

Well it's quite simple: the nutritional quality of food determines the health of animals and humans. Food quality is primarily determined by soil fertility.

Soil fertility building and soil conservation are the most important skills of organic gardeners; it's also critical to increase your yields and adapt to climate change.

While you might feel powerless and unsure on what you can do yourself, there is some good news: each one of us with any piece of land, whether in your drive, in your back garden or allotments, or farm fields can take immediate action to reduce climate change by improving soil fertility, which produces nutrients-rich Vegs.

And it doesn't require more man-made chemicals or expensive solutions. We've already seen how Chemical agriculture has destroyed the life in our soils so let's not do that anymore.

Use the Organic fertilisers to improve your soil biology first, not bring more nutrients directly to the plants!

Improve your soil biology first.

How can you improve your garden soil at home with Organic Fertilisers?

Before applying solutions to improve your soil, it's useful to understand the basics of how the soil works!

A teaspoonful of healthy soil contains billions of microorganisms

— Why Soil Matters Film

And all those microorganisms need to feed; their diet is to consume organic matters and that organic matter is what produces the nutrients your Vegs need.

That's why I don't recommend synthetic or chemical fertilisers as a solution: while synthetic fertilisers supply plant growth nutrients, they simply do not supply the organic matter required through the plant's development. And in most cases they end up destroying these microorganisms so within a few years the soil deteriorates.

(You should know this is the opposite of what the Big Bad companies that control our food systems want you to do though, the more you use their synthetic or chemical fertilisers, the more you need to buy their products to keep up, without regard for the long term impact to the soils or the enormous environmental costs of those products…)

So we use the Organic fertilisers to improve your soil biology first, not taking a shortcut to bring more nutrients directly to the plants!

Learn all about Fertilisers

  • So now you know which and how Fertilisers can be useful, let's consider what are Organic Fertilisers:

    Organic fertilisers definition:

    Organic fertilisers are fertilisers that are naturally produced (ie non-chemical) and contain carbon, to be added to soil and plants to give it the nutrients it needs and promote growth. They are focused on feeding the soil first, rather than feeding the plant first.

    There are various organic fertiliser types, including Minerals, animal waste, plant-based fertilisers.

    The Principles of Organic Agriculture defines what can be considered "Organic":

    # The Principle of Health - Organic agriculture should sustain and enhance the health of soil, plant, animal and human as one and indivisible.

    # The Principle of Ecology - Organic agriculture should be based on living ecological systems and cycles, work with them, emulate them and help sustain them.

    # The Principle of Fairness - Organic agriculture should build on relationships that ensure fairness with regard to the common environment and life opportunities.

    # The Principle of Care - Organic agriculture should be managed in a precautionary and responsible manner to protect the health and well-being of current and future generations and the environment.

  • Plants need nutrients to grow which they absorb from the soil via the plant's root system. Those nutrients need to be replenished as they are withdrawn from the soil.

    • Dry Mineral Fertilisers include greensand, rock phosphate.

    • Plant-based Fertilisers include compost, alfalfa meal, seaweed.

    • Animal-based Fertilisers include Fish meal, Fish emulsion, Shellfish, Manures (most of which I don’t use), Blood meal, Bone meal (which I don’t really use).

    But before we see what organic fertilisers you can benefit from, we need to understand how is your soil first!

Let's start by testing your soil

 

One thing I've learnt as a professional Geek is to take a baseline before making any changes, then systematically measuring the results. Simple enough but most people skip this step! (yes, I have done that many times too – not good!)

A good soil test will evaluate the basic texture of your soil—and, silt, or clay—and determine its acidity—the pH level. The available amounts of nutrients including magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium will be calculated and recommendations will be made for raising each to the correct levels for optimum plant growth. So you can then make the relevant tweaks to better grow Vegs, specifically for your soil.

There are various methods for soil assessments (see a list here by the soil Association), and I recommend a few of the options to carry out the test:

  • Well, that's definitely possible (and what most people tend to do to be honest) and if you still use the 3 steps in this Guide to improve your soil you won't really go wrong! But you could be wasting money on things that aren't necessary, so I would recommend doing a test using one of the 3 options below:

  • There are several soil tests you can do yourself, with little or no new equipment:

    • Spade Diagnosis (test instructions)

    • Plant health monitoring (current and previous crop, weeds)

    • Visual soil assessment tools (AHDB healthy grassland soil method, get instructions here!)

    • DIY, primitive soil testing: See this article for a DIY method of testing your soil without any test kit, testing for Acid/Alkaline Soil With Household Materials.

  • See this article for how to best test soil samples yourself, using a test kit.

    Note that those DIY soil test kits can be wildly different in their results, but it is very cheap and DIY.

  • If you want useful results and recommendations, there is only one way to find out, you need to get professional soil testing! They will first discuss which soil test is appropriate for you and then do the test and give you some recommendations:

 

Why does soil matters?

Check out those 2 videos to learn what’s under our feet and how it works!

 
 

Why Soil Matters Film

Learn how we can “sequester” (store) carbon from our atmosphere, where it is harmful, and pull it back into the earth, where it belongs, through regenerative agriculture, composting, and other land management practices.

Now you know what's your soil baseline,

Let's improve your
soil biology first!

 

Step 1:
Improve your soil biology with Organic matters & Microbial Inoculants

 
 

Pick your level!

I’m here to help you take the incremental next steps, simply follow the next level up when you are ready!

  • Start with No Dig, and add Organic Matter

  • Use these ready-made microbial inoculants

  • DIY, increase the microbial diversity

 
 

Step 1 – Improve your soil biology with Microbial Inoculants

 

As a gardener you should focus on growing your soil as much as growing your Vegs!

Bringing organic matter and life (ie. all the little microbes in there) to your soil to feed plants and protect from diseases needs to be your first priority.

Step 1 - Not too Geeky:
Start with No Dig, and add Organic Matter

  • Start out No Dig

    This is easy: doing less work is best here! Do not disturb your soils, in nature, there is no mechanical or chemical disturbance! Go there and learn how to do it.

  • Manures

    You could also add cow or chicken manures, but I'm not keen to recommend this in general for home gardening for a few reasons:

    • Unless you know exactly what the cows have been fed (and what fertilisers or pesticides have been used on that feed!), what antibiotics or other meds the cows have been given, etc. I find it too risky for the benefits you'll get – and over the years have seen poor quality manures (bought from supermarkets and garden centres) cause months of repair work to soils and destroy home garden crops!

    • In most cases you don't need that level of added nutrients to soils (plants & Vegs can only take up so much, the rest will leach in soils and water supplies)

    • It needs to be fully composted before use otherwise its high nitrogen content will likely “burn” the plants and vegs.

    • Risks introducing new weeds to your garden if not fully composted (in particular with horse manure)

  • Rabbit manures

    If you happen to have a pet Rabbit at home, do use the “bunny berries” in your compost and garden directly, it's a great source of Nitrogen!

    (but do not add excrements from cats, dogs, etc however!)

  • Mulch

    Use Mulch to cover and build surface armour to protect the soils and often to reduce slugs and snails! You can use wood chips from your garden (and I recommend you buy a wood chipper too, great investment!).

  • Strulch

    Let me share a little secret: I use this in all my raised beds! It is a light and easy to use garden mulch made from Wheat Straw for organic gardening. A patented process is used to ‘preserve’ the straw so that it lasts for up to two years and gives an earthy brown colour. Strulch has a neutral pH and can be used throughout the garden on borders, raised beds, around cultivated fruit and on vegetable plots. The mineralised Straw garden mulch, lasts up to two years, spreading the cost, saving water and fertiliser, making your plants grow healthier and stronger and giving you more time to relax. Its key benefits:

    • Strulch mulch reduces weed growth by up to 95%

    • Strulch mulch helps retain moisture around plants

    • Strulch mulch enriches soil and its structure

    • Strulch mulch is suitable around flowers, shrubs, fruit and vegetables

    • The physical properties of Strulch mulch together with the embedded minerals deters slugs and snails.

    • Keeps the garden tidy and healthy!

Use as many of those options above as possible to add Organic Matter to your soil and start developing all those good microorganisms in your soils.

Now you have taken the minimum steps to bring organic matter to your soil, you can consider how to use Microbial inoculants that will bring and develop all the microorganisms that may be missing in your garden. They are the oones that will help feed your Vegs so we need a strong microbial community in your garden ! In this section, I'll show you how to take that next step

Find out what would happen if we diverted the 60 billion pounds of mineral-rich food materials that go to landfills each year in the U.S. alone and turned them into compost

 

Learn more about Compost

Here is the Strulch I use for enhanced mulching

Step 1 - Just Geeky:
Use these ready-made microbial inoculants

  • Mycorrhizal fungi

    It already exists in most gardens.
    But I use it when I'm planting in pots or garden (except brassicas as they don’t form a partnership with this fungi) or even when sowing seeds directly in the ground. (You must spread it directly on the roots!).

    Do some A/B testing to validate the benefits in your own garden!

  • Make your own herbal tea

    I rarely have weeds to throw away, I collect all I can in the garden either to compost, or in particular with weeds I pull out to make “Herbal Tea” – it’s all good nutrients worth keeping in my garden rather than send to the community recycling centre!

  • Best free fertiliser!

    Your Pee! It's the best fertiliser you never run out of, available on demand! Assuming you are not taking meds and are healthy, a family of 4 produces enough each year to make the equivalent of 45 Kg – for free! And best of all, it's in a ready to use form for plants to benefit from. How to use it? Dilute 1 part urine to 10 parts water – use fresh and immediately! Or pour on top of your compost pile.

  • EM-1 Effective Micro-Organisms

    : Effective Microorganisms (EM) are mixed cultures of beneficial naturally-occurring organisms that can be applied as inoculants to increase the microbial diversity of soil ecosystem. They consist mainly of the photosynthesizing bacteria, lactic acid bacteria, yeasts, actinomycetes and fermenting fungi. Learn more about EM.

    This stuff is simply magical!

    I use this everywhere I can as a Microbial inoculant to fast-track germination, rooting, flowering and fruiting, even compost pile or Bokashi composting and it improves the soil's structure.

    My favourite recipe is to use it mixed in with Molasses to activate it and feed the microbes in their first few hours, add liquid seaweed, and every other week I combine it with sea minerals and alternate liquid fish.

 

Here is what I use

The best option is free - just don’t let the neighbours see you! ;)

Urine/ash–fertilized plants were found to be 10 percent and 27 percent larger by mass, respectively, than those grown in mineral fertilizer. By subjecting some of the beets to chemical analysis, the researchers determined that all of them had comparable nutrient contents
— Human Urine and Wood Ash as Plant Nutrients for Red Beet (Beta vulgaris) Cultivation: Impacts on Yield Quality, Jan 2010
 
 
 

Step 1 - Ultra Geeky:
DIY, increase the microbial diversity

  • Now, let's take it to another level and bring yet more microbes to your soils!

    Here are a few ways to increase the microbial diversity in your soils, these will need a bit more effort and very basic DIY skills!

  • Brew your own Compost tea

    Mother Nature didn't grow monocultures so why should we? Compost tea is excellent for increasing microbial diversity, and I use it to both water the plants and as a foliar spray.

    It takes a bit of effort to make, but if you have seen the benefits, you won’t mind the effort!

  • Vermicompost

    Vermicompost is better than compost due to its higher nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content, and its ability to improve the soil structure, and to increase its water-holding capacity. It's a fun project for kid!

    How to use Vermicompost?

    • Sprinkle a handful in your pots

    • Mix in your compost

    • Harvest the tea leachate, Dilute 10:1 with water for your borders,

    • Spread a thin layer in your Vegs beds in spring

    • When brewing your compost tea, add a handful of vermicompost into the tea bag mixed with Compost,

  • Organic Compost accelerator

    TTo reduce the composting cycle to 6 weeks by stimulating soil bacteria to help achieve higher temperature sooner. You'll find products local to you so feel free to use that.

    In the UK, I can recommend this Premium organic compost accelerator by Shropshire Seaweed

 

Here is what I use

 
 
 

The little bacterias and fungi are working hard now,

Ready to boost
your soil fertility!

 

Step 2:
Improve long-term soil fertility with Mineral Organic Fertilisers

 
 

Pick your level!

I’m here to help you take the incremental next steps, simply follow the next level up when you are ready!

  • Any soils will benefit from a variety of minerals as soil amendments

  • Add Biochar to your soil

  • Make better quality compost, and if necessary use specific additional minerals to further improve soils

 
 
 

Spot the fertile zones?

Can you spot the green fields and forests all around the volcano?
It's a sign of greatly fertile lands!
Now that's something we need to learn from in our next step.

 
Step 2: Improve long-term soil fertility with Mineral Organic Fertilisers

Step 2: Improve long-term soil fertility with Mineral Organic Fertilisers

 

Next, we'll use dry mineral fertilisers to improve soil fertility in the long term.

While liquid fertilisers are great for feeding both soil and plants with short term nutrients, dry mineral organic fertilisers will feed your Vegs in the long-term.

In this next step, I'll share some amendments to improve your soil!

Step 2 - Not too Geeky:
any soils will benefit from a variety of minerals as soil amendments

  • Without even doing soil tests (although I still recommend you do it!), you can safely use those soil amendments as your soils most likely lack of those minerals:

  • Volcanic Rock Dust

    No matter what's your soil, you can use this to improve soil condition with minerals including trace elements (which and how many depends on its source!) to improve soil structure, moisture holding properties, bacterial action, and nutrient availability.

    A few recommendations on how to use it:

    • Go local: look for a local/closest quarry and see if you can buy direct to save on transport costs

    • You don't need much, just about 25Kg per 100sqm; and it's near permanent!

    • You can also sprinkle on top of your compost pile each time you add materials

    • You can sprinkle some as a Tonic for Wormeries, it encourages beneficial organisms and microbes.

  • Powder Rock Phosphate

    Phosphorus is used by plants for most of their processes. From photosynthesis to cell division and energy storage. Abundant supplies of this mineral promote healthy root growth and vigorous early growth. Phosphorus can be used at any stage of plant life, in particular for plants that produce fruit or flower.

    A few recommendations on how to use it:

    • too much phosphorus can reduce the amount of other nutrients your plants absorbs from the soil. Take care not to apply too much, or too early/late, as the phosphorus is subject to “fixation”. During this process the phosphorus reverts to forms that plants cannot easily utilise.

    • Can be diluted in water and used as a liquid feed.

    • Before planting out: 30gms per square metre dug into 200mm

    • Top dressing during growing period: 20/30gms per square metre every 6/8 weeks (water in thoroughly)

    • If in pots, add a tablespoon.

  • Calcium Carbonate

    Calcium is an important nutrient that strengthens a plant’s cellular walls and is vital in new cell development. A calcium deficiency can lead to common fruit diseases such as blossom-end rot, which is prevalent in tomatoes and peppers in particular.

    A few recommendations on how to use it:

    • It is usually added in winter for annual crops, such as vegetables, just prior to digging, as the calcium carbonate can take effect over the winter months and will not damage young growth

    • You can apply about 5Kg per 100 sqm (so that's enough for most suburban gardens).

    • If in pots, add a tablespoon.

 

Here is what I use

 
 
 

Step 2 - Just Geeky:
Add Biochar to your soil

  • Now, take the next step a modern take on a 2000-year-old tradition, inspired by Amazonian Indians who used charred plant matter to enrich their poor, infertile soils!

  • What is Biochar?

    I’ve researched and written more about Biochar - check out the post, and in the meantime, here is a summary:

    Biochar is a charcoal-like substance that’s made by burning organic material from agricultural and forestry wastes (also called biomass) in a controlled process called pyrolysis.During the pyrolysis process, the organic material is converted into biochar, a stable form of carbon that can’t easily escape into the atmosphere. Biochar is black, highly porous, lightweight, fine-grained and has a large surface area.

    Once you add it, it's permanent! It is believed that biochar has a long average dwelling time in soil, ranging from 1000 to 10,000 years, with an average of 5000 years. So you will reap the benefit for a while…

    The application of biochar improves soil fertility through two mechanisms: adding nutrients to the soil (such as K, to a limited extent P, and many micronutrients) or retaining nutrients from other sources, including nutrients from the soil itself. However, the main advantage is to retain moisture and nutrients from other sources.

  • What are the benefits of Biochar?

    • Less risk of reduced crop yield during dry seasons;

    • Reduce the need for fertilisers containing nitrogen and phosphorus;

    • Help retain nitrogen and sulfurs in soil, which also reduces emissions;

    • Facilitate reestablishment of vegetation on sterile ground;

    • Inhibit the growth of molds or mildews (I always use it with courgettess and squash in particular!)

  • How much Biochar to add to your soil?

    • Biochar is so high in carbon that it doesn't break down over time, meaning one application is all you need to permanently improve your soil

    • You can add to your compost mix or directly to the soil at any time of year to improve nutrient availability. Each time I'm planting Vegs or sowing directly in the ground, I first put a handful of Biochar at the bottom.

    • If you want to add to a new Vegs bed, use the application rate of 1kg per square metre.

    • It's easy to apply and, because of its water holding qualities, it means less maintenance of plants, crops and lawns. It also means you'll save a bit on those water bills.

    • Biochar will increase water-holding capacity and cation exchange capacity of sandy soils; clay and silt soils with added biochar can favour soil aeration. Water-holding capacity in sandy soils can be increased by up to 22% and soil compaction ameliorated by 15%.

    • It also provides the perfect refugia for beneficial microbiology like mycorrhizae and Trichoderma.

  • Where to get Biochar?

    Don't forget to go local: here I'm recommending what works well in the UK to minimise transport costs. And make sure to find an Organic Biochar!

    • Biochar in UK: We are lucky to have Carbon Gold, with a variety of Biochar products in different forms (added to compost or on its own) – highly recommended! (and their buckets are great for re-use!)

    • Biochar in US: Check out the Directory on US Biochar Initiative, a not-for-profit organisation promoting the sustainable production and use of biochar through research, policy, technology and doing it!

 

Here is what I use

 
 

Biochar works by improving plant health, naturally providing a wide range of applications and benefits.

Benefits of Biochar: the 2 pots on the right had a spoonful of Biochar when seeds planted; the 2 pots on the left didn't.

Benefits of Biochar: the 2 pots on the right had a spoonful of Biochar when seeds planted; the 2 pots on the left didn't.

 

Step 2 - Ultra Geeky:
Make better quality compost, and if necessary use specific additional minerals to further improve soils

  • About Mining…

    Note that naturally sourced products and minerals such as salts, volcanic rock dust, rock phosphate, guano, lime, sands, etc are mined – and there isn't an unlimited supply of those! So don't waste it and only use what you need, after doing a soil test!

    And if you do buy these minerals, make sure they are sourced as locally as possible to minimise impact of transport, even if only by road.

  • Prioritise enriching soil with organic matter first.

    Instead of the below, focusing on enriching your soil with organic matter first is likely cheaper and will benefit soil in terms of nutrients to promote growth, unless you have specific recommendations in your soil tests.

    So first, focus your efforts on making better quality compost!

    Only then you should consider these additional amendments below.

  • Organic Fertilizers high in Calcium

    Gypsum (Calcium Sulphate): Doing a soil analysis will establish how much calcium and sulfure are already present. Gypsum is mostly used for breaking up excessively compacted clay soils, making them more porous and able to absorb moisture. The addition of gypsum can promote better drainage and air circulation, which can aid root development and nutrient absorption. It's not a permanent benefit though and you will likely need to repeat each year!

    I do use it however in self-wicking buckets to help with moisture absorption and calcium deficiencies.

  • Organic Fertilizers high in Phosphorus

    As I shared earlier, Powder Rock Phosphate complements your efforts to add more organic matter to your soils, which is what makes phosphorus available to your plants in the first place.

  • Organic Fertilizers high in Magnesium:

    Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salt): Tomatoes, for instance, need lots of Magnesium to grow to their full potential. Epsom Salt can be a great, cost-effective way of getting this essential nutrient into your crop. The same applies for Peppers, it is very beneficial, to their growth, aids in germination, produce greater yields, improved beauty and strength of the peppers. it has many other uses in the garden:

    • improving seed germination

    • increasing nutrient absorption

    • countering transplant shock

    • green-up foliage

    • preventing leaf curling

    • killing tree stumps

  • For further soil amendments:

    Depending on your soil test results you may find you need some further soil amendments:

    • Pumice: an alternative to perlite for its water retention properties – also useful in self-wicking buckets and pots to improve soil aeration, drainage and nutrient content.

    • Granite sand: it contains 60+ elements, including many trace elements; again may be recommended based on your soil test results.

    • Polysulphate: Sulphur deficiency is now widespread and in the UK, for example, yield response to sulphate applications in winter wheat can be up to 30% in some cases, and averages 6%. In brassica crops the benefit is greater, with trials showing winter oilseed rape can give a yield response of as much as 80%. This product is produced from Polyhalite, mined in the UK. With 48% SO3, Polysulphate fertiliser provides a reliable and readily available new source of sulphate.

 

Here is what I use

 
 
 

Your soil rocks now.

Time for some TLC for
your soil & vegs with
liquid Organic Fertilisers!

 

Step 3:
Bring short-term nutrients to your soil & Vegs with Liquid Organic Fertilisers

 
 

Pick your level!

I’m here to help you take the incremental next steps, simply follow the next level up when you are ready!

  • Companion plants & Accumulators

  • How to easily prepare Herbal teas and Leachate, & Clean Water

  • Foliar Spraying with liquid organic fertilisers

 
 

Step 3: Bring short-term nutrients to your soil & Vegs with Liquid Organic Fertilisers

 

While we’re bringing the biology back into the garden, we want to make sure our plants have access to the nutrients as needed.

Simply adding NPK fertilisers is not what we need here (it's actually detrimental to your soils) but instead, we want to give them all the elements they need.

Here are all the short-term nutrients liquid organic fertilisers and solutions you can use to improve your soils and better grow your Vegs.

Step 3 - Not too Geeky:
Companion plants & Accumulators

  • A few more hacks you can easily apply

    • Add a Companion plant to your crops such as legumes to bring nitrogen to the soil (lupin, clover, vetch, alfalfa),

    • And add some nutrients accumulators plants such as borage, nettles, yarrow.

    You'll notice that many of those “companion” plants are also used for other purposes as fertilisers or teas for plants and humans! and Bees love them too!

    Some recent research suggests that plants which differ in their root traits helps develop greater Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), microorganisms which are associated with plant roots, and significantly affect plant nutrition and health.

    AMF assemblages were both enriched and more similar between focal and neighbour plants when the focal and neighbour plants differed more in their root traits. This study shows that neighbour plants influence the microbiota of a plant when it arrives in a community. This suggests that the way plants are arranged in space, because of this influence on microbial assemblages, could have an effect on plant coexistence
    Plant neighbours shape fungal assemblages associated with plant roots: A new understanding of niche‐partitioning in plant communities, April 2021

    So similar to what happens in nature, avoid monoculture (single crop) – while it looks nice in a raised bed, it's best to mix together various plants/flowers and Vegs. It's also good for bees and other pollinators

Step 3 - Just Geeky:
How to easily prepare Herbal teas and Leachate, & Clean Water

  • Better Water:

    Rather than simply watering your garden with the hose pipe from your City water supply, it’s worth considering improving your water, including (ordered by increasing costs!)

    • Collect & use rain water,

    • If you have access, use pond water,

    • If using City water, fill in a tank or bucket and let it rest for 24hrs so the chlorine evaporates,

    • Use a garden hose water filter to remove chlorine, pH balanced and purer water,

    • Use a filter to produce Reverse Osmosis water.

  • Weed Herbal Teas

    As mentioned earlier, you can use weeds from your garden or green waste from your neighbours and friends to make more Weed Herbal Teas.

  • Comfrey and Nettles Herbal Teas

    • Comfrey, nettles and liquid from wormeries all make excellent liquid fertilisers.

    • Comfrey: Comfrey has very deep roots, which means it extracts large quantities of nutrients from far below the soil’s surface, inaccessible to other plants. By harvesting the leaves and letting them break down, you’ll have a rich, dark, nutrient-rich plant food to use around the garden. It’s especially rich in potassium, making it the ideal feed to promote flowers and fruits in a range of plants, including tomatoes.

    • Nettles are high in nitrogen, a mild plant protector and biological fertiliser. Prepared as a swiftly effective brew, it fights widely spread parasites found in the garden attacking the valuable wild plant like aphids.

    • Worm Leachate: The thick black liquid (also called leachate) from a worm farm is good to use on your borders. I don't recommend using it on Vegs grown in beds or containers. The leachate should be diluted with water at 10:1 and must be used immediately. – Do not store for later use.

From your Worm farm, collect the Worm Leachate and dilute 10:1 with water to fertilise your borders. (No, it's not beer bottles but my leachate harvest!)

From your Worm farm, collect the Worm Leachate and dilute 10:1 with water to fertilise your borders.

(No, it's not beer bottles but my leachate harvest!)

Step 3 - Ultra Geeky:
Foliar Spraying with liquid organic fertilisers

  • What is Foliar Spray?

    Foliar spray, although not a substitute for healthy soil, can be beneficial when a plant is suffering from certain nutrient deficiencies. Foliar plant spray involves applying fertiliser directly to a plant's leaves as opposed to putting it in the soil, best done every 2-3 weeks in early evenings

    Don't use an overly concentrated Foliar Spray:

    I recommend over-diluting the foliar spray just to make sure that you don't use a mix that could be too strong for your plant and avoid damaging or killing them.

  • Liquid Sea minerals fertiliser

    Most soils have been reduced to just 12 to 20 trace minerals, rather than the dozens Mother Nature intended. Sea Minerals works as a soil fertility supplement that re-mineralizes the soil, and is helpful to all types of soil and any growing conditions.

    I prefer using a liquid sea mineral fertiliser as it's 100% water soluble in contrast to rock powders which are not.

    How to use it? I use it in foliar sprays with EM or compost tea (and alternate with liquid fish fertiliser) with the liquid fish below.

  • Liquid seaweed fertiliser

    I would use Kelp instead of a liquid seaweed fertiliser if I was still on seaside (free and very effective – but do check on your local regulations!) as it also helps long-term soil development, and help your Vegs better sustain cold and heat.

    I now live too far from the seaside to do it so instead I'm using liquid seaweed fertiliser.

    How to use it? I use it at least monthly with EM or compost tea, with application rate of 2 tablespoons in 5L water.

  • Humic Acid

    Liquid Humic Acid is easily assimilated by plants and some of its main functions include improving plant immunity, improving plant metabolism, improving plant root development, improving the supply of plant nutritional elements and increasing the formation of ferments.

    Humic Acid promotes the increased accumulation of chlorophyll, sugar, amino acids and more and improves the efficiency of nitrogen utilization, allowing for reduced fertilizer rates.

    One of the primary actions of Humic Acid is to increase the plant's ability to withstand the stresses of heat, drought, cold, disease, insect and other types of environmental or cultural pressures.

    Humic also increases general plant productivity, in terms of yield, as well as plant stem strength. Within the soil, humic stimulates soil microorganisms, promoting Humus.

    How to use it? I use it in compost tea and regular recipe for foliar spray and to water plants.

  • Liquid fish fertiliser

    Liquid fish fertiliser is a great source of nitrogen and phosphorus, used in my recipe with EM in foliar sprays.

    How to use it? I alternate fish fertiliser and sea minerals as they don't work well together) and compost tea.

 

Here is what I use

 
 
 

With strong soil & vegs you will avoid most pests.

But be ready
to protect your Vegs…

 

Organic pest control: how to make natural pesticides

 
 

Pick your level!

I’m here to help you take the incremental next steps, simply follow the next level up when you are ready!

  • First, setup your defences to protect your Vegs

  • How to use Garlic Pesticide Spray

  • use WPD (Weapons of Pests Destruction) spray with Neem Oil

 
 
Organic Pest Control : How to make natural pesticides

Organic Pest Control : How to make natural pesticides

 

By following the 3 steps above, you will be in a strongest position to prevent pests (Pests usually go after unhealthy and weak plants).
However, there will be pests; and by planning ahead and acting early, you can better protect your Vegs with these solutions:

Not too Geeky:
First, setup your defences to protect your Vegs

  • Use multiple defences

    • Setup Decoys: amongst your Vegs, add plants to attract beneficial insects and repel predators. I plant amongst my Vegs Beds the following: mint (in particular to confuse and deter onion fly, flea beetles), dill, marigold, garlic.

    • Use cover crops including buckwheat, clover (great for Weed Herbal Tea and also Human Tea!), oats, ryegrass, vetch

    • Mulch your Vegs beds: slugs and snails will be deterred! (Strulch is particularly effective to protect your Vegs)

    • Plant sacrificial plants:

      • Plant Nasturtiums as a sacrificial crop – aphids love them and this will lure them away from your runner beans/French beans. They also attract slugs and snails.

      • Plant Dill in Vegs beds and borders to attract rabbits, hoverflies and predatory wasps which will feed off aphids!

    Don't forget…

    Following the use of those organic pesticides sprays, remember to repeat foliar sprays to repopulate microbes and bring more nutrients to the attacked plants.

Just Geeky:
How to use Garlic Pesticide Spray

  • Garlic pesticide

    When used as a foliage spray, garlic is really effective against aphids, Colorado potato beetles, whiteflies, bean beetles, cabbage worms, spider mites, moths (including the diamondback moth), ants, and termites.

    This garlic spray works as a repellent, sending most pests scurrying away in a hurry.

    How to use it? Add two-three crushed fresh garlic cloves to a food grade oil such as sunflower oil, and leave to infuse for 24 hours. The following day, add 1 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice to the mixture, along with 500 ml water.

Ultra Geeky:
Use WPD (Weapons of Pests Destruction)
spray with Neem Oil

  • Neem oil

    Neem oil Pressed from the finest seeds of the neem tree, also known as Azadirachta indica. The neem tree is considered to have divine properties and is native to India and very commonly grown. It has a distinct smell though: Nutty. garlicky, pungent, strong, unpleasant!

    It is non-toxic to humans, birds, earthworms and animals but I recommend not spraying it when plants are in flower as it can kill bees.

    How to use it? A couple of times in Spring, use it as a foliar spray or when you notice an infestation. I also noticed it works well to protect Box edge trees.

 

Here is what I use

 
 
 

Best Organic Fertilisers list:
use this Checklist to buy all you need for Vegs and plants

 

I've made it easy for you to take the next steps and easily prepare and get the Best Organic Fertilisers to grow nutrients-packed Vegs that will be better for you!

Using the links below it should take you no more than 15min to get it all ordered

(all links will open in a new tab so you keep easy access to the checklist, and easily order from Amazon)

  1. Improve your soil biology with Organic Matters u0026 Microbial Inoculants


    Not too Geeky:
    – Start out No Dig (Free and less work!)
    – Mulch (free from your garden!)
    – Strulch
    – Make compost
    – Grow diversity of plants

    Just Geeky:
    – 
    Mycorrhizal fungi
    – Make your own herbal tea (all you need is a bucket!)
    – Your Pee! (free)
    – EM-1 Effective Micro-Organisms

    Ultra Geeky:
    – 
    Brew your own Compost tea
    – Worm Farm
    – Vermicompost
    – Organic compost accelerator


  2. Improve long-term soil fertility with Mineral Organic Fertilisers


    Not too Geeky:
    – 
    Volcanic Rock Dust
    – Powder Rock Phosphate
     Calcium Carbonate

    Just Geeky:
    – 
    Biochar
    – Keep making better quality compost


    Ultra Geeky:
     Calcium Carbonate
    – Gypsum (Calcium Sulphate)
    – Limestone
    – Powder Rock Phosphate 
    – Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salt)
    – Pumice
    – Granite sand
    – Polysulphate


  3. Bring short-term nutrients to your soil and Vegs with Liquid Organic Fertilisers


    Not too Geeky:
    – add a Companion plant lupin, clover, vetch, alfalfa
    – add some nutrients accumulators plants such as borage, nettles, yarrow.

    Just Geeky:
    – garden hose water filter
    – Reverse Osmosis water
    – Weed Herbal Teas (free!)
    – Comfrey, Nettles Herbal Teas
    – Worm Leachate

    Ultra Geeky:
    Foliar spray with:
    – Liquid Sea minerals fertiliser
    – Molasses
    – Liquid seaweed fertiliser
    – Humic Acid
    – Liquid fish fertiliser


  4. Organic Pest Control: how to make natural pesticides


    Not too Geeky:
    – Setup decoys
    – Use cover crops
    – Mulch or Strulch your Vegs beds
    – Plant sacrificial plants: Nasturtiums 

    Just Geeky:
    – Garlic Pesticide Spray

    Ultra Geeky:

    – Neem oil spray

 

The Science of growing more Nutritious Vegs

Print it for the shed! Feel free to use this checklist to help you remember the 3 steps you need to grow more Nutritious Vegs; and how fight back with organic pest control.

 
 
  • Improve your soil biology with Organic matters & Microbial Inoculants

  • Boost long-term soil fertility with Mineral Organic Fertilisers

  • Bring short-term nutrients to your soil & Vegs with Liquid Organic Fertilisers

  • How to make natural pesticides

 
 

Veg Geek – Your Next Steps to making & using Organic Fertilisers to grow more Nutritious Vegs

FAQs

  • Our soils support 95 percent of all food production, and by 2060, our soils will be asked to give us as much food as we have consumed in the last 500 years. They filter our water. They are one of our most cost-effective reservoirs for sequestering carbon. They are our foundation for biodiversity. And they are vibrantly alive, teeming with 10,000 pounds of biological life in every acre. Yet in the last 150 years, we’ve lost half of the basic building block that makes soil productive. The societal and environmental costs of soil loss and degradation in the United States alone are now estimated to be as high as $85 billion every single year. Like any relationship, our living soil needs our tenderness. It’s time we changed everything we thought we knew about soil. Let’s make this the century of living soil.

    This 60-minute documentary features innovative farmers and soil health experts from throughout the U.S. Accompanying lesson plans for college and high school students will can also be found on this site. “Living Soil” was directed by Chelsea Myers and Tiny Attic Productions based in Columbia, Missouri, and produced by the Soil Health Institute through the generous support of The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation.

This 60-minute documentary features innovative farmers and soil health experts from throughout the U.S. Accompanying lesson plans for college and high school students will can also be found on this site. “Living Soil” was directed by Chelsea Myers and Tiny Attic Productions based in Columbia, Missouri, and produced by the Soil Health Institute through the generous support of The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation.

  • Over the last 15 years there has been much debate and research on Biochar – it is part of the solutions identified to capture carbon and contribute to reduce climate change. I suggest you read my post on what is Biochar.

  • Gypsum, also known as calcium sulfate hydrate, is a naturally occurring mineral found in layers of sedimentary rock all over the world. It is formed by the evaporation and replenishment of waters containing calcium and sulfates.

    Gypsum is one of the earliest forms of fertilizer. It has been applied to agricultural soils for more than 250 years. … Plants are becoming more deficient for sulfur and the soil is not supplying enough it. Gypsum is an excellent source of sulfur for plant nutrition and improving crop yield.

    Naturally mined gypsum is considered an allowed non-synthetic input for crop use according to National Organic Program (NOP) regulations. Natural gypsum is also listed generically as acceptable in the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) handbook.

  • Coming soon!

  • Coming soon!

  • Coming soon!

Now I'd like to hear from you

I hope you found this Guide to growing more nutritious Vegs helpful.

Now I'd like to hear what you have to say:

# Are you going to do a soil test?

# Which new item from the checklist are you going to do?

# And importantly, are your neighbours jealous yet? What results are you seeing after using those organic fertilisers? Send me pics!

No rotten tomatoes here.

What if my work here isn't good for you? If you spotted a mistake, if I didn't cover your question or want me to dig deeper on something, please let me know how I can do better!
And I’ll do it with a smile.