Transform your garden with powerful homemade fertilisers hiding in plain sight! This episode dives into the world of natural plant nutrition, answering listener Cian's question about nettle and comfrey teas.
Discover why these humble "weeds" might be your garden's greatest untapped resource. Nettle tea, packed with nitrogen, creates remarkably resilient leafy growth with glossier, darker foliage that naturally resists pests and disease. Meanwhile, comfrey provides the potassium boost flowering and fruiting plants crave. Together, they form a complete natural feeding system that nurtures both plants and the vital soil ecosystem beneath them.
You'll learn the simple process for creating these potent brews, when to apply each for maximum benefit, and how to recognise the subtle but significant differences between plants fed with natural fertilisers versus synthetic options. Beyond nettles and comfrey, we explore other free fertiliser sources you might be overlooking – from banana peels to grass clippings – and how the "chop and drop" method can build remarkable soil health with minimal effort.
The underlying philosophy throughout is clear: feed the soil, not just the plant. When you nourish the complex web of life beneath your feet, it rewards you with stronger, healthier plants that require fewer interventions. Whether you're growing vegetables, flowers, or maintaining borders, these sustainable approaches deliver results while keeping your garden in harmony with nature. Have a gardening question you'd like answered? Reach out and your topic might feature in an upcoming episode!
If there is any topic you would like covered in future episodes, please let me know.
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Until next week
Happy gardening
John
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
how's it going everybody, and welcome to
episode 284, master, my gardenpodcast.
Now, this week's episode is alistener's question.
I mentioned last week thatkeane o'reilly, who has moved
into a new home two years agoand they're creating the garden
of their dreams, he says, andthey came across the podcast
(00:33):
about a year ago and has beenreally helpful on on their
journey, you know, to get in thegarden of their dreams and
upcoming projects for the gardeninclude greenhouse and raised
beds and so on and it's, youknow, he says the podcast has
helped quite a lot and so lovelyto hear from you.
Keen, and your question relatesto homemade fertilizers and how
(00:56):
to kind of use them within thegarden.
He says there's an abundance ofnettles in the garden and
that's, uh, that's not a badthing because he gets the
opportunity to make nettle teaand chat about, you know, the
benefits, how to make it, andcomfrey tea as well.
He wants, wants to start makingcomfrey tea and you know we'll
(01:18):
talk about how to do this andthe benefits of it and how to
use it, which is kind of hisquestion.
It's, it's um, how to make useof these fertilizers that he's
creating and it's, I supposeit's a, it's a brilliant topic
and it's a useful topic forpeople, and it's also one that
in ways I've covered before onthe podcast, not specifically
(01:40):
relating to to nettle or comfreytea, but the kind of the idea
or the background of it stillremains the same that what we're
looking to do all the time isto create a healthy soil and
that healthy soil, or we feedthe soil, and that healthy soil
is what feeds the plants up ontop.
(02:02):
And from my point of view, thereis no science to this in terms
of you know, I don't.
I'm not a scientist, I'm not asoil scientist, I don't know the
ins and outs, I don't know theyou know exactly what's going on
in these, in this complex foodweb that goes on in the soil.
But I do know one thing forsure that when you treat the
(02:22):
soil well, that what goes on ontop is certainly much more
successful, much more healthyand, generally speaking, you're
growing nutrient dense,resilient and better plants up
on top.
So, to answer Keane's question,I'm going to tie all this into
(02:45):
the fact that we're you know,that we're you know we're
looking to build siloed healthall the time and not just use
fertilizers as a there'ssomething wrong here, let's feed
.
So it's a.
It's more of a holistic view ofit, I guess, and I suppose
there's multiple benefits ofboth comfrey and nettle tea and
(03:05):
other sort of homemadefertilizers, so we might talk
about some of those as well.
And for me personally, I haveused nettle tea on numerous
occasions or nettle fertilizeron numerous occasions currently
not using it, and the onlyreason for that is just in terms
of time.
It doesn't take a lot of time,but it's more time than I can
(03:27):
give it at the moment, but it isand certainly was fantastic
when I used it.
It's very, very pungent.
For anyone that has made it forkeen, I'm sure you're seeing
that it's extremely pungent.
But what you do get is asimilar response to what you get
when you're applying seaweed,and seaweed is my go-to
(03:48):
fertilizer.
That's what I use on a regularbasis.
It's cold pressed seaweed andthe reason I'm using that is
because of the soil healthbenefits, but also the how much
healthier the plants always seemwhen you're using something
like seaweed.
And I would have got the sameresponse when using nettle.
You know nettle fertilizer.
(04:08):
So that's kind of the, as Isaid, a the way I'm going to
come at this.
So, in terms of you know, welook at the two fertilizers, we
look at how you make them and wekind of look at the benefits
and they're very, very similarin some ways, but there's some
little distinctions between themthat are quite important.
(04:29):
So, homemade fertilizersthey're obviously very
sustainable.
So if you're like keen and youhave these nettles in the garden
, you're able to produce aquality fertilizer from those
nettles and that is obviouslysustainable.
It's nettles have been used inorganic you know organic
production for a long number ofyears and there is definitely
(04:50):
some benefits beyond thefertilizer element.
So in terms of microbial life,it certainly improves the
microbial life, as all organicmatter will when you're adding
it to the soil.
That is, you know, key.
As I say, we will come at itfrom this point of view that
it's it's soil health number onethat in turn gives you plant
(05:12):
health up on top.
But nettle fertilizerspecifically, it's a really high
nitrogen, high in nitrogen.
So you know, when you look atyour NPK, it's very, very high
in nitrogen.
It's quite low in NP and it'llbe kind of a mid-level in terms
of K.
So something that's really highin nitrogen is very, very good
(05:33):
for leafy crops or crops at theearly stage of growth.
So, for example, leafy crops orcrops at the early stage of
growth.
So, for example, leafy cropswould include all the brassicas,
your cauliflowers, yourbroccolis, your cabbage, your
Brussels sprouts, your kale,anything that's putting on leafy
growth up on top Really reallyuseful for that.
It's also useful for most cropswhen it's in its leafy growth
stage.
So even things like tomatoes inthe early stage of the year
(05:56):
when they're not putting outmuch flour, then it's you know,
it's it's a.
It's a brilliant fertilizer todrive that initial growth at the
start.
And again, because you'readding organic matter, you are
feeding the soil as well.
I always find with seaweed andwith the likes of nettle, that
you get a really resilient plantup on top.
(06:18):
So you end up with a plant thathas a glossier leaf, a darker
colored leaf and, I find, a kindof a tougher leaf, if that
makes sense.
So if you get your standard npkfertilizer and you load it on,
I find you get a lot of growth.
But it tends to be be if youfelt the leaf of a tomato, just
(06:40):
to use that as an example ittends to be a really, really
soft growth and I find that thatsoft growth can be a little bit
susceptible and less resilientthan the hard growth.
You know the leaf will be alittle bit harder, a little bit
glossier, has that dark look toit and just a tougher it's just
(07:01):
tougher leaf, which means thatit's less susceptible to
diseases, less susceptible topests and so on.
So nettle fertilizer high innitrogen um, very, very high in
nitrogen and good for leafycrops or for crops in the leafy
stage, like the early stage oftomatoes and so on really easy
to make.
(07:22):
So how do you make it?
You basically get young nettles.
So the the really fresh,vibrant growth of nettles.
You cut them at that stage, notwhen they're going to seed up
on top, and you're not lookingfor big woody stems.
So it's that earlier stage ofgrowth.
If you've cut nettles earlierin the year, you're going to get
a flush back of growth again.
(07:42):
It's that flush back of growth.
That's absolutely fantastic,high in nitrogen.
That can be used even as a chopand drop once there's no seeds
on it, just use that as a chopand drop and again it's going to
do the same thing.
But if you're making a tea outof it or a fertilizer of it,
what you're doing is you'rechopping it.
At that stage, you're adding itto a bucket, you're adding in
rainwater ideally into it, andthen you're making sure that you
(08:06):
submerge all the leaves underthe water and then you close the
lid on it, not tightly, youallow it to breathe slightly and
you leave it for anything fromone week to three weeks.
And you leave it for anythingfrom one week to three weeks,
depending on you know, atcertain times of the year, if
(08:26):
it's warmer, it'll actually, Isuppose, turn into fertilizer
quicker, but at certain times ofthe year it might take three to
four weeks, but at other timesit might take a week.
When you open that, it will beabsolutely stink.
It's a really, really, reallypungent smell, but it's a superb
high nitrogen feed.
At that stage, if you're goingto start putting it through a
watering can with a rose, thenyou definitely should strain it
(08:48):
into.
You know something that you'regoing to, like a bottle or
whatever it is, or a can.
If you're going to, as I say,you're going to put it out
through a rose on a watering can, you should strain it because
you will clog up your the rowson your watering can.
But when you have thisconcentrated feed.
Then you can dilute that, akind of one to ten one part
fertilizer to 10 parts water.
(09:10):
It can be more, it can be less.
You won't go too far wrong withit.
It's not going to do any harmor not going to do any damage if
you overuse it or underuse it.
But roughly speaking, you'relooking at one to ten and apply
that as a root drench or as afoliar spray.
As a foliar spray, people willsay that it has some, you know,
(09:32):
fungicidal properties and someinsecticidal properties.
By using it as a foliar spray,I think it's more.
Again, to go back to what Isaid, it makes.
It makes the leaf kind oftougher, gives a little bit of
tougher outer edge.
There is some elements of ofnettle tea and nettles that
stimulate certain hormoneswithin plants and one of those
(09:53):
hormones releases chitin.
So chitin it will be, will beagain, it will be quite a
specialist food that people willbe aware of in growing circles
that stimulates resilience inplants, stimulates tough leaves,
and so I think that's what'shappening, is that it's it's.
It doesn't itself haveantibacterial or antifungicidal
(10:16):
or anti, you know, insecticidalproperties.
I think it's just that it'sstimulating this chitin that
basically makes the plant moreresilient, and so it's, you know
it's, it's given the the effectof insecticide or fungicide
while not being those things, soit's hugely, hugely beneficial.
(10:38):
The other thing with it is thatit is again mentioning it that
it feeds the soil.
So you know, once you get that,once you start feeding that
into the soil, the soil life isis responding to that because
it's it's natural, it's going tostart taking it in and and
converting it within the soil.
So you're to have a multitudeof benefits from using it.
(11:01):
And, yeah, you can use it as achop and drop once there's no
seeds on it, or you can use itas a tea.
So brilliant fertilizer.
And when you have the nettlesin the garden, keane, you might
as well use them, and that's abrilliant, brilliant way of
using them.
I did mention, though, that it'snot very high in K.
It has kind of a medium levelof K, and then the flip side of
(11:24):
that, then, is comfrey.
So comfrey is quite good, forit's quite high in K and that's
quite good for flower growth anddeveloping fruit growth.
So very, very similar, you know, very, very similar in terms of
what you can do with it.
So there are certain varieties.
I don't personally grow it, butBocking 14 is one that's
(11:47):
mentioned a lot in organiccircles to grow, as you know, as
your your crop, for creatingcomfrey tea or comfrey
fertilizer or for chop and drop,and it's a.
It's supposed to be a reallysuitable variety for that.
Again, as I say, I don't, Ihaven't grown it particularly,
(12:08):
but I have seen it and I knowthat people in organic circles
will use it a lot.
But the fact that it's high in kit gives you a sort of a
counterbalance to the high n ofthe nettles.
So to use the two of them incombination, you don't need to
use them at the same time.
But if you're using it in theearlier stages of, say for again
as an example, a tomato growth,you use your nettle feed for
(12:30):
the first couple of months andas flowers start to develop, you
switch to your, your k and thenalternate every second, every
second feed, use one or theother, and you'll find then that
that'll do a really, reallygood job because it's getting
the plant, is getting everythingit needs.
It's getting the nitrogen tocontinue to push out leaf growth
up higher and it's getting thek from the comfrey then to give
(12:51):
you that fertilizer that's goingto turn.
That's going to grow yourflower, that's going to turn
into your fruit.
So by combining them, it's very, very useful.
So the comfrey is going to beuseful for anything that that
flowers and then produces.
You know fruit or veg afterthat.
So you're talking abouttomatoes, squash, potatoes,
peppers.
You know any of those typevegetables within your garden.
(13:12):
Also useful for a lot of your,your flowers within the garden,
your perennials within thegarden.
And again, using it at the asit's coming to flowering stages
is really, really beneficial.
You can, a little bit like thenettle, you can use it as a chop
and drop as well, so you justallow the flush of growth to
come.
Then you just chop it,basically drop it wherever you
(13:34):
want it around the plant andallow it to break down naturally
into the soil.
The method for creating thefertilizer is quite similar to
nettles.
You can you can add it to water.
You use probably a little bitless water, but you can add it
to water.
You can also just put it into abucket and allow it to break
(13:54):
down naturally without theaddition of water and it will
create a liquid in there.
You do need to strain it againif you're putting it out through
a watering can that has a roseon it, but again, it's giving
you that high k and like thenettle, like the nettle
fertilizer, it is feeding thesoil.
So you're not just you're notjust you know getting a plant
(14:15):
benefit, you're getting a soilbenefit which in turn, gives you
healthier, stronger, betterplants up on top.
So I suppose, if you get thegist of what I'm saying is
you're you're looking to feedthe soil, and these fertilizers
are superb additions to the soillife as well, and that, as I
say, gives you these resilientplants or resilient plants up on
(14:36):
top.
Other things that are useful youknow around the home banana
peels, really high in k as well.
They can be simply, if you'replanting, you know something
like a tomato, put them in underthe tomato plant when you're
when you're planting it.
They will add high levels of kand you can also mix them with
(14:58):
water.
I have never done that.
I have often just dropped thebanana peels, just chop them a
little bit, drop them in aroundthe base of tomatoes and really,
really useful Anything that'sfruiting, that's flowering.
Banana peels are good for that,the likes of seaweed.
Then, if you do happen to liveclose to the sea and you do have
(15:20):
access to seaweed again, youcan use that.
You're feeding the soil.
You can use that.
You're feeding the soil.
And you know there's otheroptions as well.
For me here something that I do,uh, when I'm cutting the grass
and I only did it last week atthis stage of the year you're
getting this really lush,vibrant growth that's really
high in nitrogen.
All I'm doing with that is tipup the box of grass right beside
(15:43):
your borders and then put asprinkling like an inch of it
all across the borders,everywhere, and that'll break
down and in a couple of weekstime when you go back, that
grass will be disappeared.
Now don't put three or fourinches.
It'll turn to sludge and if youget a really dry time, it'll go
crispy first, but eventuallythat'll get digested by the soil
life.
And if you scratch back thesoil in a month's time, two
(16:06):
months time, and continually dothis, you will see a really dark
, humus, rich soil on top.
So it's the same sort of athing without the process of
creating it.
So it's again using chop anddrop.
So there's more than one way todo it.
The, the liquid version youknow the keen has tried is a
brilliant way and then it'suseful.
It's convenient, you know, interms of going and feeding the
(16:28):
likes of tomatoes or hangingbaskets or whatever it is.
It's a convenient way of doingit.
The the chop and drop is reallyuseful, then embeds and borders
and so on.
So loads of ways to do it, butagain, the key to it is you're
feeding the soil all the time,and when you're feeding that
soil, though that that healthy,functioning soil, microbial life
(16:49):
is basically driving up healthyand resilient plants up on top,
and so that's that's what we'reall in for, so kind of hope.
I answered the question.
It's, um, the combination ofthe two is good, though, because
you have the high nitrogen fromthe, from the nettle, and the
high k from the comfrey, soyou're getting the best of both
worlds there.
Both of them are going to behealthy for the soil, both of
(17:11):
them are going to be good forthe soil and very good for, you
know, for for driving out theleafy growth and then, later on,
driving out the flower and, inturn, fruit, fruits, and yeah,
as I say, in combination they'rethey're a brilliant, brilliant
combination.
For any other listeners who arelistening in, that's a, you
know, question from keen andglad the the podcast is helping
(17:34):
you.
Anyone else that's listeningthat has questions, that has
something that they'd like toknow a little bit more on, just
shoot me a, as I say, an emailmessage on instagram or whatever
the case may be, and I'll do mybest to cover it in the coming
weeks.
And that's been this week'sepisode.
Thanks for listening and untilthe next time, happy gardening,
thank you.
how's it going everybody, and welcome to
episode 284, master, my gardenpodcast.
Now, this week's episode is alistener's question.
I mentioned last week thatkeane o'reilly, who has moved
into a new home two years agoand they're creating the garden
of their dreams, he says, andthey came across the podcast
(00:33):
about a year ago and has beenreally helpful on on their
journey, you know, to get in thegarden of their dreams and
upcoming projects for the gardeninclude greenhouse and raised
beds and so on and it's, youknow, he says the podcast has
helped quite a lot and so lovelyto hear from you.
Keen, and your question relatesto homemade fertilizers and how
(00:56):
to kind of use them within thegarden.
He says there's an abundance ofnettles in the garden and
that's, uh, that's not a badthing because he gets the
opportunity to make nettle teaand chat about, you know, the
benefits, how to make it, andcomfrey tea as well.
He wants, wants to start makingcomfrey tea and you know we'll
(01:18):
talk about how to do this andthe benefits of it and how to
use it, which is kind of hisquestion.
It's, it's um, how to make useof these fertilizers that he's
creating and it's, I supposeit's a, it's a brilliant topic
and it's a useful topic forpeople, and it's also one that
in ways I've covered before onthe podcast, not specifically
(01:40):
relating to to nettle or comfreytea, but the kind of the idea
or the background of it stillremains the same that what we're
looking to do all the time isto create a healthy soil and
that healthy soil, or we feedthe soil, and that healthy soil
is what feeds the plants up ontop.
(02:02):
And from my point of view, thereis no science to this in terms
of you know, I don't.
I'm not a scientist, I'm not asoil scientist, I don't know the
ins and outs, I don't know theyou know exactly what's going on
in these, in this complex foodweb that goes on in the soil.
But I do know one thing forsure that when you treat the
(02:22):
soil well, that what goes on ontop is certainly much more
successful, much more healthyand, generally speaking, you're
growing nutrient dense,resilient and better plants up
on top.
So, to answer Keane's question,I'm going to tie all this into
(02:45):
the fact that we're you know,that we're you know we're
looking to build siloed healthall the time and not just use
fertilizers as a there'ssomething wrong here, let's feed
.
So it's a.
It's more of a holistic view ofit, I guess, and I suppose
there's multiple benefits ofboth comfrey and nettle tea and
(03:05):
other sort of homemadefertilizers, so we might talk
about some of those as well.
And for me personally, I haveused nettle tea on numerous
occasions or nettle fertilizeron numerous occasions currently
not using it, and the onlyreason for that is just in terms
of time.
It doesn't take a lot of time,but it's more time than I can
(03:27):
give it at the moment, but it isand certainly was fantastic
when I used it.
It's very, very pungent.
For anyone that has made it forkeen, I'm sure you're seeing
that it's extremely pungent.
But what you do get is asimilar response to what you get
when you're applying seaweed,and seaweed is my go-to
(03:48):
fertilizer.
That's what I use on a regularbasis.
It's cold pressed seaweed andthe reason I'm using that is
because of the soil healthbenefits, but also the how much
healthier the plants always seemwhen you're using something
like seaweed.
And I would have got the sameresponse when using nettle.
You know nettle fertilizer.
(04:08):
So that's kind of the, as Isaid, a the way I'm going to
come at this.
So, in terms of you know, welook at the two fertilizers, we
look at how you make them and wekind of look at the benefits
and they're very, very similarin some ways, but there's some
little distinctions between themthat are quite important.
(04:29):
So, homemade fertilizersthey're obviously very
sustainable.
So if you're like keen and youhave these nettles in the garden
, you're able to produce aquality fertilizer from those
nettles and that is obviouslysustainable.
It's nettles have been used inorganic you know organic
production for a long number ofyears and there is definitely
(04:50):
some benefits beyond thefertilizer element.
So in terms of microbial life,it certainly improves the
microbial life, as all organicmatter will when you're adding
it to the soil.
That is, you know, key.
As I say, we will come at itfrom this point of view that
it's it's soil health number onethat in turn gives you plant
(05:12):
health up on top.
But nettle fertilizerspecifically, it's a really high
nitrogen, high in nitrogen.
So you know, when you look atyour NPK, it's very, very high
in nitrogen.
It's quite low in NP and it'llbe kind of a mid-level in terms
of K.
So something that's really highin nitrogen is very, very good
(05:33):
for leafy crops or crops at theearly stage of growth.
So, for example, leafy crops orcrops at the early stage of
growth.
So, for example, leafy cropswould include all the brassicas,
your cauliflowers, yourbroccolis, your cabbage, your
Brussels sprouts, your kale,anything that's putting on leafy
growth up on top Really reallyuseful for that.
It's also useful for most cropswhen it's in its leafy growth
stage.
So even things like tomatoes inthe early stage of the year
(05:56):
when they're not putting outmuch flour, then it's you know,
it's it's a.
It's a brilliant fertilizer todrive that initial growth at the
start.
And again, because you'readding organic matter, you are
feeding the soil as well.
I always find with seaweed andwith the likes of nettle, that
you get a really resilient plantup on top.
(06:18):
So you end up with a plant thathas a glossier leaf, a darker
colored leaf and, I find, a kindof a tougher leaf, if that
makes sense.
So if you get your standard npkfertilizer and you load it on,
I find you get a lot of growth.
But it tends to be be if youfelt the leaf of a tomato, just
(06:40):
to use that as an example ittends to be a really, really
soft growth and I find that thatsoft growth can be a little bit
susceptible and less resilientthan the hard growth.
You know the leaf will be alittle bit harder, a little bit
glossier, has that dark look toit and just a tougher it's just
(07:01):
tougher leaf, which means thatit's less susceptible to
diseases, less susceptible topests and so on.
So nettle fertilizer high innitrogen um, very, very high in
nitrogen and good for leafycrops or for crops in the leafy
stage, like the early stage oftomatoes and so on really easy
to make.
(07:22):
So how do you make it?
You basically get young nettles.
So the the really fresh,vibrant growth of nettles.
You cut them at that stage, notwhen they're going to seed up
on top, and you're not lookingfor big woody stems.
So it's that earlier stage ofgrowth.
If you've cut nettles earlierin the year, you're going to get
a flush back of growth again.
(07:42):
It's that flush back of growth.
That's absolutely fantastic,high in nitrogen.
That can be used even as a chopand drop once there's no seeds
on it, just use that as a chopand drop and again it's going to
do the same thing.
But if you're making a tea outof it or a fertilizer of it,
what you're doing is you'rechopping it.
At that stage, you're adding itto a bucket, you're adding in
rainwater ideally into it, andthen you're making sure that you
(08:06):
submerge all the leaves underthe water and then you close the
lid on it, not tightly, youallow it to breathe slightly and
you leave it for anything fromone week to three weeks.
And you leave it for anythingfrom one week to three weeks,
depending on you know, atcertain times of the year, if
(08:26):
it's warmer, it'll actually, Isuppose, turn into fertilizer
quicker, but at certain times ofthe year it might take three to
four weeks, but at other timesit might take a week.
When you open that, it will beabsolutely stink.
It's a really, really, reallypungent smell, but it's a superb
high nitrogen feed.
At that stage, if you're goingto start putting it through a
watering can with a rose, thenyou definitely should strain it
(08:48):
into.
You know something that you'regoing to, like a bottle or
whatever it is, or a can.
If you're going to, as I say,you're going to put it out
through a rose on a watering can, you should strain it because
you will clog up your the rowson your watering can.
But when you have thisconcentrated feed.
Then you can dilute that, akind of one to ten one part
fertilizer to 10 parts water.
(09:10):
It can be more, it can be less.
You won't go too far wrong withit.
It's not going to do any harmor not going to do any damage if
you overuse it or underuse it.
But roughly speaking, you'relooking at one to ten and apply
that as a root drench or as afoliar spray.
As a foliar spray, people willsay that it has some, you know,
(09:32):
fungicidal properties and someinsecticidal properties.
By using it as a foliar spray,I think it's more.
Again, to go back to what Isaid, it makes.
It makes the leaf kind oftougher, gives a little bit of
tougher outer edge.
There is some elements of ofnettle tea and nettles that
stimulate certain hormoneswithin plants and one of those
(09:53):
hormones releases chitin.
So chitin it will be, will beagain, it will be quite a
specialist food that people willbe aware of in growing circles
that stimulates resilience inplants, stimulates tough leaves,
and so I think that's what'shappening, is that it's it's.
It doesn't itself haveantibacterial or antifungicidal
(10:16):
or anti, you know, insecticidalproperties.
I think it's just that it'sstimulating this chitin that
basically makes the plant moreresilient, and so it's, you know
it's, it's given the the effectof insecticide or fungicide
while not being those things, soit's hugely, hugely beneficial.
(10:38):
The other thing with it is thatit is again mentioning it that
it feeds the soil.
So you know, once you get that,once you start feeding that
into the soil, the soil life isis responding to that because
it's it's natural, it's going tostart taking it in and and
converting it within the soil.
So you're to have a multitudeof benefits from using it.
(11:01):
And, yeah, you can use it as achop and drop once there's no
seeds on it, or you can use itas a tea.
So brilliant fertilizer.
And when you have the nettlesin the garden, keane, you might
as well use them, and that's abrilliant, brilliant way of
using them.
I did mention, though, that it'snot very high in K.
It has kind of a medium levelof K, and then the flip side of
(11:24):
that, then, is comfrey.
So comfrey is quite good, forit's quite high in K and that's
quite good for flower growth anddeveloping fruit growth.
So very, very similar, you know, very, very similar in terms of
what you can do with it.
So there are certain varieties.
I don't personally grow it, butBocking 14 is one that's
(11:47):
mentioned a lot in organiccircles to grow, as you know, as
your your crop, for creatingcomfrey tea or comfrey
fertilizer or for chop and drop,and it's a.
It's supposed to be a reallysuitable variety for that.
Again, as I say, I don't, Ihaven't grown it particularly,
(12:08):
but I have seen it and I knowthat people in organic circles
will use it a lot.
But the fact that it's high in kit gives you a sort of a
counterbalance to the high n ofthe nettles.
So to use the two of them incombination, you don't need to
use them at the same time.
But if you're using it in theearlier stages of, say for again
as an example, a tomato growth,you use your nettle feed for
(12:30):
the first couple of months andas flowers start to develop, you
switch to your, your k and thenalternate every second, every
second feed, use one or theother, and you'll find then that
that'll do a really, reallygood job because it's getting
the plant, is getting everythingit needs.
It's getting the nitrogen tocontinue to push out leaf growth
up higher and it's getting thek from the comfrey then to give
(12:51):
you that fertilizer that's goingto turn.
That's going to grow yourflower, that's going to turn
into your fruit.
So by combining them, it's very, very useful.
So the comfrey is going to beuseful for anything that that
flowers and then produces.
You know fruit or veg afterthat.
So you're talking abouttomatoes, squash, potatoes,
peppers.
You know any of those typevegetables within your garden.
(13:12):
Also useful for a lot of your,your flowers within the garden,
your perennials within thegarden.
And again, using it at the asit's coming to flowering stages
is really, really beneficial.
You can, a little bit like thenettle, you can use it as a chop
and drop as well, so you justallow the flush of growth to
come.
Then you just chop it,basically drop it wherever you
(13:34):
want it around the plant andallow it to break down naturally
into the soil.
The method for creating thefertilizer is quite similar to
nettles.
You can you can add it to water.
You use probably a little bitless water, but you can add it
to water.
You can also just put it into abucket and allow it to break
(13:54):
down naturally without theaddition of water and it will
create a liquid in there.
You do need to strain it againif you're putting it out through
a watering can that has a roseon it, but again, it's giving
you that high k and like thenettle, like the nettle
fertilizer, it is feeding thesoil.
So you're not just you're notjust you know getting a plant
(14:15):
benefit, you're getting a soilbenefit which in turn, gives you
healthier, stronger, betterplants up on top.
So I suppose, if you get thegist of what I'm saying is
you're you're looking to feedthe soil, and these fertilizers
are superb additions to the soillife as well, and that, as I
say, gives you these resilientplants or resilient plants up on
(14:36):
top.
Other things that are useful youknow around the home banana
peels, really high in k as well.
They can be simply, if you'replanting, you know something
like a tomato, put them in underthe tomato plant when you're
when you're planting it.
They will add high levels of kand you can also mix them with
(14:58):
water.
I have never done that.
I have often just dropped thebanana peels, just chop them a
little bit, drop them in aroundthe base of tomatoes and really,
really useful Anything that'sfruiting, that's flowering.
Banana peels are good for that,the likes of seaweed.
Then, if you do happen to liveclose to the sea and you do have
(15:20):
access to seaweed again, youcan use that.
You're feeding the soil.
You can use that.
You're feeding the soil.
And you know there's otheroptions as well.
For me here something that I do,uh, when I'm cutting the grass
and I only did it last week atthis stage of the year you're
getting this really lush,vibrant growth that's really
high in nitrogen.
All I'm doing with that is tipup the box of grass right beside
(15:43):
your borders and then put asprinkling like an inch of it
all across the borders,everywhere, and that'll break
down and in a couple of weekstime when you go back, that
grass will be disappeared.
Now don't put three or fourinches.
It'll turn to sludge and if youget a really dry time, it'll go
crispy first, but eventuallythat'll get digested by the soil
life.
And if you scratch back thesoil in a month's time, two
(16:06):
months time, and continually dothis, you will see a really dark
, humus, rich soil on top.
So it's the same sort of athing without the process of
creating it.
So it's again using chop anddrop.
So there's more than one way todo it.
The, the liquid version youknow the keen has tried is a
brilliant way and then it'suseful.
It's convenient, you know, interms of going and feeding the
(16:28):
likes of tomatoes or hangingbaskets or whatever it is.
It's a convenient way of doingit.
The the chop and drop is reallyuseful, then embeds and borders
and so on.
So loads of ways to do it, butagain, the key to it is you're
feeding the soil all the time,and when you're feeding that
soil, though that that healthy,functioning soil, microbial life
(16:49):
is basically driving up healthyand resilient plants up on top,
and so that's that's what we'reall in for, so kind of hope.
I answered the question.
It's, um, the combination ofthe two is good, though, because
you have the high nitrogen fromthe, from the nettle, and the
high k from the comfrey, soyou're getting the best of both
worlds there.
Both of them are going to behealthy for the soil, both of
(17:11):
them are going to be good forthe soil and very good for, you
know, for for driving out theleafy growth and then, later on,
driving out the flower and, inturn, fruit, fruits, and yeah,
as I say, in combination they'rethey're a brilliant, brilliant
combination.
For any other listeners who arelistening in, that's a, you
know, question from keen andglad the the podcast is helping
(17:34):
you.
Anyone else that's listeningthat has questions, that has
something that they'd like toknow a little bit more on, just
shoot me a, as I say, an emailmessage on instagram or whatever
the case may be, and I'll do mybest to cover it in the coming
weeks.
And that's been this week'sepisode.
Thanks for listening and untilthe next time, happy gardening,
thank you.
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