I have started to gather what I would need to prep my gardens for the long winter ahead. I was advised by a local nursery to till in peat moss to our soil because of our heavy clay content. I was also looking into compost or manures, when I was reading that alfalfa meal can work to add nutrients. I could get a alfalfa pellets or cubes for a relatively decent price at our local agriculture suppliers. Has anyone used this type of product with any success? My plan was to break up the cubes and till it into the soil with the peat moss. By the spring time I was hoping to have it ready to plant without any extra amendments needed. I had read that the alfalfa has a good growth booster that would help the plants get off to a good start.
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media Using Alfalfa pellets to amend gardens?
- Thread starter shaggs2riches
- Start date
Ruth Stout , book on " no till garden " i've got clayish soil as well , " should of been a brick yard " lol but i put down lots of horse manure , hay , compost , shredded paper , coffee grounds from a local restaurant , so i get it by a 5 gallon bucket . but read on . My soil is very alive and soft . Good luck ! 
I have used both alfalfa meal and pellets to amend the soil / yard. The meal can be a bit pricey especially
organic alfalfa meal. The pellets will break down if you spray a little water on them.
As Morgua Welder suggested, there's no need to till in the alfalfa. As the alfalfa decomposes it creates humic acid
which influences the Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) of the soil underneath.
The hippies have been using alfalfa tea for decades when growing 'herb', they know what they are doing.
https://www.dirtdoctor.com/garden/Alfalfa-Meal-Tea_vq1937.htm
organic alfalfa meal. The pellets will break down if you spray a little water on them.
As Morgua Welder suggested, there's no need to till in the alfalfa. As the alfalfa decomposes it creates humic acid
which influences the Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) of the soil underneath.
The hippies have been using alfalfa tea for decades when growing 'herb', they know what they are doing.
https://www.dirtdoctor.com/garden/Alfalfa-Meal-Tea_vq1937.htm
For my dirt peppers like Japs and stuff
I clean out a friends two horse stalls and 12 chicken coups (LWB pick up bed full)
I let the pile sit all summer covered with a tarp that has a few vent holes
I add two big trash can full of plate scrapings from a near by restaurant across the plot,add the stall mix on top and deep till it and water it very well.
This last's 3 seasons easy,but I keep it re'upped just in case.
I also get worms from a county over that has great soil(full of worms) and add them as well
My plot is 40X40' and I deep till it to near 20" with a tractor disk subsoiler
I clean out a friends two horse stalls and 12 chicken coups (LWB pick up bed full)
I let the pile sit all summer covered with a tarp that has a few vent holes
I add two big trash can full of plate scrapings from a near by restaurant across the plot,add the stall mix on top and deep till it and water it very well.
This last's 3 seasons easy,but I keep it re'upped just in case.
I also get worms from a county over that has great soil(full of worms) and add them as well
My plot is 40X40' and I deep till it to near 20" with a tractor disk subsoiler
This is great stuff. Thanks a lot for the tips. I might just give that no till approach a go. I will spread the peat moss and maybe a bit of manure on top and then give them a cover with some alfalfa pellets, then water them real well and let it sit like that over the winter. In the spring I will till it all up to mix it well before I plant. With the greenhouse covers I built, I am really hoping for a great jump on next season.
shaggs2riches said:
you can plant a winter crop also , then cut it before the winter , that helps a lot !
i have completely bailed on anything alfalfa as i find it causes severe nutrient burn, i now only use dried seaweed and comfrey.
How do you get nutrient burn from something that is breaking down organically?
I also throw in my vote for amending the soil with anything organic, like leaves, grass clippings, or even alfalfa. You can plant alfalfa in your garden late season as a "cover" crop for the next season, and then just mow it down, and leave in place, or till it in. Being that alfalfa is a legume, its roots have nodes that hold nitrogen, and slowly release it back into the soil when the plant is cut. You generally won't put a tiller to the soil if you plant a cover crop.
Personally, I'd make a long term strategy to spend the next 2-3 seasons tilling in all of the organic matter that I could get hands on. But Moruga's approach of doing a top dress works, too. You can also compost in place, using a "lasagna" approach.
I used to live in a place that had really hard packed clay/loamy soil. It was impossible to work with when I started. After 3 consecutive seasons of tilling in all of the oak leaves from my front yard, and any grass clippings that I gathered, I had some of the most fertile and productive garden soil that I've ever seen. After you get that soil properly conditioned, no more tilling. Just keep your soil organically top dressed, year in, year out.
solid7 said:
at least 14 " of top dress , as Ruth Stouts book suggest , the soil will get so soft . and fertile !
solid7 said:
when i first started a a few years back , not now i'll lay down about 8 - 10 bales of johnathan hay , all my compost mounds of oak leaves , pines needles , shredded paper u name it .