Growing Super Vegetables
- 1). Create a compost pile. Composting breaks down organic matter into nutrients that vegetables can use. Ideally, the compost pile should consist of manure, blood meal (for nitrogen) and wood ash (for potassium). These mixtures are available at garden stores, but composting saves money and is a good way to get rid of your home's organic waste.
- 2). Use only rotted manure for your composting and fertilizing. Usable minerals are broken down in the manure to facilitate easy absorption into the vegetables. Many stables and farms either sell or give away manure piles for fertilizer. Avoid the manure of steer, since it contains too much salt.
- 3). Mix normal backyard soil with the compost. If possible, add seaweed, which generates a large amount of chlorophyll, creating stronger roots and boosting the plant's photosynthesis. Preparing the soil is at the very root of growing super vegetables. Without proper soil content, the nutrients necessary for healthy living will not be present in the produce.
- 4). Use well water for irrigation if possible. Treated city water often contains chemicals that interfere with the ability of vegetables to use the mineral content of composted soil.
- 5). Sprinkle rock powder (available at any garden store) on the soil, or mix it with the compost pile. Keep the soil pH between 5.5 and 6.5. This low-acidic environment neutralizes the acid in the soil; acid can leach nutrients from the vegetables.
- 6). Place earthworms in the soil. This is another way to keep the acid content down. Earthworms swallow soil then excrete it, adding calcium and nitrogen in the process. Never use chemical fertilizers with earthworms, since most mixtures either will kill them or drive them away.