On Feb 7, 7:19�am, "simy1" wrote:
On Feb 7, 5:13 am, "Anne58" wrote:

My vegetable garden is lacking in nutrients and I want to be able to
get the soil improved before I start planting in April. *Would it be
okay to really load up the soil with commerical fertilizer and seaweed
now in Feb or is it better to just feed the garden on a regular basis
while the plants are growing?

The latter is probably better, but fertilizer is only part of the
equation. What is the
texture and organic content? What will you grow? If you grow carrots
or beans, probably you
won't need much fertilizer, if any, just a sprinkle of wood ash. In
fact, if you fertilize them,
the beans yield will be reduced, and the carrots will be hairy and
branched. And the fertilizer
needs of, say, squash and cabbage are quite different. In any case,
the organic content of
the soil should be 10% or better.

If seaweeds are the locally available organic matter, put it on right
now, then fertilize
slowly during the season according to the specific vegetable needs.

Thanks, that's good to know. I had no idea that over fertilizing
reduces bean yield!!

I always put the leaves from the fall into the garden so there is lots
of organic matter and plenty of worms. I did the entire garden with
wood ash 2 years ago so it's probably time to clean out the ash pit
again . . .