Turn Weeds into Natural Garden Fertilizer
Keep that same energy
One day I was reading across articles about naturaly fertilizing my garden and came across something so simple, yet so revolutionary. I had two revelations … One, By weeding and throwing the weeds out of my garden beds I was wasting valuable resources. Two, The weeds can be used as an easy and free way to feed the garden resources. I’ve heard about this once before from a friend but never took it upon myself to start implimenting it. His method was to leave the weeds on the garden surface after he had plucked them. As the weeds dried up and turned to dry grass, the nutrients and life would naturally flow back into the garden through rain and the breakdown process.
Energy that moves through nature flows in a cycle. The sun is the powerhouse, supplying an energy source to propel life. The plant leaves capture the energy from the sun and use it to grow and produce flowers, fruit, leaves etc. That energy can be provided for animals feeding off it or remain in the plant until it breaks down and gets released back into the soil. From the soil the energy can rise through carbon emission or remain in the soil to help other plants and grasses grow.
When the plants or grasses are taken out of the garden, the energy that’s housed within is also taken. For me, it makes perfect sense to either keep the plucked weeds on the garden bed, or extract the resources and reintroduce them back into the system. Weed tea has been an ingenious way to naturally fertilize my garden with nitrogen that’s housed inside the green weeds.
Free Natural Fertilizer
When developing a healthy environment for your plants to thrive, the soil needs to be fed with organic material. I notice that the soils that thrive the most have various signs of life on the ground floor. If you ever practice composting, you will notice how many organism and life forms are present in your newly composted soil. There is a great deal of energy and activity moving through the soil that will feed anything that grows in it. However, composting itself won’t feed your garden with everything that it needs to remain an overall healthy source.
Fertilizers heavy in nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassuim are needed as garden fuel. I lean towards natural/organic fertilizers so shopping in stores allows me to see how expensive it can be over time. Not to mention if you’re working with large garden spaces, it can be a huge financial commitment. Sometimes a method like this can suffice in times of need and save you money. Only thing it costs is time and a willingness to collect and gather your weeds in a bucket with water.
Nice bucket of tea
After you spend time weeding out all the undersirables from your garden beds, don’t throw them to the waste pile just yet. Instead think about repurposing them to give back all the nutrients they took to grow. Grab 1 or several 5 gallon buckets, collect them inside and fill them to the brim with water. Be cautious to check the weeds for any seeds that might be growing on them. What you don’t want is to germinate more weed seeds as you’re feeding the water to the soil.
There are a few plants I’ve noticed that usually have several seeds present. I live in Florida so one of the most abundant natural plants I see is Biden’s Alba or Spanish Needle. A few other natural Florida plants with an seed abundance are Carolina Geranium and Broadleaf Plantain. Become familiar with these 3 plants to help you avoid growing more weeds in the process.
After the bucket is filled, allow it to sit out in the sun for a few hours to bake. Doing this will help the water to extract more substance. This process is like steeping tea in water. After a while, put the lid on the bucket and place it somewhere it can brew. Personally I let the bucket sit out for a week or two so the water can liquidize as much of the grass as possible. When the time comes, you’re ready to pour it back into the soil.
Repurpose Waste
What interests me about this process is something I learned from observing nature, “Nothing is ever Wasted”. Everything is designed to breakdown and carry energy on to the next life form or natural process. By repurposing my weeds it helps me feel like I’m moving along with the current. To take it a step further, after the tea process you can also use the remaining weeds as mulch for your garden. The sun will naturally bake all the green out of the plants and it will become dried up resources that can add to the soil. They can also be put into the compost to prevent accumulating piles of unnecessary waste elsewhere. Food for thought and active practice.
Thank you for being a part of this post and I hope the information here will help you to repurpose other elements of your garden.