DIY Free Fertilizer from Weeds - Regenerative Gardening
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Published 2023-07-20
Hi I’m Christina with Forever Food Forest. A channel where we explore ways of growing food without the use of herbicides, pesticides or commercial fertilizers and instead we rely on permaculture principles and other gardening - natural gardening methods to grow food that's good for the garden and good for the planet. So let’s get started.
This method was inspired by Korean Natural Farming, JADAM, and some regenerative farming methods with my own personal twist on it. Because I have to utilize what I have here, your results may vary depending on what you have growing in abundance in your area. First thing you’re gonna need is some weeds. Weeds are amazing for their ability to extract nutrients from even the poorest soils. Which is why when they’re decomposed back they make such an excellent fertilizer because they concentrate all those nutrients. And some farmers in fact grow weeds such as nettles, chickweeds, comfrey, mullein. Some weeds are gonna have more nutrients than the others, but I like to use what I have right now. I might grow some soil building crops in the future once all of this is cleared of all of these noxious and invasive weeds.
To make fertilizer: you’re gonna need:
- a bucket, preferably with a lid
- a brick or a heavy rock to weigh your weeds down
- water. Rain water is best, but any water that has not been treated with chemicals such as clean river water, well water, spring water, estuary, tributary. Any kind of water other than the water that has been treated with chemicals will do. If you only have access to tap water you can let it sit out for 48 hours.
It's like you’re making a stew for your plants. You just toss all these goodies in there. Make sure the bucket is about 75% full. And then fill the rest with water. And then I take my brick and use it to weigh down the weeds. Fertilizer is gonna be ready to use in about 3 days. On day 2 I cover it with a lid to keep the flies out.
Just a word of caution when you are first making this, that smell is going to hit you. The first time I made it, I ended up throwing out the whole batch because I thought “surely something had gone horribly wrong because there’s no way that it should smell like this”. But no, no. Be aware that that is normal. And the smell is gonna get worse over the next month. That’s why I like to cover it up with a lid and let it ferment for another month. Even though right now it is ready to use. I could dilute it 1 part to 10 and use it as a drench in my garden, or use it to water my seedlings. That would absolutely work, but the longer you wait, the stronger of a concentration of fertilizer you’re gonna have. So I’m gonna show you how I prepare the fertilizer to use it in the garden. I'm gonna use the May vintage (It's currently July). I just strain the fertilizer into another bucket. So the ratio I wanna dilute it at is 30 to 1. I have 2 gallons of water here. Rain water. This is a little over 100 Milliliters. So I want about 180 and that will be about 30 to 1. And this is not exact science. If you make a mixture that’s a little more concentrated or more diluted, you know, do whatever works for you. I have a bunch of different weeds here. And different weeds have different concentrations of nutrients. 30 to 1 is pretty diluted, it shouldn't hurt your plants. I’ve also used a stronger concentration depending on the plants, so you're just gonna have to figure out what works for you. But 30 to 1 is a good starting point. So now I’m just gonna apply it to my okra seedlings over here. I do this about once a week as they’re growing because the solution is pretty diluted and we do get a lot of rain here. The rain has a tendency to wash away any excess fertilizer into our waterways. So I’m really careful about how much fertilizer I apply and how often. I try to apply less fertilizer than needed , more often. Because any excess I put in here is gonna get washed away.
I did a little comparison to see if this fertilizer actually shows improvement in plants. And I have two turmeric plants that were both started at the same time. Same size corms. One has been fertilized with this fertilizer. And the other one I just left alone and I’ve been watering it. That’s it. And look at the difference. The one that has been getting the fertilizer is twice as big. This is amazing. So this stuff really works. It’s a little funky. A little smelly. But it’s free and you can have as much of it as you want. As long as you have weeds, you can have fertilizer. So make something of those weeds and remember to wash your hands after touching that funky, funky, fertilizer.
All Comments (21)
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I don't see you failing at this because you aren't rushing things. You are working with nature moving at nature's pace. Thank you for the idea.
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Not sure why but your videos carry an undertone of existentialism. I love it.
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I like the slight hint of chaos in your videos
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Love that wacky sense of humour as you explain in simple language! Glad I ran into this channel. Helps a lot given we need to keep our livelihood sustainable! Keep 'em coming! Cheers!
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I remember seeing this on another video. The bokashi composting (and I think we're doing a modified version of that) is a great way to utilize pest weeds & vines that you otherwise wouldn't dare put into a regular compost pile. I bought a 20 gallon rubbermaid can with a non-vented lid. Works great, and yes it does smell like the 5th circle of hell (hence keeping the lid on until you want to use it). As I understand it, you DO want to dilute it down since the acidity can be pretty strong as well as the nitrogen levels. I've got cucumbers going like crazy from just a little bit of this stuff.
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Wow! This Jamaican Gardener thank you. We just retired here up in the hills and the land is loaded with weeds and challenges but it's very organic, so I'm very thankful to find your channel.
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I really appreciate you using what is available with no buying items!!! Thank you!!!
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You should lead next time with that side by side pic. Very compelling!!
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I love watching videos like this, and its alot more satisfying being explained by a women SO BEAUTIFUL 😍😍😍😍😍😍IM IN LOVE❤️
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Hi Christina! can't wait to try this! I'm in - subbed!
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Thanks for sharing!
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Great video! 👍😎
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I LOVE THIS IM SO GOING TO DO THIS THANK YOU ❤
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I’ve been making compost tea using weeds with great results
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Really great
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The reason weed tea fertilizers like this smell so bad is because it’s anaerobic bacteria and other microbes that have colonized. While not all anaerobic microbes are harmful, some can absolutely be extremely harmful to your soil and to your health, should you eat vegetables that have come in contact with them and have not been properly cleaned. There is no way of knowing which anaerobic microbes you are colonizing without looking at samples under a microscope. And, while the nutrients extracted during the brew can be beneficial to your plants, it’s a bit of a risky crapshoot whether or not you might actually be causing more harm than good, both to your soil and to yourself. Generally speaking, it is not recommended to use anaerobic fertilizer teas. You can easily get a lot of the same benefits from these brews, by simply adding an oxygen source to your buckets so that you are producing aerobic teas, which pose far, far fewer risks of introducing harmful bacteria. While it’s best to use a constant source of oxygenation, like a fish tank bubbler, even just 4-5 minutes of vigorously stirring your bucket 2-3 times per day can add significant oxygen. And, best of all, you won’t have to deal with the god-awful smells of anaerobic teas.
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excellently explained the process.....good work
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Another excellent video..thanks again
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Geez I'm glad i subbed. Thanks for the videos Kristina
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Its my favorite go to.......lol...it annoys my neighbors they always know when I'm making it.........its that potent.
