How to make your own tomato fertilizer

We use a LOT of tomato fertilizer so we decided to make our own this year.  It's fairly easy and inexpensive to make your own, actually.  And since we raise chickens, we have the majority of the ingredients on hand, such as the compost and the eggshells. There are different ingredients you could use, but this is what works for us using what we have on hand.

So here is our recipe for a gallon of tomato fertilizer. 

1/3 gallon chicken manure compost

12 baked and crushed eggshells

1 cup of coffee and/or tea bags

1 cup wood ash

1/2 cup Epsom salts
Water

First, in a gallon sized bucket we filled it 1/3 of the way with chicken manure compost. You could use rabbit pellets or any other compost that you might have on hand.

Next, we crushed and baked a dozen eggshells and added that to the mix. 

These photos show the steps I used. Wash the eggs, crush up as best as you can (I used a meat mallet), then bake them at 450 for about 10-15 minutes, and then crush again.

Barefoot in the garden! Ha! Excuse the foot!

Next, I added the coffee grounds and tea bags.

Yummy, starting to look delicious! If you're a tomato, that is. :)

Next, we added the wood ash(straight from the fireplace!) 

And lastly, the Epsom salts.  This gives the tomatoes much need magnesium!

Fill it to the top with water and stir like crazy!! I let it sit for a few days before using it on my veggies. It is quite thick, so add some more water as you use it to make it a little easier to spread. I use it on all my nightshades, which are tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, eggplant,  and okra. 

I just pour a small amount around the base of the plant, water it in, and watch your plants grow really healthy and produce more fruits!

Spring has sprung!

Spring has sprung and so has my garden! Everything is growing wonderfully now that the temps have warmed up and we've had some rain! I love watching things grow! Even  chickens!

Happy Easter! 

Garden Update-New Sprouts!

New sprouts in the garden!

Pumpkins

Squash

Collards

Beans

 Purple Hull Peas

Yellow stringless beans

Pumpkin

T-Shirt Memory Pillow

I made these cute T-Shirt Memory Pillows for a friend of a friend who lost her son.  These were made for his mom, his baby, his wife, and his best friend, I think. Anyway, I made the pillow inside and stuffed it, then did the embroidery, cut the t-shirt and sewed the neck hole shut, then sewed the embroidered part on the front of the cut t-shirt using a zigzag stitch. Sewed a zipper at the bottom and sewed up the sides. Put the t-shirt on the pillow and wahlah! Here you have it...

Chicks are getting bigger

The chicks are getting bigger and messier than ever!  I have to clean their brooder (rabbit cage!) every couple of days.

Today on the Farm

The garden beds are all planted and ready to sprout! This is where the bulk of the work is done in our garden.  Tilling the soil, making rows, filling it in with chicken manure and potting soil. Then planting seeds and transplanting seedlings and mulching.  We are using hay for mulch this year. I can't wait to see this green and growing!

Check out this grub!

Moving composted manure from the chicken coop into the garden beds.

My miniature roses that my daughter gave me a few years ago for Mother's Day are already budding!

The chicks are now about a week and half old.  We lost three but everyone else seems to be thriving.

So everything is going well on the farm! 

New Chicks on the Farm

Two Australorps, two White Plymouth Rocks, two California Whites, two Americaunas, and two Rhode Island Reds. 

I used a sour cream container to make a water holder and used a feeder that I had on hand.  I will be putting them in a bigger home in the next day or two.  They need to stay inside with lights until about 8 weeks because when they are this little, they cannot regulate their own body temperature.

Veggie Seeds Day 10

Tall and leggy and almost ready to plant.  

These are grean beans.

More Green beans.  

Purple Hulls have not come up yet.  

I may need to direct sow them in the garden. 

Pumpkins

Radishes, cucumbers, okra and some tomatoes.

Flowers

More tomatoes.  

Jalapenos and bell peppers are just starting to come up.  And if you look closely you will see some random cucumber seeds that sprouted from my spent soil from last year.  Bonus!

I've been working hard in the garden, turning soil, building trellises, a bean grove and a pumpkin patch.  

Also bought some baby chicks today from Holloway Farms Feed Supply in Land O'Lakes.  We bought two Black Austrolorps, two Rhode Island Reds, and two White Plymouth Rocks.  I will buy a few more in a couple of weeks.  Waiting for Americaunas to come in and maybe some Marans or Welsummers.  Pictures of my new babies to come!