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  5 0 Leaf mulch makes a good soil ammendment, but it should be rotted first. You can probably just turn the soil over in the beds with the leaves and be in fine form. A nice thing to do, though it may be a bit late for it (but you never know), is to seed the beds with a winter cover crop. Fava is popular but I prefer crimson clover. Fava is a better nitrogen fixer and those leaves may rob you of a bit of N but the clover also fixes N and does much better when turned over into the soil in the spring. Plus, it's real pretty. Having said that, you should consider some additional fertilizer. Compost by itself is usually not sufficient to provide adequate nutrition here in the soggy lands. N especially leaches out through rain. Here is my super secret all purpose high powered vegetable fertilzer mix: 6 parts greensand 3 parts bone meal 2 parts alfalfa meal 2 parts blood meal by "part" I just mean "scoop". No need for weighing. This mix is a bit rich in N so you can reduce the blood meal or the alfalfa meal a bit. The blood meal is very high in nitrogen and that N is entirely (I think) water soluble. That means it is pretty much ready for use by plants right from the get go. It also means it can get used pretty fast. the alfalfa N is mostly insuluble so will last a bit longer in the soil. Greensand is a miracle fertlizer for the organic gardener and has more micronutrients than you can shake a stick at. However, you do not want to use too much too often. After putting in your garden two or three years in a row you may wish to hold off for about 3-5 years before you add more. As far as compost goes, the best stuff available in Seattle is Zoo Doo and is sold by Woodland Park Zoo. Unfortuneately, it is tough to get. Tom answered in Edibles & Herbs about 1 year ago | Report 2 comments by Mahtli69 and Tom… 0 0 Thanks for the excellent and thorough answer. Regarding your secret sauce fertilizer, how much do you put in the garden? Mahtli69 commented about 1 year ago | Report 1 0 I broadcast it so that it pretty well covers the surface of the bed but not to any great thickness. I'd say a gallon of the mix should go just fine on a 30 square foot bed or so. If you're worried about over fertilizing, don't be. Leave off the bloodmeal and add the rest of the stuff now. Mix it in. Till in the cover crop in the spring and add the bloodmeal then. Wait a week and plant. The bloodmeal is the only thing that can damage the plants if you add too much. The greensand can make the soil goopy but you have to add a whole lot. Bloodmeal, I should warn you, is not considered kosher by the biodynamic true believer folks. Tom commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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