An important part in rejuvenating the rhubarb patch and preparing the tomato vineyard, is to fertilize them. Steve Solomon is my favorite gardening author, and this organic fertilizer recipe is from his Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades: The Complete Guide to Natural Gardening:

4 parts (by volume) seed meal (I use cottonseed meal)
1 part kelp meal
1 part lime
1 part rock phosphate or 1/2 part bone meal

I used to buy the ingredients in cute little boxes at a local nursery, but it makes much more sense to buy in quantity.

I get cottonseed meal and kelp meal by the 50 lb sack at a nearby feed store. The lime is readily available almost anywhere gardening supplies are sold. I follow Mr Solomon’s advice again and use a mix of agricultural lime and dolomite lime for a good balance of calcium and magnesium.

Once I’ve measured the ingredients in the correct proportions, I mix them together until the color and texture is uniform.

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