Alfalfa tea in 5 gallon bucket

Here is my 5 gallon bucket of alfalfa tea. Just add water and let it brew without a lid for up to 10-12 days. I will use mine before day 8 because of our high temps.

Batch of alfalfa tea almost ready

I have been making a batch of alfalfa tea in a 5 gallon bucket for the garden. It has been about 5 days so far and it seems like it's just about ready to be used. I plan on using it as a foliar spray and then pour any left overs over the soil to drench the plants. I've read to let it brew for up to 12 days in the winter months. Since it's been in the 80's here recently,  plan to use it before day 8. I stir it at least once a day with a large stick to add oxygen. My method is to pack  as much alfalfainto a 5 gallong bucket as I can, then fill with water.

Alfalfa hay added to the top of our raised garden beds in Arizona

A few days back I added a top dressing of alfalfa hay to our raised garden beds here in Arizona. Since we are leaving our hot temps, sort of, the cool nights will be here soon and the alfalfa hay around the plants will act like a blanket of sorts for our plants. It also adds some nutrients to the soil as it breaks down as well as adding a cool look to the entire raised garden bed. I plan on covering these raised garden beds with frost cloth when the real winter weather gets here.

Here are a few photos:

 This our larger of the two raised garden beds. The large empty looking space closest to us has a lot of herbs, however, yesterday I added a lot of flowers in this area to help bring in the beneficial insects.

The dark brown color of the soil to the left of the raised bed is not run-off or run-under from the raised bed, however, it is from spraying the hose. When our rain barrels are set up I hope to eliminate using the hose from the house and use only stored rain water.

 This is our smaller of the two raised garden beds.

Another picture of our smaller raised garden bed and our wine barrel with some wild flowers and other great looking flowers.

Added alfalfa hay to the raised bed gardens

I added a couple inches of alfalfa hay to our raised garden beds yesterday. This should help with water savings as well as add some nutirents to the soil as it breaks down. I will add a few pictures in a day or two. The garden seems to be doing well. I did a foliar spray yesterday as well. I used the sameold mixture of liquid seaweed, fish emulsion and vinegar.

Also working on getting the rain gutters installed. Have not heard of any rain in the future, but I know as soon as I put it up we'll get some :) Until the next post!

Compost pile update for first part of August

The compost pile is growing bigger with each passing day. I can't belive how much we were throwing away before building our compost pile!

This picture shows the alfalfa hay we threw on the top. To date we have thrown in everything from newspapers, junk mail (not the shiny paper or envolopes), egg cartons, veggies, egg shells, grass, mesquite leaves...you name it and I bet I have some of it in my compost pile, lol.

We give the pile a good soak with the hose about 2-3 times a day now that it's been 105+ all the time. I turn the pile about once a week when I remember to, lol! It's so cool to see how everything is turning into a rich soil. The best part is that there is absolutley zero bad smell! This gardening thing is pretty great :)

- A side note on the alfalfa hay and straw; eventhough I had mentioned how horrible the alfalfa tea smell was, I must report the not long after I had poured someon my myers lemon did nearly 10 brand new flowers grew and opend up for the bee's!...coincidence? You deciede :) but I think I'll try it again, maybe lol.