Minerals, Minerals, and More Minerals!!

Yesterday - Monday, Deanna and I spread 1750 lbs of minerals on this seasons field, by hand!!
We used a combination of a Scott's push spreader and carried buckets and broadcast the minerals by flailing about in a controlled fit, hoping to spread the pellets in a uniform manner. In the end, we ended up spending about 4 hours toiling in the field. When we were finished, our bodies began to tell us we should probably do this with some type of mechanical spreader next time... Who knew? The purpose of adding minerals to the soil is to try and bring the acidity, or pH level, to a neutral balance. Our soil is more towards the acidic side of things, so we used recommendations from Kinsey Agricultural Services to try and bring our pH level closer to neutral. The minerals included calcium, magnesium, phosphate, sulfur and potassium. In the future, we hope to alleviate the need for mineralization by using our cover-crops and field rotations as a good way to build soil fertility. The bottom line, however, is that we do need to replace some of the nutrients we are removing through the growth of our vegetables and herbs. We are now awaiting the delivery of two 24' x 60' greenhouses - which we hope to make mobile, more to come on that - and our BCS walk behind tractor. It's almost time to break ground!