Preparing Special Garden Bed for Tomato Plants

This year at the Ranch they have had some challenges growing a good tomato harvest. Chelo (the agroecological specialist) gave the tomatoes a special treatment to make sure they get a better harvest this time around.

We dug out the soil in the garden bed. There was barley left over from the Bokashi fertilizer we made earlier so we added it to the garden bed. Fermented barley grains that are soft and wet release nitrogen directly into the soil for plant roots to absorb. We also added rock powder, wood ashes, and lime which provide important minerals to the soil. We sifted the soil that we had initially dug out of the bed to ensure that the plants can easily grow and we added it on top. We also sifted the Bokashi fertilizer and added it as the top layer as well. We finally transplanted the tomato plants, pruned them, and then watered them with liquid fertilizer (biol). This was an extra special treatment to get the tomato harvest they have been needing!