Best Methods for improving your soil
Fall and winter are an ideal time to shift our focus to improving the soil for next year's garden. You want to improve soil texture, friability, water retention, beneficial bacteria/insects and fertility. Here are some possibilities - Plant alfalfa seed now and dig in the plants early next spring. Or, purchase bales of alfalfa hay and mulch the garden 3-inches thick. Alfalfa meal and pellets are available from feed stores, too. For use in a non-manure farm setting - https://www.mda.state.mn.us/en/protecting/sustainable/greenbook/~/media/Files/protecting/sustainable/greenbook2012/cropfernholtz.ashx Blood meal from the slaughterhouse provides nitrogen. Alternatives for the squeamish include cottonseed meal and soybean meal from the feed stores. Bone meal is an old-fashioned slaughterhouse product that gets mixed reviews these days. Bone meal and blood meal are usually combined and added 2 pounds per 100 square feet of garden. See http://www.extension.umn.edu/distr...