Spring

Spring is here and it is time to spring into action to get your gardening caps on..... I'll start by describing what I am doing these days. Here in Ohio, April is a rainy month. So whenever I get a dry spell, I try to prepare the soil for planting flower beds and a vegetable patch. After over wintering, I clean up the dry stubs. I loosen the soil by adding dehydrated cow manure(bought in bags from local garden store. I assure you that it does not have any kind of manure smell)  and I mix some of my own compost into it. After turning over a few times, the soil is ready for planting..... But before any planting is done, I also mix some bone meal(procured from garden store). I prefer bone meal to be added in the fall time frame prior to the winter. That gives the bone meal enough time to amalgamate with the soil and release nutrients slowly..... NPK are the designations used for nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash. The first numerical number that you see on a fertilizer bag is 'N'. The second one is 'P' and the third one is 'K'....  Nitrogen is for vegetative(foliage) growth of the plant..... Phosphorus is for strong root development and induces more flowers/fruits. Bone meal has more phosphorus.... Potash is for general health of the plant.... For better flower/fruit production, try to select a fertilizer in which the first number does not exceed the second number. If the first number(N) is more than the second (P), the plant will have good vegetative growth but may not produce enough flowers/fruits.... Also pick a fertilizer that releases nutients slowly.... So keeping these simple things in mind, go for happy gardening.