Getting Spring Vegetable Beds Ready: Fertility That Respects Your Soil (and Your Budget)

Spring vegetables ask a lot from a field or garden bed in a short amount of time. Whether you grow acres of fresh market produce or a few family beds, early crops like lettuce, spinach, peas, brassicas, onions, carrots, and potatoes all want: If you come out of winter and immediately throw “a little of […]
Spring Topdress For Winter Wheat And Small Grains: Getting Nitrogen, Sulfur, And Potassium Right

By late winter, winter wheat and other fall seeded small grains look like they are just sitting there. The leaves may be a little tired and pale from cold weather. Fields can look patchy, especially where water stood or snow melted unevenly. It is tempting to think, “Nothing is happening yet, I have time.” In […]
From Dormant Buds to First Bloom: Spring Fertility for Orchards and Berry Fields

Orchards and berry fields look quiet in winter, but they are anything but “off.” Roots are alive. Buds are formed. Reserves are being protected or depleted. By the time you see the first white or pink blossoms and cane growth, the season’s foundation has already been poured underground. That is why the transition from winter […]
Heavy Winter Cover, Hungry Spring Crop: Fertility Planning After a Strong Cover Crop

A thick, healthy winter cover crop is one of the best things you can do for your soil. It protects from erosion, scavenges leftover nutrients, feeds microbes, and improves structure. But once you terminate that cover, you have a new challenge: How do you feed the spring crop on top of what the cover is […]
Waking Up Hay and Pasture Stands: Spring Potassium, Sulfur, and Soil Health

When pastures and hayfields first start to green up, it is easy to focus just on the color. You look across a field and ask: Those are important questions, but they all hinge on something you cannot see from the gate: what is happening in the root zone. By late winter and early spring, perennial […]
Cool Soils, Early Planters: Smarter Spring Starters For Row Crops

The urge to start planting as soon as the soil will carry a tractor is very real. You know the risks: At the same time, you also know that a well placed starter fertilizer in early spring can: The challenge is to give crops the right nutrients, in the right form, without overdoing salt load […]
From Winter Rest to Spring Growth: How to Wake Up Lawns and Gardens Without Wasting Fertilizer

The first real hint of spring is often not a date on the calendar.It is that moment when you walk across the yard and notice: This is also the moment when a lot of fertilizer gets applied in a hurry. Some lawns are overfed with quick nitrogen that burns or surges, only to crash later. […]
Early Spring Nitrogen and Sulfur: How to Wake Fields Up Without Wasting Fertilizer

The first warm spell of late winter or early spring can make every farmer itch to start the first nitrogen pass. You walk the fields. You see a hint of green in winter wheat or grass hay. Maybe the alfalfa crowns are just starting to swell. At the same time, you know: Early spring is […]
Protecting Perennial Roots Before Spring: How Gypsum, Potash, and Humic Acids Work Together

Perennial crops do not get a reset button every year. Orchards, vineyards, berries, alfalfa, pastures, landscape trees, and even long lived shrubs all share the same reality: the roots they push into the soil this year are largely the roots that have to live there next year too. By late winter, those roots may be […]
Feeding Winter Greenhouse Greens Without Overdoing Nitrogen

Winter greens in a greenhouse or high tunnel can be both a joy and a challenge. On the one hand, cool temperatures and protected environments are perfect for: On the other hand, low light, short days, and cool soils mean these crops are more sensitive to overfeeding, especially with nitrogen. Push too hard, and you […]