Why Fertilize for Health?
When spring approaches we need to think about how healthy our paddocks and fields are for the coming year.
Unfortunately most of our pastures, fields and gardens are severely depleted nutritionally, and we need to fertilize for our health. Over-grazed, trodden down and very rarely properly taken care of fields need our help if we want healthy animals.
Constant cutting for bails will deplete the nutritional value of the grass hay, if we do not replenish those nutrients regularly.
We put our horses on grass every spring and when it comes up green, think very little of it assuming that its good. This is a mistake and is costing our horses their health!
As the main food our horses eat being either grass or hay, they both need to be fertilized correctly to maintain proper nutrients. Properly fertilizing for optimal health of our horses isn’t as easy as you may hope.
Fertilizing with chemical additives such as the very common NKP (Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphorus) can and does cause soil imbalances and ultimately nutritional imbalances in your horse.So how can we replenish our fields without using chemical fertilizers?
The simplest way is to use what your horse already makes plenty of! Composted manure, added with Sea Kelp meal is the ideal recipe. The combination of both does a good job at putting some critical minerals back into the soil and makes for healthier pastures, unless the fields have been stripped entirely, then more drastic measures must be taken.
For a majority of cases, if you have 1-2 year old organic compost, (meaning horses were not de-wormed/medicated) then adding that to your fields along with the kelp makes for a very good complete organic fertilizer.
How to Fertilize for Health
In my research I have found that the best way to do it is to spread 30 kg of dried sea Kelp for every one acre. You want to make sure the sea kelp you get from your store has had the salt cleared out, so not just any Sea Kelp will be ideal, although most will help.
Spreading the dry Sea Kelp just before it rains is the best possible time. Ideally, prepare the kelp by soaking in water. Add approximately 1/4 lb of kelp for every gallon of water and allowing it to soak for 1-3 days (some people soak it for a few months to get even more potency). Leave the mix open when soaking for air circulation, strain and apply to your paddock.
By spreading the liquid directly onto grass leaves provides for better absorption in less time. This may not be the easiest way to spread the liquid onto large plots of land. So, I normally spread the kelp evenly over the soil in its dry form.
The best time to fertilize is in the fall so it has a number of weeks to breakdown, however spring is fine too. Depending on how stripped your land is, it may take up to 2 years to make your paddocks healthy again. Adding nutrition back into your fields does take time, however it will start making a difference right away to the health and well being of your horses.
You can purchase the bags of Kelp through us at the Homeopathy & Health Clinic as we buy in bulk, or I can give you other sources of where to purchase them, just contact us here. Also, should you not have compost suitable to add because your horses have been de-wormed or medicated, we can put together a mixture with our Sea Kelp for you. Again, please contact us for more information.
Fertilize for your Health Naturally and you will help grow healthy grass, keep weeds down, raise the missing nutrients for the grass, and make those nutrients available for the horses the best way possible, thus increasing their health.
If you are really interested in understanding more about what your soil can tell you about the health of your grass and animals, I have a seminar specifically targeting soil nutrition.
Did you know that every weed on our field provides the missing nutrition our soil needs to be healthy? For instance do you have many daisies in your fields? Did you know that daisies add much needed calcium back into the soil? You can find out more about the health of your paddocks just by what grows in them.
Some may ask why go through this trouble when the horses are fertilizing while on pasture? The answer is simple! If you want healthy animals, picking up the manure regularly is NECESSARY, and I will cover why this is so important in my next article!
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