THE CHEMICAL FREE PLANT FOOD YOU ALREADY HAVE IN YOUR KITCHEN
My goodness we’ve been so blessed with the beautiful weather during lockdown and one thing’s for sure, it’s definitely bought out my green fingers. I’m currently obsessed with my garden and have been throwing myself into making my outdoor sanctuary an extended room of my home. As you know, a huge part of what I do involves continually making efforts to be ever more sustainable within my life and in my home. Part of this effort within my garden has involved me diving into the world of attempting to grow my own fruit and vegetables, and whilst doing this, as well as nurturing and preening the rest of my garden, I’ve been reading up and researching various hints and tips and I’ve recently come across one idea that I wanted to share with you this month. It’s totally chemical free and chances are you probably have this tip in your kitchen already. Read on to find out more….. So, some, if not many, of you may know about this genius tip already, but when I read about it I was so excited as it’s so easy and simple. Let me tell you about banana skin fertiliser!!! Apparently, banana skins make one of the best fertilisers out there as they are so nutrient dense, with nutrients such as potassium and phosphorus that plants really crave and you can use them in a variety of ways to give your plants that chemical free fertiliser fix that they need! Especially as I’m now growing fruits and vegetables, the fact that this means I can feed my plants with something that doesn’t involve putting chemicals on them, and I’m also being totally sustainable, with zero waste, was really exciting! There seems to be quite a number of ways you can use this simple ingredient to nourish your garden but I’ll talk to you about the things that I have done. So the first thing that I have begun to do is soak my banana skins in a jar with water for a few days. It doesn’t look pretty, let me tell you it also doesn’t smell hugely pretty when you open the jar, but once the skins have been soaked, use the water to water your plants as normal, giving them a big nutrient boost from the peels. Banana skins soaking, ready to be fertiliser Following on from this, I’ve then been using the peels that were soaked, cutting them up and digging them into the ground. By cutting them up it begins the composting process, and you’ll be then adding more nutients still left in the skins to the ground. The spiritual part of me also likes the idea that we are giving back to the Earth after eating the bananas that the Earth has produced for us. (Sorry for anyone who doesn’t subscribe to my ‘woo woo’ trails of thought!) Recently I’ve bought quite a few new plants for my garden so I’ve been adding this peel into the ground before I plant my new plants! Handy added bonus!!! From what I read, if you plant the peels just below the soil when planting, they also help to deter aphids from attacking your plants. Apparently there is something in the peels that aphids hate, so they stay away!!! Another option that you can do is blend the peels instead of chopping them up, but I’m not sure if that’s slightly messier, and, from what I can tell there isn’t any benefit to this over just chopping them up. Of course, the other very easy thing you can do is to just throw your banana peels on to a compost heap if you have one and they’ll decompose over time turning into lovely rich compost. So there you have it. My new chemical free, zero waste plant fertiliser tip that’s got me all kinds of excited whilst I’m deep in my current gardening obsession! I love the fact that I don’t have to put chemicals on to my plants, particularly the ones that will hopefully start sprouting yummy fruit and veg soon, by using the skins, we are reducing our household waste further, technically it’s free because most of us often buy bananas to eat anyway, and finally, by using this method instead of buying shop bought plant fertiliser, means we are also cutting back on plastic waste as most of these items would usually come in plastic bottles. It’s just a massive win win for us, our plants and the environment!!! Please let me know if you have tried this before, or currently use it, and if you haven’t, and are going to try it yourself now, then please keep me posted on how it goes. Indulge me in my gardening love by sharing yours with me too! In the meantime, happy planting! Zara xxx
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