Secret Sauce

Abraham Darby

When I was putting in my first serious garden I used to spend a lot of time on the Garden Web Forums. That was where I got all my questions answered and I learned about organic gardening. There are eleven individual forums on roses alone! It is also where I learned about alfalfa tea. It is an amazing brew that makes plants grow like crazy into big, beautiful specimens that rival anything grown on synthetics. I had forgotten about this secret ingredient when I was putting in my gardens in SJC. One day I was brooding about how lousy my new rose bushes looked and wondering why my roses in the Laguna garden were so robust and beautiful when it dawned on me that I had never brewed alfalfa tea for my new garden. That was it! I have been brewing up the nasty concoction for the past few weeks and applying it to everything that grows. Now just to stand back and watch the magic happen! Alfalfa has a natural growth compound called triacontanol that benefits from the fermentation process. Alfalfa will work when just applied directly to the soil, but is enhanced when fermented for a week. It is not very pleasant to smell or look at, but I read that adding molasses helps negate the odor and it has always worked for me. So here it is:

12 cups alfalfa meal (get it at a feed store)
6 cups Epsom salts
1 bottle molasses
6 oz Superthrive (optional)

Mix in a 55 gallon trash barrel filled with water and let sit for a week, stirring daily. It will form a nasty green foam on top. This is good. Feed about a half a bucket to a rose bush or anything else that you want to grow and prosper.

Good luck!