So, you’re looking out the window, snow on the ground– a little stir-crazy–waiting to start your spring projects out in the garden. After you have spent as much time dreaming and planning and going through seed catalogs as you can bear, you just want to DO something. I understand.
So, here is a project that you can do long before your soil is ready for planting and it will save you hours of weed-work later this season. As an additional benefit, it will control weeds and serve as a fertilizer while maintaining a natural approach to gardening.
Corn Gluten Meal makes an excellent organic or all-natural weed and feed fertilizer but the trick is to get it
Corn Gluten Meal is an effective all-natural pre-emergent herbicide and fertilizer. It is available in bulk (shown) and in bags or cannisters
out before the weed seeds begin to germinate. Corn Gluten Meal is a by-product of the wet-milling process of corn. Ethanol plants make it, liquor distillers make it and for years it has been used as a high quality feed for cattle, especially dairy cattle. In the 1990’s those some enterprising students from Iowa State University discovered its benefits as a pre-emergent herbicide.
You will want to apply approximately 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet between Feb 15th and March 15th, depending on your climate. A second application can be made around June 1st for late flush weed crops, and again post-harvest for any winter weeds that may appear in your garden. If you are using ‘green manure’ cover crops, wait until after these plants have germinated and started growing before applying Corn Gluten Meal. The key is to get the product down before the seeds germinate.
Additionally, at 10 percent N content, Corn Gluten Meal also makes a good supplemental source of nitrogen and a nice organic fertilizer
Various sized packages of Corn Gluten Mealcan be purchased at your local independent garden retailer in either a natural powder form or, combined with binders, in a pelletized form. the powder form is farm more effective and cheaper, but they will be very dusty and messy and a bit harder to work with in most situations.
As many of you know, there is money to be made catering to the zealous nature of many green gardeners and enterprising business owners have capitalized on this by elevating costs of these products compared to their synthetic counterparts. So, you can purchase the commercially available forms of Corn Gluten Meal, however, if you are willing to put in the back work and do the research, many of you can find it far cheaper in bulk. Look for a feed store or feed mill in your county or an adjacent county, this is the place where local farmers will go to purchase raw feed-stuffs for their livestock. Around Monty’s home office Burkmann Mills is a good source of Corn Gluten Meal. In your area, just look for a location that will either custom-mix rations or ask a local farm store if they sell it. Once you find your source they will either sell it in super-sized bags or may even be able to fill up your pick-up bed with lose bulk meal. Also, if you live near a distillery or an ethanol plant, give them a call and ask if they sell the meal direct to the public. Most do, but be warned, this is a great cattle feed and many of these locations have a waiting list for everything they spin-off from their distillers. Finally, if you have a dairy farm in your area and you do not need much, you might talk to the farmer. He may be willing to sell you what you need, and while you’re at it, you can ask him about picking up some free manure (trust me they have more then they know what to do with!)
That’s really all there is to it. Just a few notes on using and storing it.
- Make sure you lightly incorporate it into the soil as it will attract animals if it is just left on the surface
- Do not let it get wet, and make sure you clean your wheelbarrow, spreader, (and back of your pick-up if buying in bulk) well. If not, when Corn Gluten Meal gets wet the resultant fermentation leaves an odor reminiscent of REALLY strong stale beer. It is more than a bit overwhelming.
- Do NOT apply within 2 weeks of planting from seed. This stuff does not know a weed-seed from a beneficial and it will damage your vegetable/flower seeds. This is a non-selective herbicide.
- Do NOT use this in conjunction or simultaneously with traditional herbicides, the synthetic herbicides will cancel out the benefits of the Corn Gluten Meal.
- Soil sample until you reach a comfort level with using this product but this should take care of most of your Nitrogen needs for the period in which application is made.
Now that you know what to do, how to do it, and where to get it. You have an activity that can get you outside and get you started on your garden. Just follow these simple guidelines and precautions and you will be one step closer to the all-natural, weed-free garden you always wanted.
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