This was not what I meant by yellow squash.
So I called in for reinforcements, and The Wise One suggested testing the soil. Oh yeah, I thought, I bought one of those soil kits quite a while ago and it’s been sitting on my desk ever since.
The good news is my hand-me-down pressboard desk is not in need of additional Potash.
The bad news is my beds read DEPLEATED in the Nitrogen department.
{Kind of a big deal.}
So for about 5 minutes I felt sort of like I did when Bitty E wouldn’t nurse and the doctor checked “failure to thrive” right before he handed me the charge sheet to take up to the check-out counter.
***NOTE: if you are a doctor and reading this please consider the possibility that a five-day postpartum mother is likely going to view this behavior as POOR BEDSIDE MANNER mostly due to her HORMONAL FLUCTUATIONS and not because you said it with a mean face. But maybe that’s a charge sheet you yourself could hand deliver to the check-out receptionist. Just an idea.
Ahem.
This was my first official soil test, and I must say, Na Big. I will add this to the list of things I do regularly and probably watch in amazement as my garden output increases due to, you know, GIVING THE PLANTS WHAT THEY NEED.
{Previously I’ve been more of a haphazard “oh it’s almost spring, I think I’ll throw a little fertilizer on there” kind of girl.}
I used a soil test kit that I liked the reviews on, and it was very simple. The pH test could be done right away, and the soil for the NPK results only had to sit for a couple hours watered down before I could draw some of the water to check.
The results were very telling. More like tattle-telling.
But now everyone has been fertilized and we’ll see how they go.
