James Purser [INSERT WITTY CATCHPHRASE HERE]

As I continue on this gardening kick I've been looking at exploring the whole fertiliser concept. While I think I've got the compost concept down I haven't turned my hand to creating organic fertilisers yet.

So the other day I decided to try and make some liquid green manure. For those of you who don't know what a green manure is, essentially it's a plant that you either grow or harvest purely for the purpose of composting. It can be anything from a bed of comfrey (which I'm told makes an excellent green manure) or any non seeding weeds you find.

The idea behind the liquid green manure fertiliser is to in essence speed up the process of breaking down the green manure and getting at the nutrients contained within. The process is pretty simple. Take a bucket, fill it most of the way up with green manure and then fill it the rest of the way with water. Place a lid over the bucket and then leave it. Stir every couple of days over the next few weeks.

By the end of the process you should have a mass of vegetable matter at the bottom of the bucket and a green liquid that smells something chronic. You can then take that liquid, water it down (a ratio of 1:3 is recommended according to what I've read) and apply it to the stems and roots of your plants. Don't water it directly onto plants with edible leaves, just around the base should do just as well.