I'm going to be completely honest, before last year I could barely keep any plants alive in my garden. I would overwater or underwater or forget to fertilize, the list goes on and on. That's why wool pellets have been an absolute game changer for me in the garden. With the water holding capacity of the wool, they help regulate how much water the plant is getting and they keep your soil from drying out as quickly which is a life saver when those heat waves hit in the middle of summer. In addition to watering less frequently, I also don't have to worry about fertilizing my plants. The wool pellet's nutrient release curve is constant over the 6 months it takes them to biodegrade which means they are continuously releasing those vital nutrients to my plants. And the fact that wool pellets are made from 100% sheep wool helps support American sheep producers is the cherry on top! I feel safe knowing that wool pellets are a natural and renewable option to nourish my soil.
Now I'm not growing anything crazy nor do I have any really needy, heavy feeding plants. I like low maintenance veggies and flowers. I'm growing 3 varieties of peppers (banana peppers, sweet peppers, and hot peppers), cucumbers, basil, cabbage, summer squash, sunflowers, garden beans, marigolds, and nasturtium. I plan to sow some lettuce, spinach, radishes, and maybe if I'm ambitious some broccoli and cauliflower later this summer. Read our fall garden blog to learn what plants do best for a fall harvest.
Here's a picture of my garden when I started it on May 30:
I added 3 pounds of wool pellets to my 4' x 8' raised garden bed and mixed them into that top 3-inches of the soil. I watered and then planted my seeds and pepper starts. I direct sowed almost everything on May 30th, with the exception of those pepper plants. I also mulched a 6-inch radius of wool pellets around my peppers and later in the season I also mulched around my garden beans and squash plants with raw wool. I direct sowed some cucumber seeds in the middle of June, those were a last minute addition.
Now, here's a picture of my garden on July 24th:
It's crazy how much can change in almost 2 months. We are harvesting lots of banana peppers, hot peppers, summer squash, and garden beans too! Since I planted the cucumbers later, they are just starting to get little baby cucumbers, so they will probably blow up in the next week or so. I haven't fertilized anything since adding the wool pellets and I hand water my garden in the morning when the soil feels dry. We've had more rain than the past couple years, but we're still in a slight drought, so the wool pellets are pulling their weight. I've had some slight bug damage, most notably grasshoppers, but they have focused a lot on the cabbage, basil, and nasturtium. I keep those plants in as "trap crops" so the grasshoppers eat those instead of moving onto my more important plants.
If you want to fall back in love with gardening or simplify your gardening routine, wool pellets are for you! Get some at krpelletco.com and we'll ship them right to your door (USA only)! If you have any questions on how to use wool pellets, find some answers here or please don't hesitate to reach out!
Happy gardening!
Megan ❤