The best possible soil amendments for your soil are 'roots in the ground'. Keeping soil covered with living plants is soil's best medicine. Living plant roots break up hard compacted dirt and the photosynthesis by the living plants creates sugars that are transported into the soil to feed diverse soil life (e.g.,bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, arthropods, and earthworms). Plants also sequester carbon from the atmosphere and help reduce CO2 in the surrounding air. Plants are a critical feature of the carbon cycle on our planet. When plant roots and the microbes growing on them eventually die and decompose, the dead material builds up humus and improves the soil tilth.
We can assist with nature's attempt at soil building by incorporating organic matter and some additional nutrients. These supplements can help jump-start the process that just letting plants grow might take many more years to accomplish.
Here are some soil amendments that we use, and sell, at our farm:
OMRI-certified Organic Compost. We purchase some of this and resell it. It is produced in Gilroy and is fully tested to meet all standards of purity, maturity, C:N ratio, and particle size. The compost can be mixed into the top few inches of the dirt, or just spread over the soil surface. We sell this by the 5-gal bucket - $10.
Cloverfield Organic Soil Mix. We mix this up in our farm wheelbarrow. It contains OMRI-certified organic compost, partially-decomposed arborist wood chips, vermiculite, and our Magic Mix Fertilizer. This soil mix can be used for seed starting, as a potting soil, or a longer-lasting soil improver. We sell this by the 5-gal bucket - $20 and wheelbarrow-batch -$75.
Cloverfield Magic Mix Fertilizer. We mix this up at our farm for you. This is a slow-release supply of N-P-K, minerals, and growth promoters. Each batch weighs about 5 lbs and contains feather meal, kelp meal, crushed oyster shell, and alfalfa. One batch will fertilize a few fruit trees or 100 square feet of garden bed. Each batch is $18.
Arborist Wood Chips. We have a local arborist who produces an assortment of tree and brush trimmings from our farm and the neighborhoods surrounding our farm that have been chipped or shredded. All of the arborist wood chips are free of pesticide sprays. The chips are in various stages of freshness, with some being mostly decomposed or composted and others just recently dropped off. We sell the wood chips by the tall grocery bag - $2 or you can u-fill the back bed of your pickup truck for $20.
Kelp Meal. A great source of micro-nutrients from the sea (Fe, Cu, Zn, Mg, Mo, I). Also contains plant hormones that stimulate rooting and strong plant growth. We sell this by weight, 8 oz.-$6, 1 lb.-$10.
Please note that our prices listed here may change without notice. The prices given are current as of September, 2024.
Buckets of OMRI-Certified compost with wildflower seeds mixed into it for broadcasting:
Our compost/mulch piles in the middle of the farm vegetable garden:
Cloverfield Organic Farm is located at 501 La Paloma Rd., El Sobrante, CA 94803. Our regular open hours are Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in the afternoons. Alternate times to visit can be reserved ahead of time on our website: www.cloverfieldfarm.us
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