Make your own liquid fertilisers using manure, seaweed, compost or weeds
MANURE TEA - Chicken, horse, or sheep manure
Put a spade or two full of manure into the sack or pillow case and place it in a bucket with a lid
Cover with water and put the lid on the bucket
Let it sit for one to two weeks
When you're ready to use it, dilute the liquid in the bucket with water at ratio of 1 part liquid manure:16 parts water, or until it looks like weak black tea
Apply around the base of your plants
You can empty the manure-filled sack into your compost afterwards, or bury in the garden
SEAWEED TEA
Collect some seaweed (you won't need a large amount)
Rinse the seaweed well to remove excess salt, then place it in a bucket with a lid
Cover the seaweed with water and put the lid on the bucket
The seaweed needs to decompose so let it sit for about eight weeks in a dark place
Store away from buildings as it can get smelly
When ready dilute to a ratio of 1 part liquid seaweed to 2 parts water
Apply around the base of your plants
COMPOST TEA - Compost or worm castings
Put a shovel full of compost or worm castings into a bucket with a lid
Cover with water and stir the mixture
Put the lid on the bucket and let it sit for four days
When it is ready, strain through an old t-shirt and dilute 1 part compost to 10 parts water
Use immediately
WEED TEA
You can use all sorts of weeds from around your garden for this, especially those with tap roots, such as dock, comfrey, dandelions or wild fennel. The long tap roots mean the plant can absorb more nutrients, which are passed into the leaves. When these leaves are put in the weed tea, the nutrients will leach into the water, ready to be poured back into the garden.
Collect your weeds and put them in a bucket with a lid
Cover them with water then put the lid on the bucket
Let it sit for about two weeks
Dilute with water to a ratio of 1 part weed tea to 10 parts water
Apply around the base of your plants
Once the weeds have decomposed in the bucket, add them to your compost bin