Nitrogen availability depends on soil temperature whihc governs the activity of the Soil Food Web, which is why most soil test labs no longer test for N. Most often when someone has a soil test done by a good soil tesing lab the recommendations come back to apply 2 pounds of Nitrogen per 1,000 square feet, which if you think about that is a pretty minimal amount. I have found the soil test kits sold from the garden centers to be very unreliable. In comparing two different manufacturers kits I got widely divergent results. If the water in your home was acidic enough to have any affect on your soil you would not be able to drink it. If you have finished compost available now spread it on your soil now and let the Soil Food Web slowly work it into the soil.

toxcrusadr-- the *path* is supposedly 8' wide, not the spreader. And the path does seem to be... I didn't stop to measure it though : ) If that sounds funny though, I wonder if that's why I ran out of fertilizer sooner than I expected to... I'm not sure I'm up to all that calculating-- can I assume though that the higher the number, the more grains it puts out at once? The people at the store (who seem very knowledgeable, I mean) said that I want one bag to cover a quarter acre. Which I think is about the amount of grass we have, maybe a bit more. We have a tiny bit over a half acre total but that of course includes the house/pool/driveway/pavers out back etc. Regardless, that bag lasted for a bout 1/3 of my grass. I went back for 2 more bags and changed the setting on the spreader-- think from 8 to 6 and got some more range out of it. Still had to open the third bag though. Sigh. Maybe I should look for a highly rated spreader and buy that. This one was borrowed from my brother-in-law and I think I have found it online and if I'm right about which it is (the Scotts classic drop spreader), I see that it gets bad reviews, lots of them. Same reasons. I'm learning a lot of lessons lately, the hard way... Isn't that supposed to be the best way though? Or something. Oh and just FYI, that's only one of several bare patches. And there are plenty of weeds, trust me. It's hard to tell from this one picture but they are everywhere, all kinds. Some areas have less but some areas are also straight weeds so it all balances out, ha.

Hmmmm...horse manure is horse manure :-) Even when properly composted itself, it is not exactly a balanced product but can be used as an ingredient in a composting operation that includes other ingredients. And it is not a good idea to use the uncomposted manure of virtually any ruminant on a garden that will be used to grow edible crops. Horses have rather incomplete digestive systems. They are essentially a feeding tube and what goes in comes out relatively undisturbed :-) Weed or grain seeds pass through undigested. They also do not metabolize all the nutrients well and repeated use of even composted horse manures can result in a build up of certain minerals (magnesium is the biggie) to toxic concentrations over time. They are often treated with dewormers and these too get passed through without full digestion. And since worms are good for the garden, adding worm killers in any form is a bit counterproductive. If you use horse manure, or any other ruminant manure for that matter, make sure it is hot composted before use (or at the very least, very well aged) to eliminate any pathogens and to reduce the likelihood of weeds being generated. And if given the choice, opt for cow manure first -- their more efficient digestive system will result in a better composting product.

Karin, what a good idea about the natural juice shop and coffee shop. Our educational garden is in it's infancy, and some of our satelite programs are, too, like our compost bins, our worm bins, our soil health, our insectary, etc. I asked our local salad shop if I could have their vegetable waste for our worms, which is working out well. I pick up vegetable matter outside their back door at least once a week. (I hope they don't get sick of the same thing day after day!!) Our office staff, teachers and preschool age students also help by composting their appropriate materials. I know where a juice bar neighbors a coffee shop, so it WOULD be a good resource: fast and efficient. Thanks for the tip!!