Thanks Rita. I'll spread some more then!

That's so interesting. Mushroom compost is fairly easy to find here at a garden center, but I have never seen alfalfa pellets around. I'm going to look into that as I recall hearing they are good greens to put in compost bins. We do have a Farm and Fleet that's a bit of a drive but not too far to go to every once in a while.

But, boy, would I love to get a truck full of mushroom compost for $60!!! Mushroom compost, chicken manure, or earthworm castings are my favorite fertilizers right now for amending new beds and adding with new plants. Fish and seaweed emulsion in a hose end sprayer are my favorite foliar fertilizers to get new plants established and for the veggie garden.

It seems like alfalfa pellets might work in a spreader for the lawn. Has anyone tried that? I've been dying to find a quick and easy way to spread compost on the lawn. Tossing it around with a shovel is just not quick or easy enough. Alfalfa pellets may be a good substitute if I can get it through a spreader.

I've always bought my alfalfa pellets at a feed store. Get the ones for horses. A 50 pound bag has usually been under or around $10. Not sure that it would work in a spreader or not, but it would be worth a try. Depends on how small the pellets are, I guess. Mine have always been a little too long for that. They would be easy enough to toss though.

Oh how I wish we could get the alfalfa pellets for around $10, it's around $19.50 for 50 lbs. I have checked around on prices and everyone is pretty much the same. 3 years ago I was paying $12.

If anyone could overdo alfalfa that would be me and I have not seen any problems with putting down lots and putting it down often.

Wow Michele, that is a lot for alfalfa pellets! They even sell them at Walmart here in the pet food section! I didn't check the price since I had already had two bags at home, but I'll look next time. Good to know that you probably can't overdo the alfalfa! I love that stuff!

Hockeyrabbit! I got my A/Pellets and meal from a feedstore close to Balmoral race track about twenty minutes away. Mushroom compost and Milorganite is available from Menards around here. The pellets take a while to break down in the soil from my experience. The meal works faster due to the fact that it is already ground up. I use them together along with some Milorganite and compost. I use to use the worm castings, but, Walmart doesn't carry it anymore around here. I guess I could order it thru the nursery after leaving a arm and a leg for a deposit. LOL! I top dress my favs in the spring and if there is more time available, this preferential treatment passes down to the Lesser Antilles. KLOL - K=keep. Like Rita, I give them another boost after the initial bloom cycle. This attention goes to the known rebloomers first and foremost. If you are doing this solo, this is no easy fete if you have a few hundred or more daylilies to work with. I can't even imagine the toll on those that have them in the thousands. I pack on the pine bark mulch ( the small stuff) to reduce watering frequency. I sometimes throw in other nutritional stuff, i.e. fish fertilizer etc.

Does the Alfalfa draw any unwelcome pest/critters to your gardens?

I have a cottontail bunny living in my garden, and it probably has babies. They do breed like rabbits! I put some alfalfa pellets around the daylilies last night, but also made a pile of them away from the plants, in case the bunny wants to eat them. I'm hoping that by having a pile closer to the berry bushes, where it usually hides, it will be discouraged from eating the daylilies. So far, it hasn't touched the daylilies, since it seems to prefer my tomatoes instead. I'll fix things better next year so that it can't get in there to begin with. In the meantime, I hope this plan works. I should probably put some other veggies out there, just in case it's picky. I want the tomatoes for me!

Oh oh. Natalie's feeding the rabbits.

Natalie is trying to distract the rabbits to keep them from eating my veggies! Not sure if it's working, but it's worth a try! On my way to the farmers market to pick up some carrots!

at Natalie!!

Okay....I thought bunnies might be attracted and we are loaded with bunnies this summer. Seems to have been a good year for them so I don't think I will do alfalfa then!!

So far, the bunnies haven't touched the alfalfa pellets, or my tomatoes again, so they (the tomatoes & bunnies) are safe for another day! I couldn't find carrots at the farmers market, and now I'm glad that I didn't get any. They must have found something else to eat, since I can't see anything chewed on in the garden.

I am headed to Menard's this evening, thanks for the info Mike (Menard's is more of an upper Midwest big box store like Lowes or Home Depot) I may come home with more than I planned to.

When I was looking for Alfalfa pellets, all I could find was cubed alfalfa - which eventually breaks down too. Funny, because I live in a rural area - but there are more dairy cattle around than horses (but there are still a lot of horses around)

This was a timely question Josh (by the way, welcome!) because with everything else going on at this time of year in my life, I need to remember to take a day and give my plants a boost before summer ends and winter begins.

Wait, what summer? I have only had my A/C on for a week or so in early July, I think it has been autumn here for about a month already. And I do love my Wisconsin falls..... ~Jan