Hi JavaMom,
I've never heard of using alfalfa pellets or the Milorganite before, therefore I'm at a loss to comment on either. Typically I only amend my soil organically with manure that is at least one year old, so it isn't too 'hot', and/or sand, bone meal, blood meal, finally adding plenty of earth worms for aeration of the soil and that's about it. Once everything is planted I'll mulch the soil well to keep the weeds down, this of course also helps the soil retain the water and stay cool on those hot summer days. Hope that helps. I live and garden in Southern Oregon near Crater Lake National Park. My area is classified as a zone 6 but as I type away it is 28 degrees outside and it's April 25 12:42. AM
Sif
PS. There is a fabulous product known as SuperThrive that I swear by. It is a hormone supplement liquid that is added to water when transplanting, normal watering, etc. if you can't find it at your local garden center, you can order it from Amazon. A little goes a long way and there will be NO transplant shock when it's used properly!
