For us that raise sheep, you know that when we shear, we are left with almost 20 percent waste. • And then you’re left with the thought-what to do with all this fiber that can’t be spun?! • Did you know you can put wool in your garden to provide your plants with big doses of nitrogen, phosphorus, keep pests away, lock in moisture, and fertilize your plants all at the same time?! • Plants need Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium to grow. But they need Nitrogen the most • And if you’re helping your garden to grow using compost, you might be getting 1-2% Nitrogen. If you’re using poultry manure fertilizer you might be getting 4.5% Nitrogen. “With sheep’s wool, you’re getting between 9.3% – 14% Nitrogen. • Wool can also be used as mulch! • And a central complaint when using straw mulch is that it breaks down too quickly, allowing for weeds to grow and leaving the soil exposed, while wool mulch traditionally lasts a minimum of two years and keeps weeds at bay! • Wool also helps with slug control, because slugs don’t like to crawl over the wool! • And therefore plants have been healthier due to the wool, and that’s what actually keeps the Aphids away… because healthier plants are less susceptible to disease or pests! • Wool can also hold between 20-30x its own weight in water, and then release it slowly, it’s allowing these plants to continuously have access to water, without overwatering them! So cool! • If you are looking for a more organic way to help your garden thrive, consider introducing wool. • Consider using wool in your garden to support sheep ranchers and maybe in the not-so-distant future people won’t be using the term ‘waste wool’ at all, perhaps we’ll just call it garden wool! • @vego_garden - - - - - #homestead #homesteader #smallfarm #homesteadersofinstagram #homesteading #garden #farm #gardenseason #gardening #sustainable #wool #vego #vegogarden