Just before the recent cinder-block ice storm set in, I spread a bag of Bio-Tone Starter Plus on my little vegetable garden and now it sits under a blanket of snow, gradually leaking its blend of natural and organic ingredients into the ground. I had one of the best gardens of my career in agriculture last year, primarily because of a favorable amount of rainfall, but also due to the Bio-Tone Starter Plus. This stuff introduces microbes into the soil which help transform nutrients into forms that plants can easily absorb. If a plant can’t absorb nitrogen, it will languish. Microbes also help plants establish stronger root systems from the get-go. Stronger and deeper roots help weather periods of heat and drought.
But the blanket of snow itself is contributing greatly to soil fertility. The snow traps dissolved organic nitrogen, nitrate, and ammonium in the atmosphere, and delivers it free-of-charge to cold and quiet fields. In fact, rain and snow together annually provide between 2 and 20 pounds of nitrogen per acre. Protecting form dry, bitter cold air and adding deep penetrating moisture is another benefit of the snowy blanket.
While blotches of grass are appearing in my yard as the ice melts, my garden rests in white solitude, and for its sake, I hope the blanket of snow lingers there as long as possible.
