Enter your e-mail here to subscribe to Pegplant’s Post, a free monthly newsletter about gardening in the Washington DC metropolitan area. Each issue lists 50 to 100 local gardening events, lectures, and workshops; recently published gardening books; and articles and tips specific to this immediate area. Each issue also features a giveaway and for the upcoming October 2019 issue we have collaborated with Wild Valley Farms to give away two 8 oz. bags of wool pellets. The wool pellets are compressed from all natural, 100% organic wool sheared from sheep at Wild Valley Farms in Salt Lake City, UT, and nearby ranchers. When the wool pellets are added to the soil, especially in containers and hanging baskets, the fibers naturally retain moisture and reduce the amount of time you have to water your containers. The expansion of wool pellets in the soil creates porosity, which aids in plant development. The wool also provides a natural source of nutrients: 9% nitrogen, 1% phosphorus, and 2% potassium. Only subscribers can enter the giveaway so sign up now for a chance to win two 8 oz. bags. Each is enough for 6 one-gallon pots or hanging baskets.
I met Albert Wilde, the owner, when I was in Salt Lake City a month ago. He explained that the idea came when his wife wanted to be able to spend less time watering her containers. As a sheep farmer, he looked around for what he could use on hand and added the waste wool (from shearing the sheep) to her containers’ soil. It worked but he began to notice that the plants actually grew better. He worked with local laboratories and discovered that the wool also delivers nutrients to the plants and increases porosity (like perlite). The plants can access the nutrients 30 days faster than other organic fertilizers. Wild Valley Farms also sells other products on their website, everything is made in the U.S.
