Except the sleep part never happened… because I found this video: DIY seed starting soil mix (peat free, suitable for soil blocking or trays) by Blossom and Branch Farm.
I never went back to sleep that night because I was in awe of one ingredient in her soil mix — wool pellets! Wool pellets are compressed bits of 100% raw wool that would normally go to waste from the sheep shearing process. Little highly nutritious bits for your plants and soil.
If you have ever been to the San Juan Islands, you’ll recognize we are fibre rich. Island farmers love sheep and for good reason! Sheep are a great multipurpose animal to have on your farm and homestead (fibre, meat, milk, fertilization and land management to name a few).
My late-night finding became an all-out obsession and search for wool pellets to use in our January seed starting. Eventually I did find some that winter, but my findings piqued the interest of my equipment-obsessed husband, who then went on his own deep dive into the world of pelletizing.
Between that time and the time I’m writing this blog post (about 18 months later), we now are the proud owners of 8 sheep, a regenerative u-pick blueberry and flower farm, and a wool pelletizer on Orcas Island.
Life comes at you fast!
While not everyone will be as crazed as I am about soil building and regenerative gardening and farming, wool pellets absolutely should hit the mainstream, and here’s why.
Wool pellet benefits
- 100% biodegradable in 6–12 months
- Peat replacement — no negative environmental impact, unlike peat farming
- Helps retain soil moisture and reduce watering needs
- Aerates compacted soils for root growth
- Provides slow-release nitrogen (avg. NPK 9-0-2)
- Allows sheep farmers and ranchers to utilize the entire fleece
- Slug prevention
Imagine all of these benefits in one product, and environmentally friendly in every way.
You also don’t need much! Instead of buying bags and bottles of fertilizer, you can amend your soil one time in the growing season with wool pellets. This increases the microbial life in your soil and allows the living organisms in your soil to not depend on synthetic nitrogen amendments throughout the season. Plus, wool pellets will not burn your plants.
Soil amending is a constant work in progress, so we always recommend getting a soil test to see what your soil needs.
So how do you actually use wool pellets?
- Amending beds: 1 lb of wool pellets amends about 10 gallons of soil, or 30 sq ft. Our flower beds are 4 ft by 8 ft (32 sq ft); we use 4 lbs per bed once per season.
- Planting: sprinkle a few pellets into each planting hole and around your plants for slug prevention.
- Seed starting: 1 part wool pellets (soaked in hot water) to 4 parts soil mix.
Have questions on how to implement wool pellets into your soil amending? Send us a note.
We are just gearing up to do another production run on our new pelletizer. If you’d like to hear when more Tekla Farm Wool Pellets will be available, join our email list and follow our wool journey on Instagram or Facebook.