"organic" fertilizer question... lacking compost...

[wild_reilly]

I'm looking for some advice on fertilizer. We have a pretty big garden (well, big for me! 400-500 square feet) and a big yard. We moved in 1.5 years ago and started a garden . Our backyard is practically a pond when it rains, so we built raised beds and had to buy topsoil for the beds.

There was a big compost here already, which was great. Because of the topsoil we got, the soil is pretty lacking in nutrients... Over the last year and a half we have used up all the compost that was here and our own compost that we have created is (1) a very small amount and (2) not ready to go yet... so we need to do some work in bulking up our compost...

In the meantime, I think I am going to have to add some nutrients to the garden by way of fertilizer. I asked my DH to pick up some fertilizer at the garden store on his way home. Last year we were using Gaia Green and he said to me - why do we have to use organic? is it really any different? it is WAY more expensive than the other stuff...

I didn't have an answer for him and a quick search online didn't really yield me useful results...

So any suggestions on how to bulk up our compost? I should just start asking our friends to bring their veggie/fruit scraps over when they come (if they don't compost)!

And any good references for info on fertilizing? Or info you can share on the differences between organic and not/different types of fertilizer?

[choosewisdom]

Having very similar issues... Can't wait to see the answers.

[Autumn Mama]

Here is an article from mother Earth News written by organic gardener, Steve Soloman. We use his home-made organic fertilzer mix from his recipe in one of his books (and the recipe is in the article) and we love it! We are on a certified organic farm and while we do make/use compost and composted manures, we simply aren't making enough for the extensive gardens we have put in. The article goes into the negative aspects of regular chemical fertilizer too, and why organic is better. It is waaaayy cheaper to make your own, and you'll have it for a few years (or to share/barter/sell the extra) and your food crops (and everything else!) will really grow well. HTH!!!

[mindymom]

I think for most city dwellers it would be very difficult to produce enough compost on their own for a garden that big. If your garden is 480 square feet and you want to add 2" of compost per year you need 80 cubic feet, or just under 3 cubic yards of finished compost per year. I'm not sure how much your compost shrinks - I think it depends on the coniditions - but mine shrinks by at least a factor of three, so I would need to start with 9 cubic yards of material, about two dump truck loads. Maybe you think that's worth it, maybe you don't. I make what I can with what I have - and I do have friends who bring over their kitchen scraps - and I buy the rest.

At any rate, it's a good idea to both fertilize and add compost every year, which it sounds like you did last year. Compost improves your soil's structure and water retention, but it does not necessarily contain all the nutrients that your plants need.

As for organic vs chemical, it sounds like you might be interested in this book. (I have to confess I didn't finish it, but I will someday!) I would also recommend the article recommended by the PP or most anything else written by Steve Solomon. I think his short answer to your question would be "organic fertilizer makes more nutritious food".

Whew! Sorry for such a long response.

[JamieCatheryn]

I think the main difference in organic fertilizer, like from fish and blood and bone and ash all those cool nasty sources, is the micronutrients. The conventional stuff is all about the big NPK stuff and the big obvious effects. Natural stuff has the subtle other stuff that supports a healthy garden and great produce. Also the conventional stuff somehow kills off or unbalances the microbes in the soil and growing that way depletes the soil long term.

[WeasleyMum]

Depending how rural/urban you are, I think your best bet would be to try to find organic material by the truckload. Where I'm located there are a lot of farms nearby offering horse manure-- if you bring a truck, they'll fill the back for usually $20.00 . Other than that-- does your city have a compost system? Instead of collecting kitchen scraps from friends, can you get grass clippings in summer and bags of leaves in the fall? Here, our city collects bagged leaves. I wait until my neighbors start piling their leaf-bags on the curb, then go around stealing them.

[Chicky2]

I was going to suggest finding a farm, too. I have friend putting in her first garden this year and she was asking for rabbit poop. I told her that general rule of thumb around here is that if someone wants manure, they need to come prepared to rake it themselves and they can have it for free. Ask around! LOTS of people on family farms especially would welcome someone coming out to scoop poo! My friend got 8 contractor bags of rabbit gold (cold manure!) for free and it helped us out a ton!