There is more information out there than you can shake a stick at about what to feed your plants. The direction I go is organic because it's good for the soil (chemical fertilizers will eventually kill the soil), and the way I make it is cost free..
Lets explore some of those methods in detail. Method number one involves what we always ate on Fridays attending public school-fish. Pretty much everywhere that garden supplies are sold, you will find fish emulsion fertilizer. This stinky stuff is made from fish guts and trash fish that would ordinarily be thrown out, but is processed to create a fertilizer that plants love to gobble down. The way fish emulsion fertilizer is made would be an excellent program candidate for the Discovery Channel show "Dirty Jobs". Why? Because fish emulsion fertilizer stinks to high heavens. I can't imagine what a nightmare working in one of those plants would be. But I'm glad somebody does, because that nasty brown slime works really well. You can do a search on the internet to find companies that make this stuff if you're interested in the process. If you decide to go the fishy route to fertilizing remember this; if you use it, don't get any on your hands. It does not like to be washed off.
The next method of fertilizing I recommend is something called greensand. Greensand comes from sediments or sandy rock that contains a high amount of a mineral called glauconite. It's called greensand because, well, because it looks like green sand. It's been used for over a hundred years as an organic fertilizer, and is really good for the soil. It has a slow release rate so your tender veggie or fruit plants won't get burned plus has the added bonus of retaining moisture-always a good thing. And there's trace minerals to boot.
A radical type of fertilizer that is used by organic gardeners (but not me, as of yet) is something that is available every day and free for the taking. If fact, most folks just throw this stuff out. But, it does take a certain mind-shift to consider using it. What is it? "Urine" for a shock (sorry for the bad pun; sometimes I can't help myself). Yes, I'm talking about wee-wee, tinkle, pee, number 1 or any of the other fun and cute names we use for when we take a leak. Some organic gardeners use their own and, for all I know, friends and family's urine as fertilizer. In fact, this is actually pretty common out there in the world and is more acceptable that it is here in the good old US of A. Think China. There is a lack of hygiene fastidiousness involved with using urine as a fertilizer that turns most Americans off. If I were to use urine as fertilizer, I don't know if I would even tell people about it. Who wants to eat something that someone else has peed on. But the fact is, urine, for the most part, is completely sterile and safe to use. Just kind of gross. And it's full of those things that plants just love, love, love to eat. A few rules are in order if you want to start using your urine as a fertilizer. Number 1: keep it fresh. The longer it sits, the less nutritional for the plants it is. And it also stinks more. Number 2 (not to actually be confused with "number 2", if you know what I mean): Always dilute 5 to 1 with water. If you're using it on tender vegetation or seedlings, dilute it 10 to 1. Number 3: don't mix it up with the other bodily waste (back to that "number 2 thing". I'm starting to feel like I'm in the third grade now). Using excrement is a big time no no. Sure, it's used in other countries routinely (again, think China), but you're asking for real trouble with diseases being introduced into the food chain. Think e-coli on the spinach, if you know what I mean. 'Nuff said. And don't ever put dog or cat's waste in the garden for the same reason. Which leads me to another type of fertilizer.
Manure. Farmyard critters like chickens, cows, goats, sheep and horses produce manure at an alarming, prodigious rate. Which is good for your garden. But first it must be properly composted. Which means never put fresh manure in the veggie beds. Once again, e-coli. If it just fell out the backdoor, leave it alone. But if it's been left outside and dried out and has broken down to a nice composty-like texture, it's great. If you decide you're going to raid Farmer Bob's cow pasture for manure, just harvest the completely dried patties. Never the fresh. Break it up and work into the soil-presto!-happy, healthy plants. Then go wash your hands. Throughly.
Another source of fertilizer also comes from the sea. It's kelp. Kelp is a brown seaweed that is harvested along coastlines around the world. One of the benefits of using kelp meal or emulsions for fertilizer is that it adds trace minerals back into the soil. The soil that is used in the big agri-corps' mega-farms is, for the most part, depleted in minerals. Why? Chemical fertilizers leach them out of the soil, and those corporate farmers don't bother replacing the minerals. They don't need no stinking minerals! That actually costs money and cuts into shareholder dividends which is what it's really about for them. They just throw more fertilizer at the problem and call it a day. It's important to have trace minerals in the soil, because we need them in order to stay healthy ourselves. Things like copper, boron, manganese, iron, etc. are essential to your health. People used to get those from the foods they eat which were grown organically before modern commercial farming practices became the norm.
These are just a few of the many, many choices you can make for providing the nutrients your veggie and fruit plants need to thrive and provide you with organic food. Growing organically is really no more difficult that standard farming with chemicals, except they are safer for everything up and down the food chain. You just need a little more forethought and research on what to use instead of those chemicals.
Now get out there and plant your future.
I refer to myself as a microfarmer for one simple reason-I grow a significant amount of food every year on a very small plot of land. I call it my micro farm. My family and I live on what was euphemistically at the time called a "cottage lot" when we bought our home. In reality, the lot is a postage stamp. But, by using intensive techniques, I'm able to grow a great deal of the fresh fruits and vegetables we eat every day. If you want to know how I set up my micro farm, you can go to my website- [http://www.themicrofarmer.com] and download my free e-book "Step By Step Guide To MicroFarming" to begin your journey of "Planting Your Future".
