Making sure that the plants in your garden are getting enough food is probably the most important thing to do, aside from watering, when you are growing your own fruits and veggies. Just as important is the type of fertilizer you plan on using; whether it be organic or synthetic. To get a better understanding on the different types of organic fertilizers out there we spoke with Andrew Samples who is the regional sales rep for Nature Safe.

Nature Safe is one of the largest organic fertilizer manufacturers out there as well as the largest recycling companies. Andrew explains that the company takes various inedible animal materials from the harvesting process of those animals and recycles that material into organic fertilizers for farmers and gardeners. This is a way to help ensure there is no waste so that all of an animal will be used.

Organics

Organics is a topic that many people are passionate about. Sometimes the passion can overshadow the facts causing confusion and leading to misinformation. One of the first things to come to mind when organics is mentioned is cost. When you are shopping in the grocery store you will notice that items labeled as ‘organic’ tend to be more expensive. Even though these items are at a higher price, we feel better about buying them because we feel as though we are doing the right thing for ourselves and how the item was produced.

As per the USDA website, “Produce can be called organic if it’s certified to have grown on soil that had no prohibited substances applied for three years prior to harvest. Prohibited substances include most synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. In instances when a grower has to use a synthetic substance to achieve a specific purpose, the substance must first be approved according to criteria that examine its effects on human health and the environment”. Organic gardening is the way most people want to grow their own food.

Ground Fertility

There are some differences, some similarities too, between growing your food organically or using conventional methods. You will find there are tradeoffs between the two as well.

When growing organically you need to think ahead and plan for the time it takes for the fertilizers to break down and become available to your plants. There are several types of fertilizers and each can take a different amount of time to break down.

Manures

Chicken manure, the “original fertilizer”, has been used for hundreds of years to feed crops the nutrients that they need. Our 5-4-3 Organic Fertilizer is a pelletized chicken manure that should be incorporated into the soil a few weeks before you plant your crops. This will allow the nutrients in the fertilizer to break down and become incorporated into the soil for your plants to use.

One of the highest nitrogen-containing manures is bat guano. We carry a 5-6-2 Fish and Guano liquid fertilizer that is rich in nitrogen but breaks down slowly, also giving you time to prepare your plots for planting.

Other common manure fertilizers are those from horses, cows, and pigs. These, however, have a lower nitrogen quantity than the chicken, fish, and bat varieties.

As mentioned above there are some misconceptions about the term ‘organic’ and that applies to manures. One organic manure you never want to use in your vegetable garden is Milorganite. This fertilizer is made from processing sewer sludge to extract nitrogen and phosphorus. While it is wonderful for landscaping and lawns, the metals and other contaminants it can contain can be absorbed by the plants in your garden.

Mined Minerals

Andrew also has experience with Chilean nitrate.