Introduction to Organic Garden Fertilizers

In traditional non-organic gardens, it is a popular method to fertilize your crops because the soil may not be as healthy as it could be. With organic gardens, the main focus is making sure that you have a healthy soil in place which your plants will thrive in. Most weeds prefer soil that isn't perfect, so having great soil helps with meed management and acts as a fertilizer in and of itself because all of the nutrients are already there for your crops. The problem with fertilizers is they are a one-shot deal, they supply your plants with the nutrients they need, but they don't stick around, so your next crop you'll have to fertilize again. First and foremost, you have to confirm you keep good care of your organic garden soil, and you will have healthy crops. Sometimes though, adding a bit of fertilizer to your crops can make a difference, so we'll discuss a couple of organic fertilizers that you can use to boost some yields. The most effective organic fertilizer is putting some organic matter on top of or into the soil around your plants. This method takes a little longer to get into the roots since the natural matte has to break down, but this is will add a lot of nutrients that will stick around a lot longer than the other methods. Organic matter can be compost or alfalfa meal, or any other organic matter that you have chopped up as small as possible. The best way for this is to place all around the base of the plants making sure to cover out to the outer leaves. If you want to use spray organic fertilizers, then you can use a formulation of seaweed extract or fish emulsion fertilizer, which you should be able to pick up at your local garden supply store. These products are organic and will add the needed nutrients to your plants. Make sure you follow the directions on the packages for how much to dilute them before spraying. Another excellent fertilizer for your organic garden is to use "Compost Tea" or liquid worm castings (some like to call it "Worm Juice"). If you want, you can find some places to buy, but I would highly recommend making your worm composting system. Not only does your worm compost system make compost for your garden and produce the compost tea. It will also get rid of your kitchen scraps and is practically odorless. That is a win-win in my books!