Earth Friendly
Organic Fertilizers and Pest Control
Lots of Fertilizer choices:
Manure - this often comes with the livestock bedding which is just more good organic matter
Compost - see the composting page for application
Seaweed
Kelp or Crab Meal
Crushed Oyster Shells
Sawdust and wood shavings (mine are already in my compost)
Wood Ashes
Organic Teas - compost, manure, burdock, conventional
tea
Commercial Organic Fertilizer - most places don't carry a
lot of this so pick it up early. I buy mine at the local
feed store
Green Manure of course
Plant potatoes underneath new shrubs and trees for a big boost
Special Note: although technically blood and bone meal are natural ingredients... they are not used in this garden for ethical reasons because said items normally contain dead companion animals from animal hospitals and shelters. It is my personal opinion that these items are no better for our earth than the horrific practice of using sewage sludge to fertilize commercial fields.
Lots of Delivery Options;
Make a Tea: I generally put a gallon of material in the bottom of a five gallon pail and steep at least a couple of days. Use the "tea" as a gentle but effective liquid fertilizer for your plants. Better still, this can be refilled a couple of times before it loses its punch. Then i empty it in my compost bin so that nothing is wasted.
Top Dressing: Compost and manure can be added on top of the soil around each plant.
Mulches: Some organic material, such as seeweed, grass clippings, leaves or eggshells, can do double duty by spreading thickly between plants to inhibit weeds.
Add at the start: Till the organic matter in at spring time when you are preparing the beds for planting.
Special Note:
Adding all the different organic material to your garden can upset the soil ph if you are not careful. Its helpful to till a balancer, such as agricultural grade epsom salts, into the garden beds at spring time. Its also a good practice to pick up a soil testing kit so that you can monitor your ph throughout the season.
Act Naturally
create a Natural Habitat and reap the benefits that attracting natural predators to your garden brings
scatter garlic cloves to chase away ants
put a sauce of beer to catch slugs
mulch with crushed oyster shell to discourage the kitty from treating your garden as her litter box
use breathable netting to cover crops.
keep your garden weeded to cut down on harbourage
in our neck of the woods, Safer's Trounce has been an organic standby
Companion Planting helps a lot
So does Crop Rotation
Use timing, not chemicals, when Living By the Moon
You can see how interconnected organic gardening is. Every good thing that you do for your garden often boosts everything else that you do. When you do not use chemicals, you give the soil a chance to really live and provide natural resistance
A Note about Pesticides:
Most of us agree that chemical pesticides aren't the path to success. Not only are they bad for the environment, but those darn bugs just keep on developing an immunity to the chemicals as fast as each new type is made. All the pesticides wind up doing is killing the natural predators for the pests. Why put your family in harms way when there is a better and safer road
