Natural Fertilizers: Creating Super Food Naturally, of Course

We create a vicious cycle when we use commercial fertilizers, because plants that are heavily fertilized have thin walls and are generally elongated, and therefore weaker.  This scenario attracts pests that then require pesticide.

Because commercial fertilizers are typically in a liquid state when applied, this excess fertilizer becomes runoff when rainfall precedes complete crop uptake, sending significant amounts of NPK, carcinogens, teratogens, and mutagens into our waterways.  Water pollution from diffuse sources such as agricultural runoff, wind-blown sediments and other debris, is called non-point source pollution, which makes its way into rivers, lakes, coastal waters, and underground sources of drinking water.  In fact, in countries such as the United States, non-point source pollution is the number one cause of water pollution[2], and runoff from industrial agriculture is the primary source of these pollutants.[3]

When nitrogen or phosphorus is present in lakes or rivers in high concentration, a condition called "eutrophication" or biological enrichment can occur. High nitrogen from the Mississippi River in the United States has been blamed for a hypoxic or "dead" zone found all the way in the Gulf of Mexico, where excess algae grows in response to the enriched nutrient solution and few fish can be found.[4]  When the algae die, their decomposition consumes enough dissolved oxygen to suffocate fish and other animal life.

Besides being non-toxic, natural, organic fertilizers have additional nutrients and microorganisms that are absent in chemical fertilizer treatments.  Some studies have shown that the application of organic fertilizers to fields also increases the soils ability to store carbon, thereby reducing greenhouse gases by building up of the stable organic fraction in soil.[5]

We develop a whole-systems approach to increase soil fertility and stimulate plant growth through: 

• Aerobic Compost Teas:  This soil (or foliar) spray is rich in beneficial micro-life; it extracts valuable nutrients, bacteria, fungi and protozoa from compost into water for easy application on large areas.[6]  It is made by steeping a small quantity of finished compost in aerated water for 12-48 hours.
• Biodynamic Preparations: Nine mixtures, numbered 500-508, made from minerals, plants or animal manure typically made by fermentation.  The first two are soil sprays used to stimulate root growth and humus formation, the next six are used in making compost, the last is a foliar spray used to suppress fungal disease.
• Composting: Waste from the garden and the kitchen makes nutrient rich organic matter, when allowed to decompose first, that can be directly applied to the garden before planting. Bins should be placed uphill from plants that can process the leaching of nutrients downhill, if sited on a slope.
• Coppicing with Nitrogen-Fixing Plants: These plants, which take nitrogen from the atmosphere through their roots, are used to maintain or build soil fertility.  They either release nitrogen into the soil for adjacent plants or store it in their leafy matter to be later decomposed into the soil. 
• Green Manure Plants: Fast growing plants that add fertility to the soil when they are cut and let lay when they are young and succulent.  Faster absorption of nutrients in soil is achieved when plants are turned into the first 6-8 inches of soil.[7]  These plants re-sprout after they are cut and can be mulched again.
• Mulches: Plant matter is applied, without composting first, in a doughnut like pattern around young trees to prevent rodent damage, retain moisture, build organic soil matter and act like a slow release fertilizer.
• Fungi:  Mulches and compost can be inoculated with mycelium to increase soil porosity, aeration, and water retention and provide a platform for diverse life forms.
• Wood Ash:  This can be used as a potash-rich fertilizer on gardens and in orchards.
• Ground Rock Fertilizers: These will be added to areas lacking in minerals.  This is a high impact approach, requiring inputs from off-site and will be used only when on-site solutions cannot be found.
• Manure: Can be applied raw or composted, and is rich in phosphorous, nitrogen and potash. Chickens and other birds are easy sources of guano for the garden.  Vertical posts located in strategic areas will attract birds to phosphorous deficient sites.
• Lunar Gardening: Planting seed crops according to the planting calendar has been shown to increase germination rates because of the influence of the moon on the moisture content of the soil.  In the course of the month, the moon runs either high or low.  When the moon is waxing it is best to harvest fruit or pick flowers—people have found that when you pick at this time fruit stores longer.  When the moon is waning pick a potato or prune a tree.