For the most part, let nature do her thing. Mostly because any forcing you do will inevitably cause problems later. First feed, even with an organic, should wait until May first--which will put the primary release of nitrogen towards the middle to end of May through June.

The exception to that is the CGM, which is both a very hefty feeding and a weak pre-emergent. That goes when the forsythia bloom, which indicates that soil temperatures are rising above 50 if we're having a normal spring. Even if spring isn't normal, that's close enough.

I have no idea about forsythia lol - when is that usually?

For you in western MA, call it April 20th or so. Give or take a lot.

http://www.greencastonline.com/tools/SoilTempMaps.aspx

That'll give you a very rough, not very accurate guess as to soil temperatures. Fifty is the target, but it has to stay there for several days. This incursion of warm air will fade out.

Thanks morpheuspa… btw that soil temp map is so cool!!!! Morpheuspa what are you planning to use to fertilize?

I wonder if I am having some snow mold as the last bit of snow melted - how do you know and why soybean meal?

Gray patches (or light brown) surrounded by healthy grass are a big tip-off. Right now, about 20% of my lawn is patched out, and that's snow mold. They'll recover after soil temperatures are sustained above 45 (which suppresses out the cold, wet loving fungus) and we get some sun. It just slows things a bit.

Patches can also be pink. Pink snow mold is more likely to be fatal to the lawn, although extreme cases of gray snow mold can also kill (rarely; my neighbors' lawns are 95% snow mold, 5% grass, and they'll be fine).

Soybean for the nitrogen, it's one of the heaviest hitters in terms of protein (which is nitrogen) in the grain world.

ok so I should put soybean meal down then?

Sure, if you wish to. It would substitute for your spring feeding and can be used in fall again if you like. Optimal feeding patterns (organically) for northern lawns are: May 1, August 1, September 1, and October 1. Your later fall dates may move back a bit as winter hits you earlier than it does me.

So I get the soybean meal at a feed store? Is it super fine or can you get small pellets that are easier to put on?

And can I put down corn meal (for soil conditioning and fungus prevention) in the same week as soybean meal for fertilizing?

Feed stores and grain mills are the primary places to get it.

Soybean meal has about the same consistency as a synthetic fertilizer if it's properly ground, and it flows about the same through a spreader. Since it's a ground bean product, it has more moisture, so it can be a touch more sticky. I've never had a problem with it but I do sometimes break up a clump or two in the meal. They shatter easily.

Corn can go at the same time as soy, but if this is your first year applying organics, I wouldn't recommend it. The bacteria and fungi in your soil aren't quite up to speed for eating larger amounts of things, so it can smell if you use too much. Even normal amounts can smell a bit at first.

So the first year, I'd separate the applications by two weeks or so.

Cracked corn also has a consistency like a synthetic fertilizer and flows as easily as, or even a little easier than, soybean meal. Corn will help suppress most surface disease fungi without harming soil fungi in the slightest.

Thanks! I think given that I had fungus problems last year I will put down the corn meal halfway through April and then the soybean meal May 1 if the 'warmer' weather here continues… thanks again for the advice - I'm looking forward to trying this new regime

It'll take some time for your soil to adjust, and you never see immediate green-up from an organic (except Milorganite, but even there, not much). The primary change comes about three weeks later, or around May 21st, when it starts to hit.

However, it also delivers a sustained feeding for months. Your fall feedings this year will still be in effect, at a very low level, next spring.

I do like Milorganite for the dark green color and tend to put it on halfway thru summer - just to even out the color mainly and give the lawn a boost

An update on my lawn:

I was a little lazy about going to the grain stores when I noticed that Jonathon Green (a product I regularly use) has organic CGM in its range - straight CGM (a bit of a pain to apply since it's powder)… I applied this 2 weeks ago with their 'magical' and 'love your lawn love your soil' and my lawn is a lush dark green and growing thick grass over any patches I had from the fungus problems last year - I am super pleased with the results….I'm hoping I got the timing right to prevent weeds since I put it down early (my lawn gets a lot of sun so while others still had snow on their lawn mine had melted and as soon as I saw the grass growing and the temp was 45/50 F I applied it) incidentally while I get so many comments from people that you can't get as green a lawn with organics vs chemicals my lawn was the greenest around here by a mile - I'm sure all the sun I get is part of the reason but I also think from the winteriser I applied in December last year

One question I have is whether I might be too late to catch the japanese beetle grubs with Milky Spore - I plan to put it down May 1 and hopefully if there are any in the soil they are still actively feeding (also plan to put down another lot in late July and Sept - I use the granules)

Milky spore can be applied any time you like, although levels of it take a while to increase in the soil and require a Japanese beetle infestation to do so. I never had good luck with the stuff and use Grub-X, but others report decent results.

Keep an eye out the first year to make sure that the grubs aren't going nuts. If they do, your turf will fade and may even "float," being easy to pull up and roll back. That's likely to happen in late August or September.

If it does, you'll have to use a bigger gun to kill them off and reset the situation to something more moderate. Sevin works well, although it's rather wide spectrum.

"I get so many comments from people that you can't get as green a lawn
with organics vs chemicals my lawn was the greenest around here by a
mil"

I used to tell people that same thing until I tried grain fertilizers. Before the 2000s, organic gardening was only done with compost. That statement was fairly true unless you used 700 pounds of compost per 1,000 square feet. Now we know better. 20 pounds of any grain is plenty.

For grubs watch your porch light. If you get swarmed with Japanese beetles, then you might get grubs. If you don't, then you're probably home free. But if you still think there's a chance, then in mid to late June, dig up 1 square foot in the middle of your lawn. If you count fewer than a dozen grubs, you don't have a problem. But if you have hundreds per square foot, you need to get busy.