all possible. choose only vegetables that are robust in your area, and be ruthless in eliminating those that give you trouble. I have not used fertilizer in a couple of years, and before then it was only urea. Mulch works well, as does burying large chunks of wood (hugelkultur), or digging a trench and filling it with all manners of organic trash, then covering. cover crops during transition also help. It is hugelkultur, together with planting very mixed beds (3 to 5 vegetables all in the same bed) that has allowed me to go fully biologic. I also have a couple of beds with clover for taller vegetables.

You haven't said what you're growing that you think needs extra inputs, or what problems you're having; could you be more specific? Generally intensive vegetable growth is the most demanding in terms of nutrients - different problems require different solutions. But as glib put it, most certainly possible - I haven't used much ever really, but lot has trees and so leaves, compost from food, and wood chips from fallen branches provide a lot of organic matter. (It helps that in more northern climes organic material biodegrades a bit more slowly...)

The Soil Food Web needs organic matter in the soil to live on, so how much organic matter is in the soil you have?

The soil I have to work with here is Lake Michigan beach sand, totally devoid of organic matter unless I add lots of it continuously. So I make compost and add more organic material to try to keep the level of organic matter in the soil at a 6 to 8 percent level. Soil tests, over the last 45 years, show that with an adequate amount of organic matter in the soil the soil pH is 7.2 and nutrient levels (P, K, Ca, Mg, and others) are in balance and plants grow quite well without problems with insect pests and plant diseases.

I have noticed a few pests but neem oil and hort oil seems to be working good for those few I have seen. It has been less than 9 months since we have lived here. No vegetables in our yard or plans to add them.

armoured I have no problems yet, just wondering if it was realistic to throw out the "organic" fertilizers i bought when i first started gardening last year.

"... just wondering if it was realistic to throw out the "organic" fertilizers..."

In the OP you mentioned that you learned organic ferts weren't 'much better for the environment.' What specific types of fertilizer are we talking? And in what way are they not much better for the environment?

I'll leave it there for now. It's just that fertilizers are found in many forms, and are derived from many sources. So before commenting further, it would be best to first understand what you've learned about fertilizers that might make them problematic.

I would certainly use the stuff you have till it's used up, no reason to waste it and the resources that went into it.

I use very little fertilizer myself and might be able to use even less except that I have some imbalance issues (very high K and P) and disease problems. When I can get those cleared up I may find the plants are healthy without adding N.

kimmsr mentioned your organic matter levels. Good to know that (actually a full soil test for nutrients, pH etc. would be good if you haven't). But it sounds like you're adding plenty of organic matter to your soils - returning lawn clippings (I assume you are although you didn't specifically say so), using manure, straw etc. BTW Black Kow is basically composted manure which is fairly similar to other composts. You can use just about any compost. My rules of thumb: 1) you kinda get what you pay for, 2) vary the compost source for a healthy diet for the soil, and 3) any compost is better than no compost (goes for uncomposted organic matter used as mulch, too).

rgreen48(7a) Great response questions. I thought the author, from the book I mentioned in the OP, was saying that even organic fertilizers can disrupt the soil food web. But now rereading some passages I may have misunderstood. However, he did say to feed the microbes, not necessarily the plants. So yes, plants use nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium but the microbes make the nutrients available to the plant through the output of the microbes food chain.

So I bought blood meal (Nitrogen), bone meal (phosphorus) and sea kelp organic fertilizers because I thought it would be helpful for my plants since the soil in my front yard was pathetic. But now I am wondering that I might be feeding the plant and not the microbes and disrupting the soil food web.

toxcrusadr Well my mother uses organic fertilizer so I thinking of just giving it to her and trying to focus on more sustainable resources to solve any gardening problems. I went a little extreme in the minimalism movement and don't keep stuff around if I don't use it. I have a 1 car garage I would like to park in one day! I have even been trying to figure out the essential gardening tools that I really need. I am loving the Sneerboer garden tools and want to just stick to high-quality multipurpose tools. Enough of my rant!

Ah, okay... thank you Courtney.

Yeah... the reason I wanted to delve a little is because there are some authors and well-meaning advocates who will take solid principles to the extreme, thus causing confusion.

First... keep in mind (and some may not agree,) chemically speaking, there is little difference in 'synthetic' vs. 'organic' fertilizers. In most cases, the difference is only in 'form' and derivation. When we speak of nitrogen, we are really using the term as a shorthand for the many, many chemical forms that nitrogen can take. Some forms are indeed more 'available' to plants than others, but soil is a VERY complex environment. It's almost impossible to say that a fertilizer, by it's very nature (even if derived through 'synthetic' means,) is 'bad'.

The processes and reactions happening in soil at any given time are innumerable. What may make any fertilizer 'bad', is not so much in its form or derivation, but in its use.

For example... nitrogen, as a nutrient, is extremely 'mobile'. In most forms, it is readily water-soluble. Adding more than the soil web can make use of at any given time pretty much guarantees that the excess will 'run-off' into the environment. There it combines with all the rest of the over-used water-soluble nutrients, and causes problems of unintended consequence. Other forms of nitrogen 'gas-off' easily, and thus over- or improper use is simply a waste of resources.

Generally speaking, 'organic' derivations of most nutrients are more stable (forms that are less reactive, and less water-soluble) than synthetics. However, this is not written in stone by any means.

In my thinking, it's not the nutrient form itself (organic vs. synthetic) that makes a fertilizer 'bad', but the processes from which it is derived. I personally do not buy synthetic fertilizers (I have no desire to contribute to the resource-intensive processes involved its production - especially when there are so many naturally formed sources which our society considers 'waste' products,) but I use it when it is available to me (like when I rescue it from someone who, like you thought to do with your organics, was otherwise going to throw it 'away'.) Again, it's not the chemical form itself that is necessarily bad, but its [over]use. Many 'purists' want to avoid whatever particular product they deem 'bad', and there are some extremely organic chemical forms of nutrients which, in any amount, are detrimental to (especially closed) environments, but most products are perfectly fine supplements when used properly.

So, as others have said, I wouldn't be afraid to use any fertilizer - and I certainly wouldn't consider throwing it 'away' - but learning to use any product properly is what makes something 'good' or 'bad' - or 'right' or 'wrong' - to use in any given place at any given time. :-)

All that said :-), it's good to see you taking due concern in your own efforts in your own yard. That's where 'the rubber meets the road', and where each one of us can make the most positive effect in our environment on a day-to-day basis. Good work!

Oh... I forgot to mention... the blood meal is a great example of a fantastic organic product that can be easily misused. In soil, although organic in derivation, it is in a form that is almost immediately available to plants. Using too much (or too high of a concentration- or too great of a frequency) at any one time can quickly cause fatal fertilizer 'burn'. On the other hand, when used properly, it is a perfectly good source of nitrogen. As a side note, buying or selling it is literally against my religion lol.

You said the soil in your front yard was "pathetic". Can you elaborate? Have you had a soil test?

What plants are you growing? What specific problems have you seen?

If you're not growing vegetables you probably don't need supplemental "fertilizer" products at all. But it is important to know your soil type to be aware of any special needs it may have, relative to what you are trying to grow. Tropical soils can sometimes present special challenges for nutrient availability that most of us in the more temperate zones don't have to contend with. Sandy soil does not hold onto nutrients and organic matter very well so often needs aggressive efforts to mulch deeply and frequently.

The best thing you can do to let the soil food web do its job is to disturb it as little as possible (only dig when you are planting something, and then dig only a hole just big enough to hold the root ball) and keep adding organic mulch on the top. Mulch materials can vary but it's always best to use whatever's free or almost free and locally available - whether that's wood chips, straw, seaweed, some local agricultural byproduct, etc. The same goes for compost - use what you have around first and foremost (yard waste, kitchen waste, coffee grounds) rather than buying anything. Using local materials saves energy and turns a waste disposal problem into a resource.

If you've read the book "Teaming with Microbes" you can skip the second half that has ever more elaborate recipes for different composts and compost teas that are this-and-that "dominant." These are all busywork, and poor substitutes for what a well-functioning soil system will eventually provide with the right food and lack of harassment of the soil critters.

theparsley I thought the same thing when I read the last chapter about compost teas in the book! I did just minimal research and apparently, the research shows that compost teas are moot.

Thanks for the advice on the organic fertilizers. I have been hesitant to test the soils, but you have convinced me. Plus I am dead bored with this season!