The main bed I've put them in is roughly 20x24. I've been doing it for a few years. What happens is that my brothers ice fish, so they save all their guts for me, and i just build up a good pile. In spring they thaw out, my garden thaws out and I bury them about a foot down. My nutrient levels are probably through the roof. Its amazing that most of the fish is just tossed in the garbage. You guys are right about animals. I swear my neighbor dog was digging in my fish guts a few years back after i had buried them. An option would be to put down a big board or some heavy fencing (cattle panel) over the top of the guts for a few weeks.

I have been using Eleanor's for quite some time now, and I really do think it works wonders. I have no scientific evidence, but my plants have just improved so much since using it. And I've never seen so much growth. I use it both for soil fertilizing (with every watering, all year round), and also as a foliar feed. Rhizo, Thanks for finding that information! Believe it or not, I HAVE the bottle and still didn't know what was in it! Only a few ingredients are listed on the bottle (I don't have it in front of me since I'm at work, but I think just NPK are written on the label...not too sure though. I think she tries to keep it a secret :) I'll bet anything that the ingredient list you found is incomplete! There must be some "special" ingredient that she's hiding from us :-) Gabi

Don't be a slave to numbers, unless it's fun for you. I get the impression from some of your postings here that you tend to stress out about all the little factoids of organic gardening and composting. (you've said you were going crazy over it in fact) People have been growing fantastic food without tracking the percentages of micronutrients since the dawn of time. The stuff that plants really need to grow can be found in...plants. They incorporate it into foliage, etc. Compost that stuff, and you should have what you need. You're right if you're thinking that some of those micronutrients are at levels that just probably won't help anything at the dilution rate for fertilizing as listed on the bottle (even "micro" nutrients have a level at which they're not really contributing). I love how everyone talks about the numbers of micronutrients in their products. Anyone know how many micronutrients are in a compost pile of shredded leaves and coffee grounds? How about just shredded leaves? I'm guessing lots. I'll guess "lots". I can't blame the companies that list numbers of micronutrients- from the number of people here that say "ooh- this one has 70!", or whatever- it seems to sell the product. Neptune's Harvest has a good reputation, so if they sell a little more, then good for them! I drove to Hampton Beach and picked up 2 kitchen bags of seaweed. Made a thick tea with some of it and composted the rest. Why did I get it at all? We were there (my little dogs love the beach). Free compostables. You could do the same and not worry about numbers- percentages matter little when you have lots of material (low percentage times larger amount still means more total nutrient added). Reports that I've read make all sorts of claims about disease resistance and other stuff for seaweed/kelp micronutrients. I don't have any plant disease problems, but hey- it was free and probably won't hurt.

I personally like to use fish/seaweed emulsion and blend in neem oil with an emulsifier (cheap soap). Neptune's harvest - which I personally prefer as it is a cold process type (retaining the moist micro/macros) and the least offensive smell. It's 2-3-1, but the thing is, you'll be applying it more often. It's also (supposedly) absorbed more effectively. I, personally, once a week mix up a tablespoon of neem oil with an emulsifier (I use dr. bronner's soap unscented), I generally use a tablespoon or less. I then mix in an 1/8 cup of fish/sea weed emulsion. This is then mixed into a gallon of water and I use it as a soak/spray for all my plants once a week. Usually late in the day towards sunset or first thing in the morning. I don't advise doing in the morning because the risk of photo-toxicity. I like the effect of neem mixed with it because it provides a harmful insecticidal defense as well as a pathogen defense and seems to keep the critters away from the otherwise tempting scent of fish emulsion. Here is a link that might be useful: more info than you can shake a stick at on the full nutrient profile of fish emulsion