by L. Woodrow Ross

Created on: December 16, 2007

Organic fertilizers are a way that you can save money and at the same time reduce landfill waste. There are many items that homeowners put out for garbage collection that would make excellent material for composting.
Vegetable leaves, trimmings, banana peels, potato peels,apple cores, grapefruit peel, watermelon rinds,and many other items come to mind as useful for composting.

A compost bin can be a purchased unit that has a drum with a handle to facilitate turning, or it can be as simple as retaining boards staked upright to contain the materials. As the material is accumulated, it can be covered lightly with soil and periodically turned with a pitchfork.
Don't add cooked foods or meat to your compost bin. This can cause problems with odor and scavenging animals.
Leaves that you rake from your yard make good mulch or can be added to the compost bin as needed. Don't burn them and contaminate the air. Recycle them and enrich your garden.
Good compost adds organic matter to the soil as well as fertilizing. It loosens the soil and allows water and air to penetrate the soil. This will increase your vegetable yields and save you the cost of expensive and environmentally questionable fertilizers.
After the compost is mature, it will be rich black loam that your vegetables will love. Use it around flowers in the yard also. After it is properly composted, there is not a problem with odor or insects.
If you live in the country and have access to farm animals, you can use composted manure for fertilizer. If it is not properly composted, it may burn the plants. Chicken compost is incredibly rich in nitrogen, so be careful in your application. It also has some odor when wet, so you might not want to use it near the house.
Cow manure can be used composted, or you can make "manure tea". This process involves placing composted cow manure in a burlap bag and suspending it in a barrel of water for a few days. The manure is then removed and the enriched water can be used to water plants and the nutrients will make the plants grow rapidly.
Newspaper makes good mulch. It can be shredded and placed around plants to retain moisture and retard weed growth, or it can be spread several sheets thick around plants, but will require rocks, bricks or boards to keep the pages from blowing. Eventually, the paper will break down and can actually be incorporated into the soil.
Making your own organic fertilizer is not only a way to save money and grow great vegetables and flowers, but it is a way to recycle and be environmentally responsible.

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