Fertilizer

Hi all,

Im am getting together all the things needed for my first year of growing my own veg.

What is the best fertilizer to use? I want to got as organic as possible, i have some chicken pellet manure and was thinking about blood,fish and bone also. Would this be a good choice?

Thanks
Rusty

 

How organic? Its an interesting question ... :(

What if the Chicken Pellets came from factory-reared chickens with high "diet" of antibiotics and growth hormones? Blood-Fish-and-Bone may come from factory-farmed animals :(. Might you be better with conventional N-P-K fertilizer (which is Chemical, but not overly complex chemistry)?

What about timber framing for Raised Beds? The treatment for wood is usually intended for internal use (considered safe to be near humans in the scenario), but used in wet soil close to vegetables being grown for consumption - has that ever been tested even?

Its a very difficult subject deciding where you draw the line I'm afraid.

Growing your own Comfrey (make sure its the Bocking-14 sterile type, otherwise it will self-seed everywhere) is a good source of Potash (for flowering and fruiting veg). Other than that well rotted Manure, from a source that at least you know the provenance of, if not exactly "Organic", may be better than a source who's husbandry is unknown.

In our household we take the view of knowing the provenance of our vegetables. I would use Insecticides to "save" a crop, and take suitable precautions to "wait" long enough for them to disperse, but in practice that happens very rarely indeed.

 

Hi rusty,
The first bit of advice i'd give is this, go to the allotment thread,
this is we're you'lll see all the chat ref manures/feeds when & where to use why to use and a lot more advice for the new to gardening.

Look forward to seeing you there.