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Organic Fertilizer
Organic fertilizer comes from plants, animals and mined minerals. Examples: plant fertilizer - sea kelp (seaweed), alfalfa meal, corn gluten meal and cottonseed meal; green manure — living cover crop plants turned into the soil; natural fertilizer from animals - blood meal, bone meal, fish meal, and composted chicken manure; and mined natural fertilizer - limestone, soft rock phosphate and gypsum. Any combination of organic fertilizer will feed soil organisms who produce plant food in a plant available form. Use powdered & granulated fertilizer or pelleted organic fertilizer for soil application, and organic liquid fertilizer via irrigation or foliar sprays.
Organic Compost, Composting, Worm Farming & Compost Tea
Organic compost is essential in organic gardening. Adding good quality organic compost or spraying compost tea adds beneficial soil microbes and nutrients to organic soil, adds organic matter, and increases water retention. Garden sustainably while saving money by home composting with our composting tools & supplies. Compost tea benefits plants in many ways, so brew your own compost tea - compost tea brewers are worth the investment for having a supply of fresh compost tea. Worm farming, also called vermiculture or worm composting, returns rich worm castings for kitchen scraps — use it as you would compost.
Organic Soil — Get Started
Understand your organic garden soil by soil testing to know exactly what your soil needs. Peaceful Valley's laboratory soil testing provides results for treating your soil organically. Once you know your % soil organic matter, nutrient content, pH, and cation exchange capacity you can use our booklet "Understanding Your Soil Analysis Report" to interpret your test results and our Fertilizer Solutions Chart to choose the best products for your organic garden. Even without doing any soil testing, most garden soil will give good results if simply amended with organic compost, a balanced N-P-K organic fertilizer, and a source of
Trace Minerals.
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