Organic fertilizer is the natural choice for anybody who wants to avoid possibly polluting the environment and their garden with chemicals whose long term effects we probably do not yet know. But there are other very practical reasons for going organic when it comes to feeding the plants in your backyard.
When you think about it, it makes sense to use organic garden fertilizer even in a garden where other supplies such as pesticides are not necessarily organic. The plants that you are growing have certain nutritional needs which in the wild, are naturally supplied by the soil that they grow on and the waste products of other plants and animals.
Of course the natural environment in the wild or in your garden is not necessarily ideal for every plant and so they may not get the maximum benefit from the soil that they grow in. That is why we add fertilizer. But surely it is better to add natural forms of fertilizer as food for your plants?
Chemical fertilizers usually provide all of the nutrients that scientists have found that plants need. That sounds fine. But it is a little like supplementing our own diet with vitamins. It is better than nothing, but not as good as getting the nutrients that we need in their natural form in food, where they come packaged with other trace substances that our body probably needs but that scientists may not have discovered yet.
For example, people have been getting vitamin C along with other vitamins, minerals, fiber and bioflavonoids in fresh fruit and vegetables for as long as humanity has existed. That is the way our bodies are used to absorbing it and they need those other substances to do so. If we suddenly stop eating fruit and switch to getting our vitamin C from capsules, it will not have the same effect.
The same is true for plants. It must be better to supply their nutrients in their natural form wherever possible, without added chemicals. This means using organic fertilizer or compost.
You may then wonder why anybody would buy organic fertilizer when compost is so readily available. We can easily produce enough compost for a small garden from the fallen leaves of one tree, lawn clippings and kitchen waste. However, most gardens contain plants that do not grow wild in the local area and may need nutrients that are not found in the local soil. So there is a place for store bought fertilizer in most gardens.
You will find that you can select fertilizer according to the type of plants that you are growing and sometimes also according to what is lacking in your own soil, if you know that. Manufactured organic fertilizers are made from natural substances broken down into a liquid, pellets or compost-like material that you can spread directly onto the garden.
Fish bone is a common ingredient. If you are vegan you may want to avoid this, so you will need to read the label. It is possible to buy organic fertilizer that contains only composted plants, seaweed and other non-animal products.
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