MEN Fair 2012 - Choosing Organic Fertilizer And Building Soil Fertility

Choosing Organic Fertilizer and Building Soil Fertility
Presented by Cheryl Long of Mother Earth News

I was looking forward to this workshop because I heard attending a previous workshop led by the presenter. It wasn't until I saw the cover page of the presentation that I realized that it was the very same workshop. I thought I might learn something new, so decided to stick around.

The workshop ended up being more helpful this time around than when I previously attended it. I think this is primarily because we are actively gardening now, and are getting ready to plant cover crops for the winter.

I also picked up several ideas for useful sources of information and services. One book that was recommended was the "Cover Crop Handbook", which I have not yet been able to locate. Ruth Stout was also recommended as someone who wrote books on using super-heavy mulch, which is a topic I am interested in learning more about. For soil testing services, Peaceful Valley Farm Supply was recommended, but it was also pointed out that the National Center for Appropriate Technologies website has a good list of a soil testing services.

One topic was discussed in the presentation that I am very interested in. During the section on liquid fertilizers, the use of urine was mentioned. A gentleman in the audience said that he used diluted urine as a liquid fertilizer and had been growing prize winning melons with that approach. Since I have already been saving urine, although admittedly not consistently, for applying to the compost, I'm considering the idea of storing it until Spring and trying it out as a liquid fertilizer. The suggested dilution rate is 20:1. I asked if there was a good way to the concentration of urine to determine a more precise dilution rate, but she said that a precise dilution wasn't necessary and it the urine was less concentrated than normal it would still be advisable to dilute at a rate of 20:1 before applying to plants.