Cheap organic fertilizer for your lawn and garden
Feb 23, 2008 cheap, fertilizer, organic
We all know if you walk into a grocery store the organic produce is always more expensive than produce grown using non-organic methods. Using deductive reasoning it seems easy to determine that this would mean growing vegetables organically will cost me more than if I used non-organic methods. What is a cheap vegetable gardener to do?
One disadvantage (and advantage) to organic fertilizer is that it is not as potent as chemical fertilizers. So my 2 lbs of organic will not nearly go as far (at least short term) as the same amount of chemical fertilizer. One trick to being cheap is to purchase products that are not being marketed for your planned purpose. So to solve my expensive fertilizer issue I used this same logic to solve the problem of finding a location to buy organic fertilizer that was not marketed as “fertilizer.” After some research I determined a source from my local feed store. For $10 I was able to get 25 lbs of alfalfa pellets compared to 2 lbs of alfalfa meal at my local nursery for around the same price.
One great thing about using organic fertilizer is my kids can help spread it around, unlike chemical fertilizers. It also contains triacontanol which is a root growth stimulant along with plenty of organic matter to help boost some extra microbial activity. This not only helps the grass but also improves your soil at the same time. By taking a few cups of alfalfa pellets and mixing with water you can also make alfalfa tea, which I am planning on doing later but will sure to let you know how it works out. One more tip, make sure you distribute the alfalfa pellets before a big rain or watering, currently my lawn looks like some geese are using it as their bathroom.
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February 24th, 2008 at 4:10 PM
Hi! have enjoyed browsing your blog.I also use alfalfa pellets from the feed store…they are fantastic for heating up the compost pile when no other green materials are available, adding nitrogen and nutrients as they break down.
February 24th, 2008 at 5:49 PM
Thanks for the reminder I did that as well but forgot to add some more after I added a bunch of leaves.
February 25th, 2008 at 9:29 AM
Great tip! I will look to buy some of this. I already do a similar thing, sortof. My kids have pet guinea Pigs and I use their soiled bedding as compost. It also contains spilled seeds and food pellets, which I think are alfalfa and timothy.Another thing along the same lines I want to do this year which is cheap, is vermicomposting – raising redworms. I will feed them vegetable scraps etc and use their organic-rich castings as fertilizer.
February 25th, 2008 at 9:34 AM
Sorry, I messed up the link in my comment. If you are interested in seeing our guinea pigs, click here.Sorry about that.
March 26th, 2009 at 3:41 PM
In one 5 gal bucket add 8-10 cups of Alfalfa pellets stir daily for 7 days till it smell then add 2-3 cups of epsom salt.pour 4-6 cups per plant to fertilize
July 17th, 2009 at 6:26 PM
"…. currently my lawn looks like some geese are using it as their bathroom." Well, your title does read, "Cheap organic fertilizer for your lawn and garden!!"
August 4th, 2009 at 5:12 AM
I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.Margarethttp://howtomakecompost.info
August 5th, 2009 at 8:54 PM
jennifer, glad you are enjoying it here