Here's my question--- if we do add commercial nitrogen--- does it have ill effects on the biology that we have built in our soil for years? Because I have built my soil lasagna style for years with loads of shredded leaves, grass clippings,homemade compost, lots of supercharged biochar, well composted wood chips, and IMOs that I have scraped and harvested from surrounding woods.(The major component I really miss out on is manure because most of the farmers and ranchers in my area who raise their own hay or buy it use hay that has been sprayed with persistent herbicides.) And still as hard as I work at it some years are just not as productive as others. I would love to add a little extra nitrogen without feeling guilty that I've broken the organic code that I have lived by for so long. Or instead of a commercial nitrogen what would be an even better organic alternative? I live in the very southern US where the summers are sweltering and I believe that really takes a toll on our soil and hard-working gardeners.
As far as I understand, the soil organisms do not care where they get their nitrogen; so commercial N, used in the right amount, should not have a negative effect.
@Maritime Gardener : Happy Holidays to you and yours !!!!
Thanks Ken
Subscribed and I will keep your website in mind when I have my own property to garden on one day. :)
Awesome, thank you!
I have worked in a garden center. People rake the fallen leaves away, bag and dispose. Then buy bags of mulch.
The irony fails them. Silly
Yep
Here's my question--- if we do add commercial nitrogen--- does it have ill effects on the biology that we have built in our soil for years? Because I have built my soil lasagna style for years with loads of shredded leaves, grass clippings,homemade compost, lots of supercharged biochar, well composted wood chips, and IMOs that I have scraped and harvested from surrounding woods.(The major component I really miss out on is manure because most of the farmers and ranchers in my area who raise their own hay or buy it use hay that has been sprayed with persistent herbicides.) And still as hard as I work at it some years are just not as productive as others. I would love to add a little extra nitrogen without feeling guilty that I've broken the organic code that I have lived by for so long. Or instead of a commercial nitrogen what would be an even better organic alternative? I live in the very southern US where the summers are sweltering and I believe that really takes a toll on our soil and hard-working gardeners.
As far as I understand, the soil organisms do not care where they get their nitrogen; so commercial N, used in the right amount, should not have a negative effect.