Organic Fertilizers for Vegetables: When it comes to food, the term “organic” is a safe bet for everyone. Organic fertilizer for vegetables is a top priority right now.
When it comes to organic vegetable fertilizer, there are numerous options to consider, but knowing which one works best is the most important factor to consider.
From fertilizing your gardens to enhancing vegetable growth, organic manure also plays a role in the maintenance of your garden soil.
Organic fertilizer for vegetables in Canada
In most home gardens, you can find a variety of natural substances that can be used as manure to fertilize vegetables. To successfully grow organic vegetables, the right amount of manure and soil nutrients are required.
These natural or biodegradable materials are gathered from poultry farms, rabbit hutches, goat pens, horses, and so on.
- List of organic fertilizers for vegetables
- Organic compost
- Chicken manure
- Vegetable waste
- Cow manure
- Fruit waste
- Goat manure
- Horse manure
- Fish meal fertilizer
- Sheep manure
- Rabbit manure
Organic compost
What is an organic compost?
Organic compost is made up of all biodegradable waste. It could be farm waste, kitchen waste, or restaurant waste. Shrubs, tree leaves, and vegetables can also be used to make organic compost. Unless it is biodegradable, organic compost does not have a specific material.
How to make organic compost
Making organic compost is a simple process. To make your own organic compost, follow the steps outlined below.
- Collect your waste from the fridge, kitchen, and garden.
- Separate waste like onions. Because of their antibacterial properties, onions are known to drive away microorganisms.
- You should also separate egg shells and bones because they take a long time to decompose.
- If you want to speed up the process, dig a four-square-sized hole in your backyard; otherwise, a bucket or a wooden container will be enough.
- We are working on reducing the bad odor by putting grasses in first, followed by newspapers or brown papers.
- Sprinkle water to moist.
- Pour in the food waste and break it up into smaller pieces to speed up decomposition.
- Add fresh green leave and moisten them.
- Keep in mind that your compost pile requires air. Using a garden fork, turn it once a week.
- Keep an eye on your compost pile as it decomposes into dark moist soil.
Chick manure
Chicken manure from backyard chickens or commercial farms can be used in the garden to grow vegetables and other crops. One common organic fertilizer for vegetables and so easy to obtain. When homesteading with chicken droppings, you must keep the following in mind.
Fresh chicken manure from the farm should not be applied directly to the crops. This is because the heat from it can kill crops in a matter of days, so this is what to do.
- Allow air to pass through the fresh manure by spreading it out on an open surface.
- Add water to keep the fresh manure moist while you turn it for a maximum of 4 to 5 days.
- Add wood ash to speed up decomposition.
Vegetable waste
Globally, one-third of all food is wasted: 1.6 billion tonnes of produce per year, with a market value of about $1 trillion. This also includes vegetables because of their high rate of deterioration as a result of transportation bruises on vegetable skin.
Any vegetable store will be happy to have someone pick up their vegetable waste, and this is your opportunity to collect a large amount of this waste to make organic fertilizer for vegetables in your garden. You can use the step-by-step guide on how to prepare organic compost to prepare your manure from vegetable waste.
Cow manure
Cow dung is filthy and stinks, but it is your gold mine for increasing the value of your vegetables by growing them organically.
If you don’t raise cows, you shouldn’t have to worry about this. You can go to a nearby kraal and request that someone scoops the cow dung for you.
In cases of farm biosecurity adherence, you can leave a bin or portable container at the farm for them to fill up on a regular basis. A dollar to spare on coffee will get you a long way toward having someone do this job for you all of the time.
Always remember in making your organic fertilizer for vegetables do not apply fresh manure to your crops.
Fruit waste
Fruit waste is another source of organic raw material that can be used to make organic fertilizer for vegetables grown in the garden. Fresh fruits are frequently substituted for those sold in grocery stores. The old ones end up in the garbage can, and you can use them to make organic fertilizer for vegetables.
Goat manure
Goat manure has almost no stench and is good for the soil. This manure contains sufficient nutrients that plants need to grow for optimum production, especially when the goats are housed in stalls. So even though urine piles up in goat droppings, the manure retains so much nitrogen, increasing its nitrogen fixation effectiveness.
Is goat manure better than cow manure?
The palette form of goat droppings allows it to dry faster than cow dung, which contains a lot of moisture and requires more drying time before application. Goat manure can be applied directly to crops, whereas cow dung requires a lot of air to pass through it before it can be used.
Horse manure
Horse manure can help young plants get off to a good start while also supplying vital nutrients for sustained expansion. It contains a sufficient amount of organic fertilizer for vegetables to grow efficiently.
Fish meal fertilizer
Fish meal is a great source of nitrogen and phosphorus and is ideal for making organic fertilizer for vegetable gardens. You can prepare a simple fish meal at home following these steps.
- Collect the fish waste
- Oven dry the fish waste
- Use the sun dry method in the absence of an oven
- Blend the dried waste into powdery form
- Sprinkle the fish meal on the soil surface
Sheep manure
Sheep manure is just an alternative to goat manure. It also provides nourishing nutrients to the plants. These nutrients aid in the establishment of deep roots, the defense of plants against pests, and the development of good fruits.
- Sheep manure nutrient content
- Nitrogen
- Phosphorus
- Potassium
- Molybdenum
- Boron
- Sulfur
- Calcium
Rabbit manure
The last organic fertilizer for vegetables is the richest, but it can only be obtained in small quantities unless you have a large commercial rabbit farm.
Rabbit manure contains ten times the nutrients of cow dung, poultry manure, and goat manure. Because of the design of their cages, rabbit manure is mixed with rabbit urine, which accumulates a high percentage of nitrogen. Rabbit droppings get soaked in their urine.
Rabbit manure improves soil texture and structure, prevents soil moisture loss, and boosts crop production.
If you want to avoid the hassle of collecting all these wastes from farms, you can buy already prepared organic manure for your vegetable garden. It takes some time to prepare organic manure. Here is a list of branded organic fertilizers for vegetables.
Best Fertilizers For Your Organic Vegetable Garden
| Organic fertilizers | where to buy organic fertilizer |
|---|---|
| Black Kow | Where to buy black kow manure |
| Espoma fertilizer | where to get espoma organic |
| Acti sol | Read here about Acti sol |
| Growmore fertilizer | Where to get growmore fertilizer |
| Herbruck’s | Visit herbruck page |
Why is there a fertilizer shortage in Canada?
Farmers in Canada are facing a fertilizer shortage as a matter of fact to customs duties imposed by the federal government on Russian exports. Already, the global food system was under threat. The rapid rise in activity during the pandemic increased the demand for energy as many economies emerged from lockdowns and recovered. The increase in gas prices prompted a halt in fertilizer production.
Which fertilizer is best for organic farming?
All of the organic fertilizers for vegetables listed above, including rabbit manure, chicken manure, horse manure, cow dung, sheep, fish meal, vegetables, and fruits waste, and organic manure, are considered the best organic fertilizer for vegetables due to their non-toxicity to the soil.
Where to buy organic fertilizer
best organic fertilizer in Canada
Importance of using organic fertilizer for vegetables
- Organic fertilizer for vegetables helps to promote the shelf life span after harvest.
- Organic vegetables have been testified to taste much better than those grown with synthetic fertilizers.
- Organic fertilizer for vegetables amends the garden soil.
- Organic fertilizer for vegetables preserves soil flora and fauna.
