Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
What's important here is seeing why the application of NPK fertilizers and dolomite
lime “for good measure” will cause problems more often than not. In the long run, you'll
get higher yields by applying less fertilizer. You just need to apply the right fertilizers, and
that's why a soil test is so crucial as one of the tools that helps you decide which fertilizer
to apply.
I use a small number of mineral fertilizers that are mined naturally without the use of
chemicals, and other fertilizers that come from plants and the sea. While these next few
chapters don't cover absolutely all of the fertilizers available to gardeners, they do cover
all of the ones I use, so you can consider using this as your guide.
Note that while this list may look rather long, you'll probably only need a handful of
these fertilizers. The goal is not to use fertilizers indefinitely. The majority of our fertility
can be provided by mulch, compost and cover crops. I want to reiterate that point, because
we can't sustainably bring in external inputs forever, but they are helpful to get the system
working much more quickly and optimally.
