Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
from the organic movement that some people call “biological,” and like organics, the goal
of this movement is to grow the healthiest food possible while improving the health of the
environment.
It turns out there are certain chemical fertilizers that can help us grow food that has
even more nutrition than organic food. These aren't the chemicals used by conventional
farming and gardening today, but they're still chemicals that can hurt soil life if used im-
properly. When used consciously, however, in very small amounts based on soils tests,
they can be very helpful in getting more nutrition out of a crop — particularly while we're
in the process of transitioning a garden to one that is more balanced and self-sustaining.
These fertilizers are used primarily to provide energy to a crop and soil that organic
products can't provide. In your garden, for example, you might apply a couple of pounds
of 11-52-0 to give the push a crop needs to go from say, 8 to 12 brix. I've listed several of
the main ones below, but you may get a couple of others recommended on a soil test, par-
ticularly nitrogen sources such as ammonium nitrate 34-0-0, or 28-32% urea-ammonium
nitrate, or even potassium nitrate when you're low in potassium.
