These 8 sources of fertilizer not only save money because they're reusing items from home, but they're also more convenient and could prove more effective than typical fertilizer. You can reuse and quickly repurpose each of the items so that they become beneficial to your garden. You'll never look at your cup of coffee the same way!
1. Coffee grounds. Those dried coffee grounds add nitrogen, potassium and magnesium to your garden. Just remember that coffee grounds can change the pH of your soil, possibly affecting plants that need a delicate balance.
2. Tea bags. Remove the tea grounds from the bags and allow them to dry before application. Many gardeners notice tea grounds are particularly beneficial around tomatoes.
3. Egg shells. After breakfast, wash out the shells and let them dry. Break the shells into smaller pieces and put them in the ground when planting tomatoes. You also can add them around the base of already-planted tomatoes.
4. Fish scraps. You don’t need to plant multiple fish inside of your garden, but using the scraps can help. If you have an aquarium, don’t dump the water down the drain. Use this water to hydrate your garden beds and potted plants. The fish waste provides vitamins to the plants without any extra steps for you! If you filet a fish, save the bones and scraps.
6. Wood ash: Those who have a wood stove or fireplace have a free source of fertilizer, adding potassium and calcium carbonate to the soil. Remember never to use the ash if you added anything else! Ash is an easy way to increase your soil pH, so don’t use it if your soil is alkaline.
7. Bananas. Putting peels in your compost pile is a good first step. You also can put them right into your garden to give the soil a quick potassium boost.
8. Grass clippings. Every time you mow and rake, continue to add more. As it decomposes into the soil, grass clippings release nitrogen.
Have you used of these fertilizer ideas in your own garden? Are there any other ones we should add to the list?
Article Source: Off The Grid News
I know how to convert 8 common garden items into fertilizer.
What is it with everybody and “fertilizer”? That’s what’s destroying the soil, but for some reason everybody believes they have to use it? It’s just sad, people killing the soil by growing food. It doesn’t have to be that way. My grandpa never put anything but mulch in his garden for probably 50 years or more. He fed and raised a family of 8 from that garden, and the 20 or so chickens he kept. People need to do some research, and please stop killing your soil.