# The Best Organic Fertilizers for a Vegetable Garden



## Jackie_Lee (Mar 1, 2010)

wow I didn't realize you can buy worms to hatch. I guess I thought you just got worms as worms. lol. This may be a great idea for my raised beds. thanks for you helpful post ~ as always.


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## Tee (Mar 26, 2009)

Hi Jackie,

Yes, you can buy worms to hatch and it really works well, too! Just make sure you have a good amount of organic matter for the earthworms to munch on. They are ideal for adding to raised beds. In fact, I recommend adding them to raised beds since earthworms are not usually found there since they are on top of the soil.

Thanks!


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## Stan_Horst (Mar 29, 2010)

Great summary of organic fertilizers. I always knew that earthworms were beneficial, but didn't realize why. I thought it was just aeration. Thanks for clarifying that for me.

Stan Horst
Publisher: BetterBenches.com


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## Tee (Mar 26, 2009)

Hi Stan - Earthworms are the true workhorse of great soils. If you have soil that is vacant of earthworms, it is a sure sign of poor soil for growing just about anything. I'm glad you enjoyed the organic fertilizer summary and thanks for stopping by.

Tee


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## element321 (Jun 24, 2010)

Great post all of your compost tips work great! I use most of that stuff weekly. When I build new beds or making my potting mix. I normally mix in a lot of homemade compost, vermicompost (I have my own worm farm), mushroom compost, bloodmeal and bone meal. My plants love it they grow large and produce lots of flowers and fruit / veggies

I also like to mix in Donkey manure because, you get less seeds in the manure. You get less because they do not eat seeds and most Donkey owners will feed them seedless hay. 

In our garden, we are 90% organic and hopefully next year we will be 100% organic.


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## [email protected]_Imperfect_People (Jan 30, 2011)

Thanks for the great tips! I am working on some compost but i don't think it will be ready by spring


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## Greta1 (Mar 13, 2011)

Mr. Riddle,
I have a question. 
What is coffee grounds and egg shells good for? My mother in law uses this in all types of gardens and swears by it. I took horticulture class in High school and our teacher said it was best for flower beds. Can it be used for both vege gardens and flower beds????


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## Tee (Mar 26, 2009)

Hi Greta,

Coffee grounds and egg shells can be added to vegetable or flower gardens. They both are good sources of organic matter which is important for healthy soil. Coffee grounds are a natural material derived from coffee beans so they contain organic matter. Egg shells contain a good amount of calcium and other minerals that are good for plants. Crushed egg shells are especially good for vegetables, like tomatoes, when they are setting fruit for an extra boost of needed calcium.

It's a good idea to use the coffee grounds and egg shells in a sustainable way instead of just throwing them away.


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## Steve_Stillwater (Apr 30, 2011)

I started composting last year and now that spring has arrived and my garden has started-up, In have been using the compost as a soil amendment and organic fertilizer. The results have been fantastic, especially for my tomatoes. Does anyone know if certain vegetables respond better to compost than others?


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## Tee (Mar 26, 2009)

I wouldn't say that a particular vegetable responds better to compost. Compost is really a soil amendment that adds tilth and structure to the soil as well as nutrients. 

There are some vegetables that do not like too much organic matter, such as potatoes. High concentrations of organic matter can cause potatoes to rot sometimes, but we are talking about very high amounts of organic matter that would cause that.

I hope that answers your question.


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## Bruce1 (Jun 24, 2011)

Good advice here:-

"You should always let manures compost for a minimum of nine months before applying it to the vegetable garden. Using fresh manures can burn plants and cause quite a stink."

I would add that you need this amount of time for the composting action to render any weed seeds in the manure to be nonviable. There is nothing worse than lovingly adding a layer of compost & finding a fresh crop of weeds emerging a week or so later.

~Bruce


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## Tee (Mar 26, 2009)

Hi Bruce - Excellent point! You are right, if you have added weeds to your compost it is important to get the pile hot so it kills any seeds. 

Thanks for pointing that out!


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## Louis (Nov 11, 2011)

I truly want to go organic. I believe my soil has been quite depleted and as I live in the city near petrol stations, I may have contamination issues.
Will raised beds help in this matter? How long does it take for a typical soil
to become organic again?


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## Bruce2 (Dec 30, 2011)

You mentioned "Herbivore Manures"

If you ever get a chance to get some aged sheep manure it's great as well. If you can find a farmer with a shearing shed, there will likely be plenty of "dags" under the holding pens - a wheelbarrow full of year old droppings does wonders, and if they'r good and old, getting any weeds seed possibility is slim


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## Brenda2 (Mar 23, 2012)

I mulch my stuff from the kitchen and I checked the PH & the fertility right in the pot from the kitchen and believe it or not, the PH was 7.0 and fertility was better than my garden bed. I put all fresh vegs, egg shells & coffee grounds in it. I put worm castings right into the composter, as the worms love the composter.


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## Sylvi (Jul 22, 2012)

Hello Tee,
What is your view on using cow or horse manure tea? Just found your site and I like a lot. Thanks.


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## Sylvi (Jul 22, 2012)

Hello,
Why do my vegetable plants get more leaves than vegetables? What should a soil test show? How will I know what to add to make more vegetables. thank you.


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## Alanna (Feb 10, 2014)

HI Sylvia, 
From my experience, many fruiting vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, squash, etc) require just the right amount of nitrogen. Too little nitrogen can result in an unhealthy plant but too much nitrogen can result in lush foliage but no veggies!! It's like you're giving the plant a reason to keep producing green leaves so it's putting it's energy into this and not fruiting. If you're foliage isn't over the top (an obvious overload) then you may an issue with a few minerals, particularly calcium. Lack of calcium could be causing your blossoms to rot and therefore, no fruit. In Squash family, you may simply have a pollination issue. Do you have bees and other flying insect around them frequently? If not, you may have to hand pollinate. I hope this helps!


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## Linda4 (Jan 11, 2015)

It is not practical to try to get manure for your garden when you live in a suburban or urban neighborhood. So I don't use it. I use things that I can readily get from my own home... such as coffee grounds, egg shells, sardines, banana peels, molasses, human urine, grass clippings and cat/dog food. It should not be necessary to go around begging farmers for animal manure... or anything else.


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## Kyler Brown (Apr 26, 2016)

My wife and I have been getting into gardening together.  I really appreciated this post, especially because I don't have a lot of experience with fertilizers.  I never would have guessed that fish and seaweed were great for improving soil nutrients.  Thanks for sharing this. https://www.naturesafe.com/markets/organic-farming/


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