Soil

In our new unit in Sustag, we are focusing on fertilizer and how to sustainable care for the soil in our one bed gardens. Last week, one of our homework assignments was to complete a reading log on a chapter about fertilizer. A fertilizer is a material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soils to supply plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants. Many sources of fertilizer exist, both natural and industrially produced. In the reading, we read about different sources of nutrients and soil modifiers such as phosphorus and potassium and how their addition to the soil can add important nutrients to the soil and supply them to the surrounding plants. When we planted our one beds in the beginning of the year, we added fertilizer to the top of our bed to help improve the structure of the soil and increase the ability of the soil to hold water. The book reading also talked about how to sustainably add compost and fertilizers and in order to do this use most of the food that is grown at home and "grow" your own fertilizer. Going forward, we will continue to use organic fertilizer in our one bed as an amendment and addition to the cycling of nutrients. —Scott