The Scoop on Poop

While most homeowners are familiar with the choice (and extra cost) of organic vs regular produce in the grocery store, they have little familiarity with the same choice of organic vs synthetic fertilizers they can use in treating their lawn and garden. In this two-part blog I will break down the differences between the two and explain the pros and cons of each.
Does My Lemongrass Care?
If you go to the home show and ask a booth rep selling Miracle-Gro he will extoll the virtues of synthetic fertilizer and give you a plethora of reasons why you should choose his products. Much like Farmer Ted down the road from you would love to educate you on why the truckload of chicken manure he’s got in your driveway is worth the 200 bucks he is asking you to shell out. The point is there is still a lively debate on which is better for you to use. But in most instances, the plant itself doesn’t care. A nutrient is a nutrient is a nutrient. So what gives?
A Brief History of Manure Use (I mean Fertilization)
Since the early beginnings of agriculture man has found that using naturally decomposing matter such as bone meal, fish carcasses, dead plant matter, and yes, animal manure, that crops grow faster, bigger, and healthier. Once farms got larger in scale and animals were used to do the heavy work manure became the fertilizer of choice for most crops. Organic fertilizer was the king because there was nothing to overthrow it.
Then in the early 1840’s Justus von Liebig discovered that increasing nitrogen to the root system of plants promoted rapid growth. Since nitrogen could be cheaply derived from ammonia he theorized that crop yields could be increased and areas unfarmed because of poor soil could be used for agricultural purposes increasing the available food supply. The modern synthetic fertilizer industry was born. Although nitrogen has