44. Feed your plants
Instead of using store-bought fertiliser or perpetuating the synthetic-fertiliser-hungry-big-ag, have a go at making your own fertiliser for free!
Synthetic fertilisers made a huge difference to the world during the 20th century, massively increasing crop yields, and allowing the human population to grow by billions. Indeed, many of us might not be here today if it wasn’t for their invention (read up on the Haber-Bosch process, if you want to learn more).
But synthetic fertilisers also cause greenhouse gas emissions (c. 2.5% of global emissions), created during the manufacturing process, fossil fuel mining and transportation, synthesis of ammonia and conversion of ammonia to various N fertiliser products. Plus, many farmers apply excessive nitrogen fertiliser to their crops. When nitrogen and phosphorus are not fully utilised by crops, they can be lost from the farm, emitting potent nitrous oxide (N2O) and deteriorating downstream water quality.
The problems with synthetic fertilisers are widely reported, and the solutions offered range from regulating fertiliser producers (improving standards of nitrogen performance in fertiliser and increasing environmental credentials), educating farmers about appropriate fertiliser use, planting N-fixing crops, and reducing tillage. But rarely will you see individuals empowered to contribute to reducing the emissions caused by agriculture. Solution 9 'Support Regenerative Farming’ addresses this, but we also think that everyone with the privilege to grow plants can make a positive difference.
For this weeks’ #52climatesolutions, we ask you to feed your plants. Instead of using store-bought fertiliser or perpetuating the synthetic-fertiliser-hungry-big-ag, have a go at making your own fertiliser for free! You can make excellent supplements for your garden using worm tea, manure, compost, green weeds, and seaweed! It can be a simple as popping some nitrogen-rich material into a clean bucket of water and letting it steep for a few weeks – the result will be a lovely liquid fertiliser that you can use on your plants. In doing this, you will avoid the greenhouse gas emissions from the store-bought fertiliser, avoid packaging, and contribute to growing your own food, thereby abstaining from polluting big-ag. All while saving a bit of money.
Here’s a little flashback excerpt from our book, which just celebrated its 5th anniversary! Thankfully, this info is timeless so it’s all still very relevant info. This makes for a quick and easy weekend project with whatever you have access too, so have fun and get brewing!
Make this: liquid fertiliser to feed your garden
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