The best fertilizer for your lawn and garden is homemade compost, made from food scraps, fall leaves and lawn clippings. If you still need store-bought products, there are some things to keep in mind.

Commercially made compost has a high level of naturally occurring nitrogen and phosphorous which is released gradually and is absorbed more easily by plants. Other soil improvers, such as worm castings, Epsom salts and decomposed organic matter called humates, add nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Watch out for commercial fertilizers, even those that are labeled “organic”, because they most likely contain harmful ingredients, like animal byproducts or sewage sludge. Animal byproducts, such as bone meal or fish meal, may have come from industrial farming operations, and sewage sludge, might be contaminated with diseases or heavy metals.

The Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) and the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA), an accredited certifying agency for the USDA National Organic Program, approve of products which have been composted according to USDA Organic standards. The only synthetic materials that can be added to NOFA approved compost are those allowed in the production of organic crops.

Have your soil tested by your local USDA Cooperative Extension Service to determine pH and which nutrients your grass is missing, or test it yourself with a soil testing kit.

Once you know the pH, you may add organic matter to help balance it. Lawns prefer slightly acidic soils with a pH range of 6.5 to 7, while flowers, shrubs and trees vary in their pH preferences. Lime helps balance acidic soil, while sulfur helps with alkaline.

To find out the nutrient content of a fertilizer, look for the “NPK” number (NPK stands for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium). A “5-6-5″ NPK number, for example, means that a fertilizer is 5% nitrogen, 6% phosphorus and 5% potassium with the remaining 84% representing filler material.

Spread only about 1/2 an inch of compost on your lawn at a time. Even though plant-based nitrogen is more easily absorbed, composts and organic fertilizers may still be applied too heavily, leading to nitrogen- and phosphate-heavy runoff.

Avoid applying fertilizer before a downpour which will rinse it away before it gets absorbed. Wear a mask if you are applying dusty fertilizers made with lime or any other fine particles that you might inhale.

Researchers tested to see if the love-affair between the wasp and fig could stand the test of a long-distance relationship.

In an environment pumping with pollinator promiscuity, the symbiotic relationship of the wasp and fig compel a loyalty uncommon in the natural world. The fig tree, which serves as a nest for the wasp’s eggs, only opens its pollen-rich male flowers once the wasps are born. The same tree will wait two weeks to open its female flowers, to avoid being self-pollinated, with consideration that the wasps only live a couple of days.

So, the young wasps sip from the male flower’s small reserve of nectar, picking up pollen on the way, and then go out to find their next meal at another fig tree’s more nectarous female flower. They eat, pollinate, mate, lay eggs, and finally, die. Just like that.

Sadly though, due to deforestation, researchers worry that the fig trees will soon become too few, too isolated for the little wasps to get to them in their brief lives, effectively breaking the reproduction capability of the wasp and fig.

In an attempt to find out just how far the wasps were able to travel from a male flowering tree to a female flowering tree, scientists collected seeds from 79 different fig trees across Namibia and performed a DNA test on each.

Here’s what they found: While some trees may be closer to one another, the wasps still preferred to travel long distances to find a female fig flower. The paternity tests found that, on average, the wasps traveled a whopping 88.6 miles to pollinate, that’s in one evening! Actually scientists found at least one tree was pollinated with the DNA of another that was 150 miles away.

The results of this research are reassuring to scientists who fear that fig trees isolated by great distances due to deforestation will gradually be lost. So these two lovers will bestaying together, we’re happy to report.

The group of scientists who sequenced the genomes of three different minute wasp species, say that their work has proven that the bees have qualities, useful for both pest control and medicine. They could even improve understanding of genetics and evolution.

The tiny insects lay their eggs inside larger hosts, including caterpillars. When the eggs hatch, they kill the unsuspecting host from the inside out. Very Machiavellian of them…

The wasps all fall in the Nasonia genus, and they present other gifts too, outside of the pesticidal forum. Like the fruit fly, a common genetic research subject, the wasps are small, easily grown in a laboratory and reproduce quickly, but they only have one set of chromosomes. Singe chromosome sets, more commonly found in lower single-celled organisms, like yeast, is a wonderfully handy genetic tool. It especially facilitates the study of how genes interact with one another. Socialable genes…

The scientists also discovered that the wasps have acquired genes related to the human smallpox virus. This revelation may have applications for the study of evolutionary processes.

Here’s what John Werren, a professor of biology at the University of Rochester in New York had to say about this beesness:

”

Parasitic wasps attack and kill pest insects, but many of them are smaller than the head of a pin, so people don’t even notice them or know of their important role in keeping pest numbers down…there are over 600,000 species of these amazing critters, and we owe them a lot. If it weren’t for parasitoids and other natural enemies, we would be knee-deep in pest insects…therefore, if we can harness their full potential, they would be vastly preferable to chemical pesticides, which broadly kill or poison many organisms in the environment, including a single set of chromosomes, which is more commonly found in lower single-celled organisms such as yeast, is a handy genetic tool, particularly for studying how genes interact with each other…emerging from these genome studies are a lot of opportunities for exploiting Nasonia in topics ranging from pest control to medicine, genetics, and evolution…”

A quick overview: The method, invented in the 1970′s, involves analyzing the environment you are trying to build and jumpstarting the system. Think of it as trying to get a dough to rise with a starter kit. For example, if you’re trying to grow chickens, you take into account what chickens need and produce, add those into your ecosystem.

Once you add part of it, the system can begin to work to help along the next part, meaning, the chicken manure starts breaking into the soil, making it more fertile and producing more feed for chickens. If you do it well enough, you have a nice closed ecosystem going, that according to permactulture farmer Geoff Lawton, can even help the desert bloom again.

“Almost all the deserts on earth at one point were forested,” he said. “They all have different types of oasis systems. What you’re doing is picking different points in the desert and turning them into a rich oasis.”

Check out this video for a good overview, and see if you’re interested in the cause.

Specifically, it is the big leaf maple that generates the most electricity. Scientists attached the tree to a booster that stored the energy for later use, and eventually got the charge up to 1.1 volts, which is enough to fun low-power electronic equipment.

As for the implications of the experiment, they are so far not so far-reaching, but for now it’s the concept that is important. It’s also hard to say how extracting electrical power from trees would effect the growth and health of the tree itself. But scientists do believe they could use tree-powered equipment self-monitor the health of forests. Another possibility is that they could use forest-powered equipment to detect forest fires in progress and catch them early on. That could save a lot of good acreage.

“Normal electronics are not going to run on the types of voltages and currents that we get out of a tree,” one of the researchers said. “As new generations of technology come online, I think it’s warranted to look back at what’s doable or what’s not doable in terms of a power source.”

In the most baseline of conclusions, this at least shows us that energy is available all over, in every living thing. The question is, how to make it useful.

“Of all the organic varieties, Pendragon was the best apple variety and contained seven of the eight kinds of healthy components at the highest levels,” said pharmacist Michael Wakeman, who, like most of the people quoted on the internet, does not get specific enough and it annoys me. At least, the sound bites all sound too general. What are the components, man?

Here’s a little more information I found. The apples were tested for a range of plant compounds which have been linked to reducing cholesterol, inflammation and blood sugar levels. They also had anti-cancer properties, which we’re always for.

And here’s something interesting. The fact that they (organic apples I mean) aren’t grown with pesticides, means that they have to naturally develop more immunity to bugs and pests. Those compounds that the apples naturally develop to protect themselves are the very ones that are the healthy ones. This is theoretical, but it sounds logical, and could prove to be correct with a little more research. We’ll keep you updated.

His findings come just weeks after the Food Standards Agency found little, if any, nutritional difference between organic and non-organic foods.

“This research confirms that while some measures of organic versus non-organic food benefits might appear equivocal, more sophisticated analysis of compounds which are newly recognized as being of importance to good health do show a significant difference.” Until the next study comes out of course.

My opinion is that this is less of an issue of personal health than it is an issue of planetary health. It just seems right that plants should be protecting themselves instead of being pesticided to death, and the planet doesn’t seem to like when people do that too much.

The Pendragon is not available to buy in supermarkets and had to be obtained by the researchers from a private orchard that specializes in conserving old varieties of fruit.

The anti-cancer compounds the apples were tested for are called phenols, which evidence shows may fight the development of lung cancer.

For people new to this blog, the term “organic” means farmers avoid pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers. Everything they put in, they grow. The farm becomes an inner nature cycle instead of having input form outside sources.

Of course, they have to fight the same things conventional farmers have to fight. Weeds, pests, lack of nutrients in the soil. They have ways of doing that, of course. “We use tillage and crop rotations to control weeds and crop rotations for soil building and fertilizer,” Duane Boehm said.

They also use crop residues for fertilizer and “green manure” crops such as alfalfa. The nutrients they need for the crops, they grow with other crops. The Boehms are certified as organic growers by the Organic Crop Improvement Association, but they don’t even have a computer. They keep records the old fashion way, and file them away. “We keep track of when we plant every field, what seeds and inputs are used, cultivation practices, whatever,” Duane said. Records are critical to maintaining certification.

However, their farm is not certified chemical-free. “The main thing, is we’re not certifying our product is chemical free,” Duane said. “We certify to how we grow it. In the real world, there’s no way I can prove my product hasn’t been exposed to airplane and wind drift. We certify to our practices.” Those practices are minimizing soil inputs. The only ones he uses, he says, are seeds, and diesel fuel to run the farm equipment.

To help prevent wind drift from pesticides, a 30-foot buffer encircles the farm, and the neighbors don’t mind at all.

On the average, Boehm said his yields probably are less than his conventional farming neighbors, but the Boehm make more money off the grain because of its status. That, and there’s not much overhead costs when you don’t use fertilizer or other inputs.

The Boehms market their products directly to the flour mill after cleaning it, and demand appears to be growing. Some is even shipped overseas.

They agree organic farming is more hands-on and more labor intensive, but, “The bottom line is the integrity of the product. We’d rather not say we’re producing crops. We produce food.”

The issue here is nitrogen. It’s a very important component of fertilizer, and is currently provided through man made manufactured fertilizer. It can get really expensive, especially in cash strapped continents like Africa. The tree’s name is Faidherbia albida. It’s one of several trees that can capture nitrogen from the air through its roots and incorporate it into its leaves.

The kicker is that it grows in the dry season and drops its leaves in the rainy season, when crops start growing. The leaves drop with the nitrogen in them, and fertilize the crops below. That is, if they’re planted below.
Three- to four-fold increases in corn yields were reported, as well as yields for millet and cotton.

Why wasn’t this reported before? Other potentials for this tree are that it makes mining for fertilizer less necessary, once you have a natural source that sucks it out of the air and puts it in its leaves. That clears up a lot of pollution and industrial activity that is invested in producing potash, and things of the like.

The beginning of an answer of why the rat-eater has only been discovered just now: First, it’s stuck on a remote island in the Philippines and doesn’t exist anywhere else. Second, there are only a few hundred of these things, and the local Filipinos there haven’t really gotten around to the Western World just yet. So it took a team of scientists following up on old reports from missionaries who got lost in the jungle to get around to actually documenting them. So it seems there is yet another hurdle that those who will stop at nothing to convert Aboriginals to Christianity have passed – not even a giant rat-eating plant will stop them. I mean, look at this thing! Nature is freaky sometimes.

Let’s get down, dirty, and Latin for a second. The plant, they decided is named Nepenthes attenboroughii, thanks to taxonomic classification and somebody’s idea that every species has to have a Latin name. Though here’s another surprise – the second word is actually a Latinized version of “Attenborough,” named after the British TV broadcaster David Attenborough.

In response, Attenborough spoke thusly:

“I was contacted by the team shortly after the discovery and they asked if they could name it after me. I was delighted and told them, ‘Thank you very much.’ I’m absolutely flattered. This is a remarkable species and the largest of its kind.”

Yeah, OK. Tell that to the rats after they get digested down to their skeletons. The pitcher’s large 4-foot sack generally fills with water, after which it secretes nectar to attract prey, insects and rodents fall in, cannot climb back up the waxy surface and are slowly, inexorably, digested to the bone.

Though I must admit, in a odd sort of way, it is quite a beautiful piece of nature. I could take a bath in there. I’d be able to get out of the waxy surface. I’m good with waxy surfaces.

It’s the oil in these spices that does the job. So well, in fact, they’re called “killer spices.”
“We are exploring the potential use of natural pesticides based on plant essential oils – commonly used in foods and beverages as flavorings,” said study presenter Murray Isman, of the University of British Columbia. To make it into a pesticide, farmers generally put small amounts of the species in water, and the rest is history. The bugs either die, or they’re repelled away.

Farmers are already using the new method, which has shown some success in protecting organic strawberry, spinach, and tomato crops. And unlike other chemical pesticides, they don’t need approval for use. After all, it’s just rosemary, so come on! That, and insects can’t evolve a resistance to natural killer spices, whereas they generally can adapt to a chemical poison after some time.

They even show promise in killing and/or repelling home pests. Flies, roaches (I’ve got plenty of those at home) so take some spice, grind it up, put it in some water and see what happens. Comment. Let us know if it works.
Want some more homemade pesticide ideas? Watch this.