Fertilizer

Here's a timely article to read on the subject, just out in National Geographic:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/05/fertilized-world/charles-text

It sure would be easier to just sprinkle a little concentrated nitrogen compound on my garden than hauling big  bags of compost and building piles to make my own.   After shopping for and getting a couple of bags into my community garden plot today I didn't have energy for much else.  And I need to clean up one bin and spread another of the homegrown stuff.

But the dark sides of synthetic fertilizer are many:  algal blooms, soil depletion, greenhouse gases, explosions.

I've really just looked at the pictures so far, but I hope to read this article soon - after I finish the spring hauling of organic garden amendments.