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.

Useful guide to gardening and climate change

There isn't much new here, especially for those who have been gardening with an eye toward environmental impacts and sustainability, but it's a great summary of the things one can do to lessen a garden's contribution to climate change.

From the Union of Concerned Scientists
http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/food_and_agriculture/climate-friendly-gardener.pdf

Will rising prices mean less food waste?

That's the question posed at the end of this article on wasting food in America.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/weekinreview/18martin.html?ex=1368936000&en=e6a84a8faa66ddbe&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

We've all heard the statistics, I'm sure, and know it's an appalling situation. And anyone who shares a dumpster with neighboring apartments or condominiums certainly knows the score.

We have small yards here where I live, but no green or organic waste dumpster. I don't eat meat, and I do compost, so I don't have much of that childhood guilt about the starving people in other countries. (The country that comes to mind first when you fill in the blank of "Save the starving -----" is probably a clue as to when you were in grade school.) But one look at what others throw out is always a great reality check. It's appalling. And sometimes the food looks almost as good as that in the Times article.

Then when you think about how foodcentric life is around here, the potential waste is astounding.