===== Organic soil amendments =====

==== Organic? ====

I don't apply chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides in my gardens. This doesn't certify our gardening as organic, but is is pretty close.

==== Complete organic fertilizer recipe ====

Steve Solomon recommends (and I follow this) his complete organic fertilizer (COF) a specific mix of seed meal, lime (agricultural and dolomite), bone meal or rock phosphate, and kelp meal. I vary the proportions depending on the plant variety and nature of the soil. 

See the article about [[garden:cultivate:tasks:fertilizer:recipe|Organic fertilizer recipes]] for details.

==== Remineralization ====

In //[[garden:resources:print|The Intelligent Gardener: Growing Nutrient-Dense Food]]//, Steve Solomon's 2013 book about scientifically amending soil for nutrient- dense vegetables, I find a comprehensive and rigorous framework for providing exactly the soil and plant nutrients that each particular bed or garden area needs. See the page on [[garden:cultivate:tasks:remineralization|soil remineralization]].

===== Manure =====

==== Scarecrow's Pride ====

Scarecrow's Pride is 100% raw cow manure that is processed for use as a natural fertilizer. It is an soil amendment sourced from local farms and suitable for vegetable gardening. It is locally produced and sustainable, a nutrient-rich, organic soil amendment for gardens and landscaping. 

I learned of it from a fellow gardener who has used it in her organic garden for years. Based on her recommendation I picked up a load and applied it to my fruit trees as a compost and to my raised beds and flowers as a soil amendment. It is available at GE & B Nursery, 24004 Southeast 400th Street E, Enumclaw, WA.

=== Considerations ===

The manure is a fine mixture of fibers from processed cow manure. It spreads easily and has no offensive characteristics.

As I prepared to spread it around my garden and in flower pots and beds, I wondered whether to leave it on top of the soil or to mix it in. My choice was to leave it on top, thinking that micro-organisms would process it and spread it into the soil.

<note important>Leaving it as a layer on top of the soil wasn't a better choice.</note>

{{ :garden:about:plants:fruit:trees:07_img_6801.jpeg?direct&200|Manure layer broken up}}On drying after watering the layer of manure turned into a rigid mat that slowed absorption of the water. This seemed unsuitable for the fruit trees  so I broke up the mat. This improved the effectiveness of watering. 

For flower pots and raised beds I mixed the manure with the existing soil.