Chemical fertilizers have dominated the agricultural industry because they work fast and are easy to apply. I also believe it's another way to get rid of excess bi-products produced by petroleum and chemical companies. Instead of disposing of it properly and safely. It's fed to us almost directly. A bit Scary Huh? But I digress.

 Today's society is very fast paced. We want our food fast. We want our mail fast. We want information fast. The boss wants our projects finished fast. We even want our plants and lawns to grow fast. But is there a price to pay for all of this implemented technology? Yes! Consider this.

You received your fast food, but it has little to no nutritional value. You received your mail fast, but it was damaged. You finished the project right away, but not right. Your lawn and garden is the talk of the town, but beauty is only skin deep. It's high demand and competition that has revolutionized the agricultural industry.

 Let's go back, for a moment in time when grandma showed us how to pick ripe tomatoes, boil and peel off the skins, throw it in a pot and add that secret family ingredient. While swimming in the pool all day, we worked up an appetite for spaghetti and Grandma's spaghetti was worth waiting for. So, Why can't we go to the store and get those hard pink tomatoes, use the same recipe, add her secret ingredient, and make it taste just the same? Because Grandma and Grandpa knew that they could not steal from the land. They knew that what you took must be given back. Today we are not giving back. We are literally  stealing from the land. We are putting in synthetic compounds in place of organic substances.

 Do chemical fertilizers work? I think a better question is, are chemical fertilizers the right choice? Consider this the next time you decide to use them. The lawn is greener, but now there is growing concerns about what they are doing to us and our pets. The produce in the stores are leftbigger and firmer but lacking the vitamins and minerals and taste they used to have 30 years ago. The chemicals are degrading the soil. They kill beneficial microorganisms that help promote healthy plant life. They leave high concentrations of toxic salts. The beef industries are producing cattle faster and beefier, but the herbicides and pesticides (not to mention the growth hormones) are also being ingested by us. Chemicals cause plants to grow to quickly and faster than what their roots can keep up with. This leads to plant weakness, sick or diseased crops, and burned plants or root systems. What's more? In order for most of these field crops to grow properly from the use of these harsh chemicals is to genetically modify the plants and seeds.

 Today we must go back to simple and proven ways of gardening. Back to the ways of our heritage. We must rethink, reeducate, and reclaim the land that we have been given to be good stewards of.

In a nutshell, Chemical fertilizers are a short-term solution but a long-term problem.

DID YOU KNOW?  IN one teaspoon of dirt, just a pinch is actually soil.
                           What's the other 90%?...  MICROBES!