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Have you ever wondered what goes into that bag of Blood n Bone? Or, how they make fish fertiliser smell so good?
Well...wonder no more. This great resource will answer all your questions from which fish are used, how they are pulped into emulsion and bonemeal and even some of the more controversial questions.
One Q&A I enjoyed was the response given by Bill Ginn, Marketing Coordinator of Alaska Fish Fertilizer, when asked how they could call their product organic when they added synthetic additives.
Because of the unique properties of Fish Emulsion, the states- who handle the certification of both fertilizers and organic farming- have decided that if less than 1% by weight of fish emulsion is synthetic, then it can pass muster as Natural Organic (the proper term for non-chemical fertilizers). Without this additive, the emulsion creates fermented gases, which can cause rupturing or exploding (with glass bottles like we once used) bottles on the store shelves, or on your workshop bench.
Could you imagine shopping in store or nursery and having a bottle of fish emulsion explode over you? Hardly a pretty sight...and, ohh...that smell!
I'm sure we can allow 1%.
Comments
Eww... That doesn't sound like fun. Even the "unscented" fish emulsions stink horribly!
When we would go fishing in the local pond when we were younger, we always brought back a bluegill or two for the rose bushes. Grandma and Mom would bury them near the "feet" of the rose bushes, under a layer of soil and mulch, and swore that it helped them bloom. :)
Posted by: Kim | April 5, 2007 12:16 PM
I'm all with you; there are limits to everything...
Posted by: Malin (Indoor Gardener) | April 5, 2007 4:31 PM