I've been watching the coming fertilizer shortage, due to the war in Iran) and its impact on farming and gardening in the coming season(s). It's a massive concern for farmers and gardeners, as well as the general public. Food prices are going to be affected, as well as food availability itself. As gardeners, we already have our "victory gardens" in place.
Ashley of Gardening In Canada on YouTube explains the shortage and its implications succinctly. She also offers natural fertilizer ideas for the home gardener in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEFlCbHyOUw
Personally, I have been using some of her suggestions already, like using leaves as compost and growing beans as nitrogen fixers (for next year). I'm going to double down on making my own compost, which I've done half-assedly up to this point. I have also stockpiled organic fertilizer for this year and next.
by sbinjax
6 Comments
I saw something about this on Bloomberg a few days ago. Rising costs and shortages are something to be concerned about. Thanks for sharing!
There are also lots natural fertilizers available out there! I’m thinking blood meal, kelp meal, bone char, rock phosphate, etc. These are probably going to be affected much less, though I’m sure demand for these will increase as synthetic fertilizer supplies become limited.
Seems highly unlikely to me that the boutique ferts — “organic” or otherwise — most home gardeners are wont to use would see a proce jump (outside of outright price gouging). The more commercial-type stuff I buy in 50lb bags might be another story, of course!
Fyi — if you like to use “organic” dry ferts, check out Steve Solomon’s COF sometime. I think he has several recipes for it on his blog/website (and in any case, his books are readily available & have various iterations of it in them). It’s good stuff, and mixing up a batch of your own is well worth the effort….key is finding the main ingredients (seedmeal, bonemeal/rock phosphate, etc.) at a reasonable price, but that’s not terribly hard (a real ag supply company is the place to get those — for me, that’s Wilbur-Ellis). I’ve never actually priced it out, but for sure it comes out well less than $1/lb even in 2026 prices.
Check out r/composting for ideas of how to compost absolutely everything and keep as much of the nutrients on site as possible. Including urine, which is an excellent source of nitrogen, and only needs to be diluted or composted.
I got chickens last year so have unlimited fertilizer it seems. Don’t suggest that route unless you are prepared for how much work they are. Everywhere said it was pretty easy, but for me it’s not. They are rewarding, but a lot of work to keep clean, temperate, and fed/watered.
A few weeks ago I started a vermicomposting tote! I’m still learning, but it is fun saving food scraps from a landfill. I’ll have enough compost in a few months to start adding it to my garden.
My wife is not a fan of having worms in the house, but she has accepted it.