Using compost instead of artificial fertilizers is one way to help your soil as well as your pocketbook! Look for local compost sources, or start making compost yourself. If your soil tests indicate a specific nutrient deficiency, you may want to use a specialized amendment.
Title: Soil Conditioning: Establishing a Successful Gardening Foundation
Organization: Home & Garden Information Center. Clemson Cooperative Extension
Description: Different amendments are discussed in this website.
Title: Organic Matter and Soil Amendments
Organization: Home & Garden Information Center. University of Maryland Extension
Description: A list of common soil amendments, including compost, and practical information are included in this site, which provides a good understanding of the options available in the market.
Title: Changing the pH of Your Soil
Organization: Home & Garden Information Center. Clemson Cooperative Extension
Description: Explaining how “Soil pH directly affects nutrient availability for plants,” this website provides useful information on amendments to correct pH.
Title: 20 (Organic) Ways to Boot Soil Fertility
Organization: Rodale Institute
Description: “You diligently took soil tests this winter and now they’ve come back indicating that potassium or phosphorus is low on some fields, here and there you have a zinc deficiency, and you know that you will probably need some additional nitrogen. But you’re organic! No synthetic fertilizer for you! What do you do?”
The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) has a host of information on their website. For instance:
Title: Compost Made Easy/Haciendo Abono Facilmente
Organization: NewYork Botanical Garden
Description: Composting basics: what, why, how, and when. One-page bilingual guide.
Title: Outdoor Composting Guide
Organization: NewYork Botanical Garden
Description: A comprehensive guide to composting, from setting up a bin to checking to see when the compost is ready.
Title: How to Incorporate Compost in Your Garden
Organization: NewYork Botanical Garden
Description: This four-minute video demonstrates how to incorporate compost when preparing a vegetable garden for the growing season.
Title: Backyard Composting
Organization: Greenburgh Nature Center
Description: A how-to for beginning composters from the Greenburgh Nature Center, this webpage explains methods (bin, tumbler, etc.), lists what materials can be composted, and answers other FAQs. You can use yard trimmings and food scraps to build compost for your yard while reducing the amount of waste that ends up in the Westchester County incinerator.
Title: End of Season Soil Prep: Mineral, Cover Crops, and Mulch
Organization: Bionutrient Food Association: Westchester/NYC chapter
Description: This 14-minute video explains how to set up next year's garden soil in the autumn. It suggests mixing in minerals such as azomite and basalt (rock dust) or BFA’s Spring Blend mineral mix, adding compost, and planting cover crops. It also demonstrates how gardeners can cover the soil with a layer of mulch material if it’s too late for cover crops (past October).
Title: Restrictions on the Application and Sale of Lawn Fertilizer Within the County of Westchester (Local Law)
Organization: Westchester County
Description: Soil in Westchester county is naturally rich in phosphorus, and fertilizers containing this element are major sources of stormwater pollution. This local law, passed in 2009, restricts fertilizers containing phosphorus to a few uses, including brand new lawns and vegetable gardens, and outlaws the display for sale of these kinds of fertilizers, which should only be made available “on request.”