Thanksgiving is a time to think of fish as well as turkey. Fish for planting, that is, not for eating.
Remember, it was scraps of fish “planted” beneath seeds that helped create a good enough corn harvest to warrant that first Thanksgiving feast almost 400 years ago.
Experimentation and observation had taught Native Americans that such buried fish helped corn grow. The Pilgrims were wise enough to follow their lead.
How many of us modern gardeners tailor our gardening practices to noncommercial advice and close observation?
WHAT FISH can OFFER
Today, the science behind those buried fish scraps has been spelled out. Fish bones are rich in calcium and phosphorus, but plants cannot “eat” those nutrients until they are solubilized by microorganisms. Phosphorus, important for grain formation, moves slowly through the soil, so burying fish scraps right beneath seeds ensures a good dose of this nutrient early in a plant’s life.
Modern farmers typically lay a band of high phosphorus fertilizer—in synthetic form, not as fish waste—just beneath corn seed at sowing.
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FISH DECOMPOSITION
A couple of details highlight just how wonderful this process is. First, because these are microbial reactions, they carry on most rapidly under moist, moderately warm conditions. Eureka! These are the same conditions under which plants grow fastest and need most nitrogen. So this natural process doles out nitrogen food to plants in sync with growing conditions.
Spread or water in a solution of some synthetic fertilizer beneath a plant, and some of the nitrate or ammonium nitrogen contained in it will force-feed the plant, or wash out of the soil before the plant is ready to use it.
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Article source: Fredericksburg
Image source: SAGA