Hi Bill,
What I have discovered is that America is very cheap to live in, a great
country with everything, and very nice people, and I was going to emigrate
there, but stopped in the last minute because of the cost of medical care. I
became ill a few months before going there, and basically I would not be
able to afford the cost of being ill. If the US had National Health like in
the UK I would be there. My father lived and died in Michigan, so my wife
wanted to emigrate. I had a quote with my medical history about $7000 for me
and the wife per year, and that would be drain on my recourses.
This end to save money I do not us fertilizer but I rot down most of the
gardening rubbish, grass cuttings, pruning from the fruit trees, and I grind
the whole lot down and make compost. I was forced to do this because my soil
is clay, and it just needed some real goodness the break down the clay.
All the best M8
Paddy

"Repeating Decimal" wrote in message
...
in article , paddys1 at

wrote on 5/4/03 10:16 AM:

Hi Bill the cost of salt peter or potassium nitrate is pricey and a bit
of a
fire risk, and sodium chloride is common salt.
Therefore salt is a lot cheaper. Laundry powder must by detergent in the
UK
as I have not heard the term, us poor Brits stick to what is cheap. All
the
best M8.

True enough. But if you use chemical fertilizer anyway, potassium nitrate
is
an effective way for adding potassium and nitrogen.

I don't know how it is in the UK, but in the US farmers do not buy
boutique
potassium nitrate at garden supply stores the way most casual gardeners
do.
They go to agricultural supply houses where they can buy it 20% or less of
that price. The primary cost of nitrogen fertilizer is in the energy, read
petroleum, used for fixing nitrogen. Potassium is relatively scarce in
nature compared to sodium. So, it will not be very cheap either.

Bill