Fish heads for plants

Not sure about the heads but my dad always used the scales for his garden.

Just the scales or bones and all?

Or possums in your yard. They will drag the carcasses and leave remnants all over the place. I have to put a giant chunk of concrete over anything like that.

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I have a friend that does this all the time and I've put fish heads and carcasses buried in my compost pile before.

It's not bad, but if you have a dog that likes to dig and find stuff, it could get nasty.

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Or if you live out in the boonies there's no telling what might show up to go dig in your garden.


But seriously...have you never been taught Early American History? It's known the Indians taught the pilgrims to grow maize by planting the kernels along with whole or partial fish as a fertilizer.

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Before learning the best crops to grow in their new home, the Pilgrims would have probably tried (and failed) to grow rye, barley and wheat and a variety of English garden vegetables, according to Soil scientist Tom Sauer, who is with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service.

The Wampanoag grew corn, squash, and beans – crops known as the “Three Sisters” that make a potent growing team, especially in poor, sandy soil that doesn’t retain nutrients or water. The three plants work well together to create fertile soil. Beans are nitrogen fixers, pulling nitrogen from the air, and with the help of soil microbes, turning the nitrogen into plant food. The corn provides the beans a support on which to grow and the squash helps in water retention and with weed control.

The Wampanoag also used wood ash and fish as plant fertilizers. Sauer says wood ash “would have been a relatively concentrated nutrient source” that contains calcium, which acts as a liming agent to raise the pH level. It also contains potassium and smaller amounts of phosphorous and other nutrients.

“Since the yields weren’t very high, applying wood ash would probably have replaced quite a lot of the potassium and phosphorous removed with the crop,” Sauer tells Modern Farmer in an email.

Using fish as a fertilizer was a common practice by many of the Native peoples of the East Coast and provided nutrients and amino acids to help in plant growth, according to tradition. Fish fertilizer, albeit in liquid form, is still in use today. Sauer, on the other hand, doesn’t believe fish is a great plant nutrient source, but says that it would have helped the soil somewhat since “any organic material will release some nutrients when it decomposes. It may have also added organic matter that helped retain water near the seed so maybe it was more than just a nutrient source.” Either way, Native American farming practices helped save Pilgrims from starving to death.

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from ModernFarmer

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But seriously...have you never been taught Early American History?

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Good find. Was about to post I remember being taught in grade school many, many years ago how American Indians taught the pilgrims how to grow crops using fish carcasses as fertilizer.

It's gonna break down like any organic matter into a nitrogen rich fertilizer. Personally I wouldn't go straight to the garden soil, as a lot of vegetable plants aren't necessarily going to benefit from a shite ton of nitrogen. I think a better way to do it is in the compost pile then feed plants with it as they need it.