Have you ever wondered where chemical fertilizers came from?

One evening, while working at my computer I heard gunfire and mortar shells exploding in the living room. I poked my head around the corner. Black and white images of men and machines were blasting across the TV screen. My husband looked up from his chair. "It's that documentary by Ken Burns about World War II."

As soldiers stormed the beaches, I had a feeling there was one battle the 7-part series would not be covering. It's a battle that continues to this day and one I'm sure we could bring to an end by how we garden. Here's a history lesson you won't find in many textbooks...

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After the war ended, chemical companies in Germany and North America were left with vast amounts of synthetic ammonia gas, used for making explosives and poison gases. How does gardening fit into all this? Ammonia gas is 80 percent nitrogen. Plants need nitrogen for healthy growth. So companies like DuPont, Dow, and Monsanto saw an opportunity to get rid of their surplus by selling it to farmers to put on their crops. The timeless book,  Secrets of the Soil, describes the outcome:

"That chemicals were poisoning the soil, stunting plants and amplified degenerative disease in man and beast was becoming more clear to distinguished authors and scientists on both sides of the Atlantic." Many felt that feeding a plant artificial fertilizers was basically the same as feeding a person intravenously.

Chemical fertilizers seemed to work miracles, at least for a time. Meanwhile, tried-and-true gardening methods like composting, took a backseat to chemicals. Fortunately, organic gardening has made a strong comeback among home gardeners and small, commercial growers, and has even become politically correct. Compost, for example, saves valuable landfill space by recycling yard and household waste.

Compost has been called, "the beautiful substance which gives fertility to soil, productivity to plants, and health to humans."

In future programs we'll learn more about compost, the all-purpose answer to everything in the garden. Meanwhile, support peace, go organic, make compost.