The extremes people can go to so they don't have to buy fertilizers! Did you know that some gardeners compost their dog's poop and cat's litter? While yes that definitely can save you money, it does come with serious health risks. The better option would to find other safer compost ingredients and use them to make organic manure. Where to get them? - Diners spend a substantial amount of money to get rid of leftover foods and other kitchen waste. Ask them for the kitchen waste and they'll be more than willing to hand it over. - Got neighbors who've got rabbits or other herbivores as pets? Ask them to help out. Good neighbors never can say no.
We never buy fertilizer although we did when we moved in this h ouse in 2001 because we overhauled the soil before we made the garden in the backyard. We now have a compost pit, just a planter box in the side our house, where we throw all leftover vegetables and fruit (peels). It is a natural fertilizer because when decayed, compost is produced that is very healthy for the plants.
To be fair - although a great tip as there is no doubt that making your own compost does save money - especially as a large part of our kitchen waste can be made use of this way - I would just say - that as most gardeners do this not to save money - but because they don't like using chemical fertilizers - as they garden organically - I'm not sure that I would agree that those people who compost their pet's waste are actually gardeners or that they are doing it to save money either - particularly as most real gardeners would never dream of doing that or for that matter using leftover scraps such as meat, fish or dairy products either. With regard to animal manures - a word of warning - although they can be beneficial for the soil if properly composted - meaning aged and sterile - using fresh animal manures is not advisable under any circumstances. For the simple reason that - apart from the fact that animal manures normally smell pretty pungent if fresh, present an additional weed problem and can also burn plants due to the high mix of soluble nitrogen compounds and ammonia - they are more importantly a health hazard - due to the fact that all animal manure is known to contain high levels of bacteria and not just Salmonella but E-Coli - unless it has been properly composted and aged correctly for at least six months - to make it sterile.
I don't find fertilizer to be that expensive. I buy a small box of houseplant fertilizer at Walmart for $6 or get the Jobe's plant food spikes for $1. I once tried compost tea and had good results, even though my plants stunk on watering day.
