I'm on team organic fertilizer. My husband was on team chemical fertilizer until this year. Last year I talked him into putting lots of manure on a new garden spot to be planted this year. It had all summer through early spring to break down. It sprouted all kinds of grass and weeds which were mowed down and more manure put on afterwards. This year we planted the garden and didn't use any chemical fertilizer at all. Everything grew great. Even the sunflowers on the edge of the main manure applied area have huge stalks and didn't bend or break in some strong wind storms we've had.
My husband is now a convert and has lined up a second source of manure that's even closer to home than the first one.
The garden stayed moist and only had to be watered once during our short drought season. After heavy rains the ground was spongy but you didn't sink to your ankles in mud.
Plus organic is better for our honey bees.
