One downside is more work. Either you make four separate spreader passes or you mix the ingredients in a large container and spread the mixture with one pass. Since the mixture will have a range of particle sizes and densities, you may experience some separation in the spreader bin as you apply it. Because of this, I think that you would get more even coverage with the first approach.

BTW, I normally make two passes, each at half rate with one fertilizer. The first pass is N-S and the second E-W. If you took the same approach with four ingredients, eight passes would be required.

-Deerslayer

I am imagining something like a mixture of:
- milorganite
- corn gluten meal
- alfalfa
- soy bean meal

I do this, but by alternating feedings (minus the CGM which is horrendously expensive around here).

April is alfalfa, May through September are alternating SBM and Milorganite, October is usually a heavy shot of Milorganite, November is winterizer.

Over the course of the year, everybody gets fed.

I second MorpheusPA's approach. Use several organic fertilizers that are readily available and inexpensive in your area.

-Deerslayer

Spring- Cornmeal at 10 lbs/1000 ft^2 in late and mid april for greenup and benificial fungal feeding (if needed).

Mid August and early September: 10 lbs rabbit food or milorganite/1000 ft^2 for seeding, bacterial and/or root growth (alfalfa).

Late september: 10 lbs SBM/1000 ft^2 for N2 and fungal feeding.

Mid October: 10 lbs/1000 ft^2 of milorganite or SBM for N2 and fungal feeding.

In my opinion the more diversity of organic materials the better. I have also spread compost and coffee grounds in "problem areas".

One of the valid arguments against my simple approach to organic gardening (my approach is to use only corn meal for everything), is that there is not enough diversity in one "feedstuff" to feed all the microbes properly. Mixing materials is an excellent idea. I would caution that if you have anything left over at the end of the season, it is going to be buggy come the following spring. So if you bought 50-pound bags of soy, corn, wheat, CGM, alfalfa, and (cough, cough) Milorganite, and you mixed them into one 300 pound batch to apply at the rate of 10-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet, at the end of the season you might have a lot left over. But that would make an excellent fertilizer.

One thing we virtually never talk about in these forums is the speed at which organic materials become available to the plants. Blood meal become available overnight and can burn. Feather meal becomes available in 6 months. Grains take 3 weeks. If you mixed a lot of grains and feathers with a little blood, you would have a balanced fertilizer that gives both immediate results without burning and lasts a long time. Texas Tee is the name of one fertilizer on the market that has done all this. Espoma has something similar, but they always adulterate their products with a chemical or two. It is usually approved for use on organic gardens but my personal opinion is I don't like it.

I tried Ringer Lawn Restore a couple years ago. It is composed of several organic ingredients plus sodium nitrate (aka Chilean nitrate).

This is from the manufacturer's website:

"The nutrients are derived from high-protein, agricultural by-products including feather meal, soybean meal and bone meal along with naturally mined minerals."

While products like Lawn Restore are a combination of ingredients, the ingredients are usually combined and pelletized as a unit. If you mix up a batch at home, the different particle sizes and densities may be difficult to mix thoroughly and apply evenly.

-Deerslayer

I've seen that, too. Supposedly Chilean nitrate is mined out of the ground, as is. I'm not buying into it. It might be the petrified remains of bird guano, but I'm not using it. I'm also not using cobra venom, hemlock mulch, poison ivy pellets, or castor bean meal as fertilizers even though they are really organic, have protein in them, and would add to the diversity of the mix.

"Supposedly Chilean nitrate is mined out of the ground, as is."

You are correct. Chilean nitrate is mined aka "naturally occurring". That's why it can be classified as an organic fertilizer when in actuality it is the inorganic compound, sodium nitrate (NaNO3). Sodium nitrate is also use in explosives, paint, and rocket propellants.

-Deerslayer

But how did it get into the ground in such a pure form?

"But how did it get into the ground in such a pure form?"

In the same way that that all inorganic mined substances (for example, gold and table salt) got there. Some people believe that God made them. Others believe that the earth's elements came from nuclear fusion within the stars.

The fusion process begins with hydrogen (don't ask where the hydrogen came from, nobody knows). Elements then fuse to form heavier elements.

In the basic Hydrogen fusion cycle, four Hydrogen nuclei (protons) come together to make a Helium nucleus. The fusion process continues until all of the natural elements in the periodic table are created. Once the elements have been created, some of them join together into compounds to form Chilean nitrate and other inorganic substances like table salt.

-Deerslayer

But how did it get into the ground in such a pure form?

Layer deposits over very, very, VERY long periods of time--like the limestone that's under my soil. Teeny shelled organisms die, lose their shells, and get deposited in layers that slowly (via compression) form limestone.

Chilean nitrate looks to have been formed by planetary ejection and leaching instead of the action of life (which would tend to nibble on the nitrates for energy). It's not that pure, either--six to ten percent, although purer than anywhere else on the planet.

he fusion process continues until all of the natural elements in the periodic table are created.

Minor point, and only because I'm a stickler. The elements up to iron are formed due to fusion. Iron doesn't give off any energy as it fuses (it requires energy to fuse, actually), and elements above it are only created in a supernova explosion.

That's still technically fusion, but it's not driven by the same processes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Chilean Nitrate

Here's a UC Berkeley link that explains the creation of elements in simple terms. Current thinking is that deuterium, helium, and lithium were created during the "Big Bang". Note that much of it is theory. However, the "Big Bang" is considered the most likely scenario. It has been verified by the detection of electro magnetic echoes from the initial explosion, mathematical models, and other evidence.

Creation of Elements

-Deerslayer

I'm still not using it. But that's me.

??? I don't think that anyone has suggested that you should.

-Deerslayer

DCHall, the reason that I tried Ringer Lawn Restore several years ago is because you listed (recommended?) it as an organic fertilizer in your Organic Lawn Care FAQ. Frankly, I didn't find it any better than SBM.

-Deerslayer

I understand. That was before I became more anal about grains. Some people can't get anything but commercial labeled, bagged products. Folks in California come to mind. You would think they would have more options, but I have had a lot of trouble getting any good grains at a decent price. A couple years ago the only bag of grain I found in the Temecula area (southwestern Riverside county) was soy at $40 for 20 pounds. I finally found bagged products at outrageous prices in a chain nursery.