Potato, grain, melons and fertilisers

To raise soil fertility and get abundant harvests, fertiliser is added. Fertilisers are local (organic) and mineral. Local fertilisers include manure, peat, humus, plant and animal remains; they have all the nutrients a plant needs. Mineral fertilisers are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium kinds and are made in chemical plants. Nitrogen makes leaves and stems grow fast; phosphorus and potassium raise yield and help it ripen quickly. Compost is a mix of plant residue, peat, manure and soil: layers 25–30 cm thick, 2–2.5 m wide, 1–1.5 m high; 100–200 g of mineral (mostly phosphorus) fertiliser is added to 10 kg of plant residue; it is watered once a week and turned once in summer. Mineral fertilisers are chemicals: only adults store and apply them, children do not touch or eat them; when working with manure and compost wear gloves and wash hands with soap afterwards.