I have been gardening this block for 5 years, not an enormous time, but I don't use animal products to fertilise I just use compost/mulching/weed tea/and cover crops.
Everything seems fine. Yet every gardening show or whatever will be like "slather that manure and blood and bone on each year, use fish emulsion, fucking sacrifice your firstborn on that shit". Am I an idiot or do you just not need to do any of that?
edit: not looking for the peanut gallery. Interested in opinions from people who don't use animal products and what their experience has been.
You’ll probably have the answer in another five years…
Much will depend on the soil you inherited and the crops you plant.