Manure

Animal manure, more commonly called poop, dung or quite a few other things is great for the garden. It’s not high in nutrients but it increases a plant’s ability to absorb and use what’s there over a longer period of time. This makes it very effective fertilizer. It’s usually cheap too, if you know a farmer with cows, sheep, horses or pigs who may have a whole pile of it with your name on it! Animal manure is affected by many things:

• which animal it came from
• what the animal ate
• how thoroughly it was digested
• what bedding the animal used
• how the manure has been handled and stored

Manure loses 60% of its nutrients in less than 6 months if it’s left outside, uncovered but it is still a goodconditioner.

Don’t use manure from animals that have eaten meat. It becomes too acidic for plants and smells really, really, really bad. That’s why we don’t use pet dung on our gardens . . . we’ve all seen what it will do to a lawn! Most manure contains weed seeds so be sure to mulch your garden well so they don’t get a chance to grow in your vegetable and flower gardens. Caution: when using manure that has sawdust or wood shavings in it you may need to add nitrogen to the .

soil conditioning

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