If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate.

Monday, April 15, 2013

M is for Poop

The work was backbreaking.  The heat was intense.  The smell even worse.  The boy strained with the weight of the tool.  He was much too small for such equipment but his heart was plenty big enough. 
Sweat dropped from his brow, staining the leather work boot.  A dark brown circle in an otherwise tan abyss.  It disappeared almost as quick as it came.  The heat in this wooden enclosure was as intense as being next to Hades front gate.

He felt a sense of pride in his work.  Essentially he was taking care of his family.  Life had been hard with his father gone.
So many chores.  So little sleep.

He hefted the pitchfork one last time and the wheelbarrow was finally full.  Struggling with the weight he wheeled it to the garden out back.  His mother smiled when she saw him.  A dusty, weathered smile but a smile just the same.  She had accepted her fate but wished he hadn't been attached to her demise.  A peasant gardener she made only a few pence each week selling her vegetables in the village market. 
The winter promised to be long and brutal.  She must save every penny in order to see the spring the following year.  She was thankful her garden was so bountiful.  She was thankful her horse and milking cow provided the nutrients to grow such crops in this otherwise devoid soil.
The boy dumped his wheelbarrow in the compost heap and returned once again to the stalls.  The miracle of nature began it's cycle yet again.
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Manure! 
You have to feed the soil that feeds you.  Manure is an excellent way to do this.  I won't go into the fine details but soil must contain the right nutrients to grow good crops.  It is as important as growing your garden in the sunshine and not the shade.
NPK or nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (K is potassium the elements name on the periodic table)

Nitrogen gives the plant it's greenery such as stems and leaves.
Phosphorus helps to move all the nutrients through the plant
Potassium helps to develop strong roots systems.
The numbers you see on a bag of fertilizer represent the above info.

Manure contains this.  It also contains the leftover roughage that the animal ate.  This is called humus. This slice of the cow pie helps condition and aerate the soil so water and nutrients can be absorbed by the plant better.

If you collect raw manure for your plants you need to let it compost for awhile before adding to your garden.  Like a fine wine it needs time to reach it's peak.  Adding early in the spring or fall and tilling in is acceptable. 
Manure from some animals is not real good for your garden.  Such as dogs and cats or pigs.  These may contain parasites.  Yuck!
These guys are much better:
Rabbits are the best of the barnyard buddies.  (That is why he has the sign at 3.5% Nitrogen in his poo)

So whether it be a

or a

or a
Manure is a beneficial part of a successful garden.

Sure you can buy it in a bag but that takes all the fun out of it!
So next time someone says," Oh horseshit".  You can say,"Yep in the garden!"

This was a fun post but now I'm pooped.  See ya at the market!
-Bushman

3 comments:

  1. We make it a guessing game while driving in the country to see if we can guess what kind of animal farm we are near. I usually win knowing my different animal shits. Not a talent most people brag about... but it's what I have to work with. haha

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  2. So, I can buy it? I was worried there for a minute that my colon would fall out.

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  3. I didn't know that about bunny poop - we had two bunnies when Miss CP was little - mind you, we lived in an apartment back then and had no garden... gosh, now I think of all the yummy veggies I could have grown.

    Great post!
    Jenny @ PEARSON REPORT

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