Meet my new friend Gumby. Why is he my new friend? He supplies me with some really good shit. I usually put cow manure that I buy around my roses and some of my plants every year, but it seems to lose something in the processing. Fortunately I live in an area where I have an abundant supply of shit from a wide variety of animals. Mark Powell, states in his article, “Contributions to Society: MANURE-FERTILIZER.FUEL, Developed Countries,” The manure produced by dairy and beef cattle, poultry and swine contains vast amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus that in some regions can be land applied at agronomic rates on farms where it is produced. Manure provides essential and secondary nutrients for crop production, increases soil organic matter levels, and enhances soil physical properties and over all soil quality.
Many years ago I discovered this is true, Though, I found after stopping by a Circus when it came to town, they had a supply of manure from a large variety of animals. Sometime, the bigger the animal, the better the product. When I lived in Indiana I had a composed pile of the circus manure and in the middle of winter, we’re talking 0 degrees outside, the pile was 87 degree. This is some hot shit. After it sat for several months I used it around a friend’s roses and some of my own plants. These plants produced roses the size of softballs. For this reason, when I met Gumby, I was very excited.
Last week, I stopped by his home and spoke with the owners. They thought I was sort of strange, but agreed to let me come by occasionally to visit Gumby and follow him around with a shovel. Gumby, doesn’t seem to care, but I am very careful not to piss him off. Nothing like getting bit or kicked by a 800 lb animal. After I collect my treasure, I take it home and pour it in a bucket to make a “shit soup.” I’ll let it sit for a few weeks, It use it on my roses. While searching other blogs, I discovered many companies who actually take dried manure and put them in tea bags. Can you imagine to make your shit tea and mistake it for your good old fashion sun tea.
As for my other plants, I’ll still use my regular fertilizer and save the good shit for the roses.
This is not to say that I against using chemical fertilizers, I do. Britannia Encyclopedia defines fertilizers as
“Natural or artificial substance containing the chemical elements that improve growth and productiveness of plants. Fertilizers enhance the natural fertility of the soil or replace the chemical elements taken from the soil by previous crops. The use of manure and composts as fertilizers is probably almost as old as agriculture. Modern chemical fertilizers include one or more of the three elements most important in plant nutrition: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Of secondary importance are the elements sulfur, magnesium, and calcium.”
In the article “Organic VS Chemical Lawn Care” ,written on the site for Adgrand organic supplies who argue
“Traditional lawn fertilization practices certainly cause surface and Groundwater pollution, but banning the application of certain nutrients is not the answer.
The application of both Nitrogen and phosphorus can be problematic. Chemical fertilizers that are highly concentrated cause water pollution even when they are applied at the recommended rates if a heavy rain or too much irrigation are applied soon after they are applied. However, many homeowners do not calibrate their fertilizer spreaders or just throw fertilizer on their lawns by hand which is the most likely cause of most of the nutrient loading in lakes.”
Boo Hoo, Boo Hoo, We have nuclear power plants dumping in our waters, oil rigs polluting our oceans and they complain about a little runoff in our lakes. I’m willing to make such a sacrifice for my plants. I do not use large quantities and I use both for different reasons. The manure for larger flowers and healthier roses. I use a general 10-10-10 fertilizer for my scrubs trees and other plants because it is quick to apply and who the hell wants to follow a camel around for that much shit.
Many years ago I discovered this is true, Though, I found after stopping by a Circus when it came to town, they had a supply of manure from a large variety of animals. Sometime, the bigger the animal, the better the product. When I lived in Indiana I had a composed pile of the circus manure and in the middle of winter, we’re talking 0 degrees outside, the pile was 87 degree. This is some hot shit. After it sat for several months I used it around a friend’s roses and some of my own plants. These plants produced roses the size of softballs. For this reason, when I met Gumby, I was very excited.
Last week, I stopped by his home and spoke with the owners. They thought I was sort of strange, but agreed to let me come by occasionally to visit Gumby and follow him around with a shovel. Gumby, doesn’t seem to care, but I am very careful not to piss him off. Nothing like getting bit or kicked by a 800 lb animal. After I collect my treasure, I take it home and pour it in a bucket to make a “shit soup.” I’ll let it sit for a few weeks, It use it on my roses. While searching other blogs, I discovered many companies who actually take dried manure and put them in tea bags. Can you imagine to make your shit tea and mistake it for your good old fashion sun tea.
As for my other plants, I’ll still use my regular fertilizer and save the good shit for the roses.
This is not to say that I against using chemical fertilizers, I do. Britannia Encyclopedia defines fertilizers as
“Natural or artificial substance containing the chemical elements that improve growth and productiveness of plants. Fertilizers enhance the natural fertility of the soil or replace the chemical elements taken from the soil by previous crops. The use of manure and composts as fertilizers is probably almost as old as agriculture. Modern chemical fertilizers include one or more of the three elements most important in plant nutrition: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Of secondary importance are the elements sulfur, magnesium, and calcium.”
In the article “Organic VS Chemical Lawn Care” ,written on the site for Adgrand organic supplies who argue
“Traditional lawn fertilization practices certainly cause surface and Groundwater pollution, but banning the application of certain nutrients is not the answer.
The application of both Nitrogen and phosphorus can be problematic. Chemical fertilizers that are highly concentrated cause water pollution even when they are applied at the recommended rates if a heavy rain or too much irrigation are applied soon after they are applied. However, many homeowners do not calibrate their fertilizer spreaders or just throw fertilizer on their lawns by hand which is the most likely cause of most of the nutrient loading in lakes.”
Boo Hoo, Boo Hoo, We have nuclear power plants dumping in our waters, oil rigs polluting our oceans and they complain about a little runoff in our lakes. I’m willing to make such a sacrifice for my plants. I do not use large quantities and I use both for different reasons. The manure for larger flowers and healthier roses. I use a general 10-10-10 fertilizer for my scrubs trees and other plants because it is quick to apply and who the hell wants to follow a camel around for that much shit.
I love your opening line! It is way too cute! I also love the fact that you have a camel in your garden, I really think that it adds to the character of your garden. Gumby is a very quirky addtion and I think it suits your garden well. As for the whole fertilizer thing, I wouldn't know much nor would I have a legit opinion on that, but just because of the fact that I am naturally drawn to gumby I would have to say I would go the natural route!
ReplyDeleteI agree, that opening line is great! I really like the off the wall kind of garden you have, it's nice to see that people can really add some personality to their front yard! "Shit soup" is hilarious! I also don't know all that much about fertilizer, but camel turds HAVE to add something interesting compared to the regular old bags that you can get at Home Depot or Lowe's!
ReplyDeleteI like your opening line, but I like it because my best friend also supplies me with the highest-quality of shit that I've been able to find in Tampa. I guess that's why they always say "this is some fire-shit." They too must also be using the 87 degree shit. I do agree with you its always better to go natural. Seriously though, I've been contemplating on starting my own in-door garden, and I never thought shit would increase the productivity of a plant that much. I can't believe they would really make such a big deal about natural shit being used, in my opinion you can never have to much good-shit, there are a ton of things out there that are far worse than using good-shit to enhance people, I mean plants.
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Your friend is cute. I wouldn't want to have him as a pet, though. It takes alot of food to create that shit. The smell would not be so bad. It creates some beautiful plants.
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