The Secret to a Healthy Garden is Hiding in Your Toilet

Even though your garden beds may be empty, or your patio planters are done for the season, there are still a few things you need to be adding to the soil to get it ready for next spring. I’m talking about fertilizers and amendments. As this trend of growing heirloom vegetables continues, there seems to be a transition away from synthetic fertilizers to feed them. As a result, health conscious homeowners like myself are returning to using manure and naturally occurring materials as soil conditioners. So do you know what poo is right for you?

Before you run out to your neighbour’s farm and load up a wheelbarrow, you have to follow a few simple guidelines. Raw manure releases large amounts of nitrogen, which can burn your plants. It needs to be composted before it is garden safe. Manure is full of natural bacteria such as E.coli or other pathogens and is often sterilized before it is sold to consumers. This sterilization also helps remove the weed seeds that are naturally passed through the animal and can end up straight in your garden.

Also, different manures have different benefits and challenges when you work them into the beds or around your perennial flowers. Knowing what you are working with and what the end result is half of the battle.

Cows have multiple stomachs, which means that they are better at digesting their food and breaking down the organic matter and the weed seeds. While considered lower in nutritional value for your plants, cow manure is excellent as an all-purpose amendment for your existing soil.

Chicken manure is definitely the best for your leafy greens as it contains the highest amounts of nitrogen. This also means that you need to be extra careful to ensure that it is well composted or it can definitely do damage to your tender plants.

Horse manure is another good all-purpose soil conditioner, which is relatively low in nutrients. The big issue with the horse digestive system is that they only process about a quarter of the weeds seeds. The rest go straight into the garden and start to grow.

Alpaca manure definitely has some advantages over the other options. Alpacas are ruminant (cud-chewers) with three stomachs. Their process of digestion reduces the organic matter and allows the manure to go into the garden with less composting. It is also odour-free which is a plus for the gardener!

Sheep Manure is another hot…but not so hot manure. It is often drier making it easier to work with, but like cow and horse manure, sheep poo can burn tender plants. It is also often full of weed seeds because sheep are notorious for eating almost everything in the pasture.

Just remember that if you plan to use manure directly from a farmer it will contain natural pathogens that need to be dealt with to make it safer for your family. Allowing it to compost is always safest but when in doubt, either put it into your empty beds and pots in the fall or make sure you are not spreading around your vegetables within 120 days of harvesting.