You know what I got my boss for Christmas?
A load of $@#!.... AND he was excited about it!
We have collected about five ute loads of stable manure from Longford.
For those gardeners in your life a load of manure is a great gift. We get the manure FREE from the stable and if we dig down to the old part of the pile it is so rich and broken down and is full of worms.
Most stables are only too happy to have people take it away.
Shovelling the manure is a much easier job than you would imagine as it is lighter than soil or gravel.
We find it easier to get in Spring when everything is nice and moist and the weather is cool and between the two of us it only takes about 20mins. (Admittedly Craig is a bit of a machine)
If you don't have a ute or a trailer, even a couple of old feed bags full or a bin full is a boon.
Stable manure, especially from racing stables, is a beautiful substance. These horses are fed a balanced diet of oats and chaff etc and rarely graze on rubbish. There is also beautiful clean sawdust in their stalls which is also mixed with the manure. The heat created in the pile seems to just about kill any weed germination. We've never had a rampant weed problem like you can get from cow and sheep poo.
If you are not convinced that poo for Christmas is a great idea, then take a look at "Dirt - The Movie".
My friend Kat over at The Bobwhites put me onto this along with a couple of other treasurable links today. She is one of my favourite bloggers and I look forward to every bit of zany sense that she pens.
It is a wonderful, wonderful documentary (not dry and dusty...get it?...sorry Dad-joke) but very interesting and very "big picture" stuff. It is multi-cultural embracing and must have taken a lot of hours to produce.
It is in praise of the importance of our earth and the effect that super agriculture, GM and environmental destruction is having on the soil.
Not all gloomy though and the story of the hummingbird particularly resonated with me and put me in mind of how my hero, David Suzuki, now sees his role;
"I am only one man...but I am doing what I can, I am doing my best"
some great tips--i hadn't thought about asking my friend--who stables several horses--for some of her "leftovers."
ReplyDeletenow i need to look-up "ute."
have a great one!
paige
I would have been absolutely thrilled as well! I have a sister with cows and horses and every spring, I go dig into the pile with giddiness.
ReplyDeleteWell, now, see, that's the poignant and thoughtful write-up the film deserved. I kept putting off sharing the link until I could do it justice. I choked. So, last night I just said to heck with it, I'm putting it out there naked to stand on it's own. Thanks for giving it clothes!
ReplyDeleteOh, and when Mr. Boom and I bought our house, the yard was a compressed earth parking lot. His uncle brought us an entire grain truck full of poo from a local feed lot that had gone out of business. BEST housewarming present ever!!!!
Hail to Paige Queen of Christmas over at Hodgpodge, in Australia a ute (which is short for utility) is a small version of truck I guess. It has a front of usually 2-3 seats and a tray on the back....could be flat or have sides. Every country body or handy/tradesman has one.
ReplyDeleteLucky zoo keeper, a mix of manure is optimum and if you have chooks like we do then it's a premium recipe.
Kat a truck load is a very thoughtful gift. Thanks for for putting me on to the doco, we really enjoyed it.
oh my tummy muscles !
ReplyDeletegrand idea - trust you to think of something so practical but off the wall Tanya !
I have been sharing our moo poo with anyone who asks - they do have to go into the paddock themselves, and also risk an antsi steer.
Have even had a request by some potters who want to try a traditional fire glazing using moo poo - apparently different poos give different glazes - learn something new everyday !
Hey Tanya, what a wonderful pressie.
ReplyDeleteYour description of it sounds lovely. Wouldn't I love a ute load of horse manure? Plenty of cow manure in the paddock, full of lovely worms but also full of weed seeds.
'Dirt" the movie, sounds very interesting, shall check it out.
Thanks for stopping by, lovely to hear from you. Hope your weekend wasn't as chilly as ours.