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Every garden needs rich soil to grow. Don’t I know it, after some failed collards and turnip greens in my vegetable beds this fall.
I was fortunate to have awesome friends that offered a unique solution to my soil amendment problem – Composted Llama Do. You read it right–poop from Llamas. You can’t buy that at your local big box home improvement store.
Pile 'O Llama Poop
First of all, let me thank and give a shout out to some friends Megan and Ivy for sharing their precious treasure with me. They have both llamas and donkeys on their little Chatham County farm. They tirelessly clean after their llamas and pile up the poo to compost.
Co-blog writer, Chris, and I went out to Chatham County to collect this black gold for my garden bed. As you would imagine, we had to shovel and wheelbarrow about 12 loads of the compost in the truck. Then we had a fabulous lunch of salad, homemade bread and homemade pimento cheese, while all our dogs frolicked in the woods.
The Truck Load
What goes in the truck must come out. So we headed to my place, and got the wheel barrow and shovel and moved the composted llama poo to my vegetable garden. It was a chilly day, but cold temps could not stop me from this unique experience or the compost to amend my soil. We will see how it does come spring and summer.
Unloading the Black Gold
Load by load, I filled my garden bed
TIP: You know when manure is fully composted and ready to be added to your soil when you no longer smell it.
To my surprise, this wasn’t a stinky adventure, since this batch of llama stuff was fully composted.
Happy Veggie Garden
So there you have it…a story about driving miles for poo for the garden….but I would do just about anything for my garden, wouldn’t you?
Do you have any wild adventures you would like to share in pursuit of gardening? Comment below.
Happy Gardening.
melissa
Thanks again Megan and Ivy…your llamas rock!
If you are anything like me, this warm weather makes me want to get “my garden on.” So if you are looking for something to do, you can always prep your veggie or flower beds. I wouldn’t jump the gun to plant summer veggies yet, just in case there is a frost. The ‘ole farmer’s almanac says this year April 15 is the last risk of frost, so I would wait until then just in case.
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t stuff to do. This weekend I am going to prep my beds.
1)Going to get some more topsoil–I get the bags for this sort of project. They are easier for me to pick up without killing my back.
2) Going to use my compost, but will probably need to get some too. I get the cheapest and my veggies still grow. I tried that black cow stuff for $5 a bag–didn’t really notice a difference, so decided to stick with the cheapo stuff. It is just poo anyway.
3)Get some slow release fertilizer too.
4) Get mulch for later…remember mulch is key!
Then I will put the soil and compost in the wheel barrow and add some slow release fertilizer, mix and then dump it all in my beds. I just layer on top of what I already have left over from last year. I also always have the mixture ready to fill in when I transplant new plants.
So if you are itching to get outside this week…I say prep work should be on the to do list!
Happy Gardening!
m
So a 60 degree day, allowed me to get in my garden. Plus my heat went out, so that gave me a bonus excuse.
Today, I took my friend Chris’ s advice to use January as a time to clean up the garden. To be honest, it has been so cold lately, I haven’t even wanted to get in my garden. But today…I remembered why I heart my garden. It has these indescribable rejuvenating powers…i just can’t explain it. Maybe it is the endorphines from some physical activity, maybe it is nastalgia of the spring and summer growing seasons…or maybe it is just the magic of the garden. Whatever it is, I am hooked.
Here is some of the stuff I got out of my garden today…can you believe those damn dandilions still pop up in the winter. I dug them up though. I had a lot of leaves in my beds from the fall. I didn’t get rid of them all…they serve as great mulch and organic matter in my garden. Cut some dead salvia back and my canna stalks, great for composting.
WInter Clean Up
And I realized that I had this handy little tool that I had to share. It doesn’t seem like much and when my grandma gave it to me I sort of snickered inside. But I figured out it’s unparalled use. It is the perfect tool for getting some leaves out of your beds without damaging plants. This little rake is the bomb. It is light weight, and it stores fabulously–retractable.
Here is my mini rake. Certainly not for the big fall raking chore. But for this mid-winter little clean up job. It is the ticket. Oh and that is Jasper posing with the mini rake. He is my labrodoodle we adopted from a friend’s mom. He is my little garden helper. Ok, he really isn’t that much help, but he does keep me company while I clean my garden beds.
Jasper and my mini rake
So, check another one off. A mid-winter clean up session is complete.
Now, I got to get to ordering my seeds.
Since it was in the 50s today, I took the time to go outside. I went to check on the progress of my black gold…no, not oil, but compost!
Me and my compost
Yep, that’s me. The feeling of rich, natural “fertilizer love” running through my fingers…yeah..that’s the stuff!
Don’t sweat it if you don’t have a composter like my ‘lil rig. You can just start a pile out of the way. If you have pets, you may want to put up a barrier or fence to keep them out.
Why is composting so cool? Let me count the ways.
1) Saves Money.
Your garden needs compost to flourish…and lots of it. When you start adding up the $3 a bag stuff…it costs!
2) Eco-friendly!
Now, I am not a total tree-huger, though I will admit I do sway to the left. This just makes plain sense. You have lots of organic waste everyday and instead of filling the landfills, you can reuse instead. On average, 20% of your waste is compostable. Talk about a win-win.
3) Another garden miracle.
It is amazing to see the transformation from coffee grounds and veggie peels to compost. It doesn’t happen over night. It has helped me learn patience. You just keep adding…
4) Rids you of unnecessary guilt.
I hate it when a piece of fruit goes bad…so wasteful! This way, if that happens then I can use it in another way–transform it into compost for my garden.
Don’t feel like you have to buy a designer compost bin. Look at mine.
Groovy Homemade Compost Bin
I recycled my kitty Sanford’s litter bin. I cut some old flower pics from magazines and decoupaged them on the plastic bin. Say that word out loud…DECOUPAGE! Instant Compost Bin.
What to compost? Here are some simple rules to remember:
- Nothing with oil
- No diary
- No animal parts
- No eggs
Pretty much everything else goes…paper towels/napkins, coffee filters and grounds, fruit and veggie scraps, leaves, grass clipings…
So go forth and compost. Then, go ahead, give yourself some cool points!
