Farm1 wrote:

I had a really good experience this year with horse poop and leaves from
exotic trees/weisteria spread on one of my veg beds which has rotten soil.

I have found a fabulous non ending supply of poops already piled and all I
have to do is shovel 'em into the back of my truck. I weeded and watered
this veg bed, threw a load of poops on top and then topped that with a load
of autumn leaves (I did this in about early summer as the leaves had just
lain in a quiet corner doing nuttin all of winter - I knew summer here would
be a stinker so didn't even try to do anything in that particular rotten
bed). It got infrequent watering (prolly about once a month) and I've only
recently scraped the leaves off and dug it over and planted it with all
sorts of veg (bok choi, broccoli, English spinach, silverbeet, 2 types of
lettuce and some space left over for succession plantings of more spinach
which we love). It is full of worms and it's very ahrd to credit the
difference in the quality of the soil.

Thats hoss poop for ya.
On Saturday's we have an ABC radio, gardening, phone in, talk back
programme and the "experts" on there say horse manure is (Emphasis this
bit loudly over the microphone) Absolutely no good for gardens ....

Any poop is good poop in my book

I think my experiences with this bed and some of the other observations
we've made this summer is the reason why I've been wittering on about shade.
I've written before about my water repellent soil and given how little
watering this bed got (and I know it was water reppellent at some stages as
I checked) and I've used horse poop before (but not in quite the same way)
I'm wondering about he effects of shading the soil with both the poops and
the leaves. The worms just got on with it and could operate in the dark. I
dunno perhaps I'm just ranting, but I do believe that the dark and the mulch
may have been more of a help than I could have ever thought. I was sooooooo
****ed of by this bed (and the rest of the garden in general) and soooooo
****ed off by the sort of summer we had (hot and dry, hot and dry and windy,
hot and dry etc etc etc) that I far less than I normally would have. I had
odd bursts of activity in between severe ****edoffedness attacks but I am
now very impressed with this bed and it is probably better than any others
that I have.


Regarding the trees/shade and wind protection ...you're rushing me,:-)


Sorry, but I have begun to think that it is ratehr important :-))

Me too but ya workin me to a frazzle ...


Waht about moving both of those plans up a bit? They could certainly help
in your soil improvement plans given that both need to be fed but all output
goes back to the soil. (And realistically they are both more productive
than horses but don't tell your missus I said that :-))

I will tell her if ya don't stop sounding like her :-)

I need to give the chooks a run where they can do most good but have a
movable (by 2 peeps preferably)chook protection abode that will let me
give em a run to different areas. .... but I'll get a round tuit ...honest.


I've got a recipe for prickly pear jam somewhere................

I would have been disappointed if you hadn't :-)


I love quandongs. I think they are one of the most superb fruits - just
wish I could get a plant or 10.

Ya know they are supposed to be planted with another plant? not one of
the ones on the block next door to us have another plant anywhere near
em, or at least not near enough to suggest the seed had been planted
alongside the roots of another plant which I thought was a bit strange
.... maybe they killed the other plant off by some parasitic feeding off
of it ????

Pete