Real food? - Mini vent.

[Myhouseisazoo2]

Hmm... I don't know if we have a dairy farm close by, twinsie says there's a factory around here somewhere but I've no clue where... Deb I think the poor mail people would be quite frightened of the package by the time it got to my house

 

[sumi]

I don't know how the postal system works by you guys, but here you have to give a description of the contents of the parcel. Lots or room for mischief

 

[Myhouseisazoo2]

You can ship just about anything here so long as it isn't deamed hazardous/invasive. Twinnie tried to buy some sort of wheatgrass a couple months ago and it was confiscated by customs because its viewed as an invasive weed instead of food here.

 

[WendyJ]

Chicken droppings are very acid, but you can neutralise it a bit by mixing it with wood fire ash. You'll have to test it and mix and play until you get it right though. I usually add it to the compost heap and then ash the heap until I got the right acidity. Cow manure is wonderful for growing stuff in and compost, so if you can get some from a dairy farm or somewhere?

Does cow manure need to age before it can be used? I know someone that has cows (not dairy, but beef poop is beef poop isn't it?)

 

[sumi]

No, you just need to let it dry before you use it. It's better to mix it with something else like soil when using it, because it's so fibrous. Yep, cow poop is cow poop, it will do Ideally try to get grass fed cows' poop, instead of feedlot. You never know what goes into those cows at feedlots.

 

[Denim Deb]

You need to age it well-especially if it's from steers. Steer manure can be high in salts.

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/composting/manures/steer-manure.htm

 

[sumi]

Thanks for that, Deb! I didn't know that. We always get ours from cows (dairy farm).

 

[Denim Deb]

I had read it B4, but since I don't get cow manure, I wasn't sure if it was true or not, so I decided to check it out B4 posting.

 

[baymule]

I like to compost everything, if possible. I have horses, I have been guilty of scooping poop and putting directly on the garden....... I borrow a phrase from my Daddy......"It'll either make it GO or it'll kill it." I have 7'x8' coop with a 8'x12' run. I pack leaves in all winter up to 3-4 feet deep. The chickens scratch it to bits, poop all over it and reduce it to black, crumbly garden GOLD. My chickens do all the work for me.

 

[sumi]

Chickens are wonderful that way. They'll turn the heap for you every day and love doing it.