Cow shit works too. Also something my Dad discovered by accident. Pond and lake weeds. Drag em out, dry em and mix them in the soil. Tomato plants grew over 7ft.
Lime will knock down the acidity in the soil. Think my dad put a couple buckets on the garden every other year.
Dried blood sprinkled around the perimeter or select plants will put nitrogen in the soil and keep away any rabbits and sometimes chipmunks......sometimes.
Don't grow potatoes. Unless you really like bugs. Bug magnets they are.
Compost piles are golden. Used to get a bucket of red worms to give a good start or boost when it gets too big.
We have sandy, clay free slightly alkaline soil here. Our growing season is too dry for cow shit- it just goes to fungus and causes root rot. Horse shit, being a dryer, finer consistency has proven superior.
I grow taters every year, but will not be doing so this year. The drought caused a population explosion of stink bugs, which are going to be horrendous this year. So no taters, melons, pumpkins cukes or squash here this season for me. I plan on tomatoes, carrots, peas, onions, garlic, and radishes. Too much sun and to dry for any salad greens here outdoors, but I grow those indoors year round. My asparagus and horseradish should produce this year as they were planted when I bought the house.
I am a composting god (Yup, that is me stating facts again...). I have a knack for getting big piles of shit to rot really well. It is to the point here that I have four 6x6x4 compost bins operating, and will add two more this season. The entire neighborhood donates their leaves, grass, and kitchen scraps and I maintain the operation as my entire back 1/2 acre is in full shade and perfect for composting. Then as folks need compost, they can come and get it.
This works out great as they trade fruit and vegetables, or canned goods that I cannot grow in my garden, am not interested in growing, or do not have time to mess with. The real chicken eggs are my favorite barter item. Can't get enough of them, me, but cannot have chickens due to the lot I own.
I greatly enjoy ornamentals too. My wildflower beds are legendary, even after the drought as they are planted and designed to be zero maintenance. I am also converting my full sun areas of lawn over to 100% native shortgrass praire- buffalo grass, sheep's fescue and numerous border and ornamental native flowers.
I really try to be organic, as it was family tradition back in PA, AND the biologist in me refuses to use pesticides, herbicides and manufactured fertilizers. My property is on a hill that drains to the Missouri River, which is a disgusting open sewer thanks to Midwestern ignorance and greed. Guess I am a filthy hippy by nature, eh?
