[Belfrybat]

This isn't getting much response in the Gardening area, so thought I'd move it up here.

For the last five years, I've had a source for free bunny poo. I would take a dozen 5 gal buckets and collect all I needed a couple of times a year. The nice thing is the lack of odor allowed me to transport in my SUV. The person has gone out of the rabbit business, so I'm looking for a substitute that I can transport in the SUV, as I don't have a truck. That leaves out the only other easy source I can think of -- cow patties. Way too stinky!

The cotton gins around here have mountains of cotton burrs, but they would most likely be treated with herbicides, so that wouldn't work. Any other ideas what I might use other than buying bagged cow or sheep manure, which would be way too expensive. Oh, and I'm too far from a Starbucks to take advantage of coffee grounds, which might work.

Chicken poo was mentioned as an alternative, but I don't have access, plus it is so hot, I'd need to compost it before use. Plus it's too stinky to transport in the SUV.

I wondered if mixing 13-13-13 fertilizer with the sawdust might help it break down faster and make a kind of green compost? I can get plenty of mesquite sawdust.

 

[Forcast]

when I lived in texas I would gather the DRY cow pies they dont smell like much but have to be dry. I would walk the field with a bucket and then move that to a bag and so on, once home I just broke them up over a wheelborrow and store in bags or buckets in a dry place and use when needed. I did it with a car as you are. What for the bulls and momas with babies when in others fields, or better yet ask before going into someone field.

 

[mrs whodunit]

Goat would work too.

As the previous poster said dry cow patties dont have much of a smell

 

[Alice In TX/MO]

Test a SMALL area with the mesquite sawdust. It may inhibit growth of other plants.

 

[mrs whodunit]

Chicken poo isn't stinky unless its wet.

I throw out the coops cleanings out on my garden in the fall and then plant the next spring no problems

 

[AmericanStand]

Isnt there a eye disease that can be transmitted in chicken poo and dust?

 

[Pamela]

Llama poo is perfect if you can find a source.

 

[Belfrybat]

Test a SMALL area with the mesquite sawdust. It may inhibit growth of other plants.

I had no idea mesquite sawdust would be a problem. I've been using it for many years in my "lasagna" style beds. I stay clear of cedar, which the mill also produces. Do you have any sources or links that deal with mesquite? Thanks.

Llama poo is perfect if you can find a source.

Wish I could find a source.

 

[||Downhome||]

Get a Trailer! If you have a SUV you should have a Hitch...

I only have a car hauler, but I could pull several tons home easily with it.

Its bigger then needed for a lot of things but still pretty handy to have.

I do need a couple smaller ones though.

 

[Maura]

If you have been using natural fertilizer all these years, you may not need to refertilize for a long time. Try growing something in the same bed without fertilizer and see what happens.

 

[Rustaholic]

Or get your own rabbits.

 

[Belfrybat]

Well, complaining and looking around pays off sometimes. I read up more on cotton burr compost and discovered that the herbicide used is very fast acting and is out of the plant's system by the time the cotton is harvested. So I called a couple of gins and found a guy who picks up the mountains of cotton burrs the discard, composts them, then sells the final product for $20.00 a bucket, which he loads (about 1 cu yard). I called him and he told me to come and get 5 gallon buckets for free as long as I shovel it -- I have 10. It's a 80 mile round trip, but will be worth it to me. Cotton burr compost is stinkier than rabbit poo, but it's not too bad. I hope to go get some on Monday.

 

[Shrek]

This isn't getting much response in the Gardening area, so thought I'd move it up here.

For the last five years, I've had a source for free bunny poo. I would take a dozen 5 gal buckets and collect all I needed a couple of times a year. The nice thing is the lack of odor allowed me to transport in my SUV. The person has gone out of the rabbit business, so I'm looking for a substitute that I can transport in the SUV, as I don't have a truck. That leaves out the only other easy source I can think of -- cow patties. Way too stinky!

The cotton gins around here have mountains of cotton burrs, but they would most likely be treated with herbicides, so that wouldn't work. Any other ideas what I might use other than buying bagged cow or sheep manure, which would be way too expensive. Oh, and I'm too far from a Starbucks to take advantage of coffee grounds, which might work.

Chicken poo was mentioned as an alternative, but I don't have access, plus it is so hot, I'd need to compost it before use. Plus it's too stinky to transport in the SUV.

I wondered if mixing 13-13-13 fertilizer with the sawdust might help it break down faster and make a kind of green compost? I can get plenty of mesquite sawdust.

Wormcast topsoil fertilizer is my choice of fertilizer amendment and requires minimal attention.

A few cups of red wiggler (Eseinia fetida, E. rubbellus, etc. )and shredded paper bedding moistened to 70%, kept in the 60F. to 80F temperature range and fed kitchen scraps will propagate within a year to produce to a herd
adequate to produce 10 cubic feet of compost fertilizer every 6 weeks or so plus if you add more bedding bins the herd will double every few months increasing the worm poo output.

Here is an easy worm bin not that expensive to set up.

http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/easywormbin.htm

 

[bjgarlich]

If you have room you could grow comfrey - it makes a great fertilizer and you can cut it 3 or 4 times a year. You can make a tea out of it or just put it at the base of your plants.

 

[CajunSunshine]

bjgarlich beat me to it... Comfrey is a multipurpose plant and is one of the best green fertilizers around!

I can't say it better than these guys did: http://www.permaculture.co.uk/video...symphytum-officinale-your-permaculture-garden

"...It is a dynamic accumulator, drawing minerals out of the soil and into the roots and leaves, a compost accelerator, a fine ingredient in liquid manure (comfrey tea), beneficial insect attractor, mulch, weed suppressant (we use it as a border around our veg plot to stop the paths getting overrun with weeds, biomass accumulator, livestock forage..."

There is more than one kind of comfrey. Investigate before you plant, because under the right conditions, one of them will spread like Jam-Mammy! There's a nice description of the varieties at the link.

I like to use fresh cut "green manure" (a variety of mineral-rich weeds and other plants) as a mulch. When it rains, nutrients soak into the soil, and the mulch helps to conserve moisture and keep the works cool below ground in summer. I just need to be careful the green manure plants are not full of seeds.

Comfrey breaks down pretty much instantly.

I wonder if our Christie Acres is still selling some?


.

 

[wy_white_wolf]

How about getting lids for your buckets so that the smell is contained.

WWW