garden tips

[ohioaxeman]

The last 5 years i've been doing tomatoes and peppers in 5 gallon buckets. This year i plan on a 20' by 20' garden! My question is this! Is it safe to put the dogs feces in the garden for fertilizer? My other half is totally against it, and i half some mixed feelings about it. When we were kids we would throw our dog tomatoes and he would catch them and eat a few from time to time! When we cleaned his feces up, it was thrown in a pile being the fence, and the biggest juiciest tomatoes would grow out of it! Any thoughts?

 

[Kentucky Kache]

TT is correct. You can compost dog and even human manure for use as fertilizer, but said compost has to reach a certain temperature to kill all harmful bacteria. So unless you are an experienced composter, I would say don't use anything but manure from herbivores, and even then it has to compost for a while to be safe.

Here's a website that will help you:

http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/organic/2002085416013761.html

 

[ohioaxeman]

Thanks for the advice

 

[AU24K]

Different fecal matter have different PH content depending on donor's diet. You must determine what your soil PH is and go from that.
Chicken *poop* is good for most applications, however, it may prove too acidic. Conversely, Bat *poop* may be just what you need. It is very high in acidity. Call Commissioner Gordon if you need Bat *poop.* Or you can get it from caves, or on the internet.

When I was younger, I grew.... ummmmm.....plants. Yep, corn and such.... 8)

I bought an old beat-up blender at the local thrift shop. I then went to the bait shops and bought up their dead minnows. They will sell 'em cheap. Can you say, "Fish Emulsion?"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_emulsion

Works great! ALL Natural! High in proteins....

Kinda like what Squanto and me worked out with early fertilization by putting a fish in with the corn plantings....(ain't history great?)

Best,
Scott

 

[packerbacker]

Here's the REAL difference. Year before last I had my granddaughter collecting dried up cow pies in the field. She would then put on a paper dust mask and safety goggles and run them through the wood chipper to break them up to be used in the garden as fertilizer. I don't think she would do the same thing with dogie doo. There is just something inherently different between the 2.