When we prepped out our new garden, we skimmed off the grass that was growing in the spot to prevent weeds. Unfortunately, in doing so, we removed the only 3 inches of top soil that we have before you hit clay.
As a result, there is little nutrient in our soil for the plants we planted. To help make up the difference we added many many loads of composted cow manure from my grandmother’s farm. Obviously the cows help a lot with that project.
We added manure between rain storms and this pile never got tilled in. When it came time to plant, Jon just hand spread it with a shovel, therefore it was really really thick still.
As our plants have grown we’ve noticed a drastic difference due to the manure, and I mean DRASTIC.
The tomatoes:
(please ignore the weeds, there honestly are not enough hours in a day!)
Notice the lack of green up front and the monstrous green blob in the back?
Here is a close up. Tomato up front with little compost-
(~8 inches tall)
Tomato planted directly in compost-
(~48 inches tall)
These were planted on the exact same day!!!
It’s not just the tomatoes either. The Peppers have a similair appearance.
The row-
Pepper up front-
(~6 inches tall)
Pepper directly in compost-
(~20 inches tall)
Lesson #1,123,982 we’ve learned about farming…..
USE LOTS OF COMPOST. IT IS REALLY, REALLY IMPORTANT!
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I need another compost bin. Just about the time I need to empty it out, I have to fill it up before I can get to it. I really need to get it spread out on my garden.
I have a sad little compost pile. I’m jealous of the ready availability of rotten cow manure you have!