~We had a very nice weekend. My Hubby and I are mostly recovered from our bad colds and we took it easy with the heavy lifting as we were out and about on Cedar Pond in the unusually sun shiny and warm weather for February. While Hubby worked on our new and hopefully predator proof duck pen, I cleaned up more storm damage ...the fallen branches all over the property and in the woods and piled them up to be burned. I also cleaned up some of our out- buildings .
~Then there is the goat pen. Thorin and Bombadil are my pygmy / Nigerian dwarf goat brothers. They have their own small pen with a 2 story dwelling my Hubby built for them. They don't like to get their feet wet and have pretty much worn out their sunning bench. So I tossed the pieces of the bench into the burn pile along with the storm wind fall and there was all this wonderful goat poop! Black , and dry because it was under the sunning bench. That is black gold for the garden....so before we put stumps in the goat pen for the goats to stand and jump on I had to collect this very desirable fertilizer. (picture above)
~Thorin immediately trying out the new furnishings for his pen.~
~"For gardening , goat manure can be a real asset. In their naturally dry, pelleted state, goat feces are easily handled, stored, or directly applied on vegetables, trees, and flower gardens, as mulch, organic matter,fertilizer, or just to increase the water holding capacity of the soil; and goat feces do not normally attract flies or breed maggots."The Dirt Doctor, Howard Garrett... This is true in my experience. The goat manure was full of earthworms though. Goat, rabbit, and sheep manure can be applied directly onto your plantings...
~I don't understand why keeping a couple of goat or sheep wethers ( castrated males) is not a more common practice in this country. They are not smelly animals ( CASTRATED MALES) and do far less damage than the average dog. They are not near as noisy as dogs either, plus , they will eat those pesky blackberries and weeds and can be easily kept in a pen with just shelter from the elements and fresh water and grass hay, again...cheaper then dog food!They can be trained to walk on leash and be very friendly. They don't bite and are quite comical. Their manure is ready for the garden right away and the garden benefits as well; as long as you keep them OUT of the garden.But hey, they don't dig in the garden. It is common for many European countries to have herds of sheep and goats keep the grass of the parks and road sides in control by walking the sheep and goats through them. So if you're really serious about the "greening " of your place here on earth you might want to consider a wether or two.
Blessings: days spent at home, working with love, goats
