As a gardener and grower of vegetables, think for a minute – what would make your heart race?
Yes, you got it. A barrow load of horse poo, and over at the allotments we are lucky enough to live alongside a horse paddock. And yesterday, in a 32°C heat, with help from a good friend who was prepared to push the heavy wheelbarrow and wield The Big Shovel we set off.
So it was under the barbed wire for me and the barrow, and hurtling over the top for Peter. (We are not reprobates, the barbed wire is to keep the horses in.) Peter got stuck in with The Big Shovel and in no time we had a good barrow load.
The barrow was a little more unwieldy on the way back but we made it under the wire safely (this is sounding more like a break-out from Colditz!)
And here it is, spread in a nice thick layer ready to work it’s special magic on my plot. 
This is covering just the small area that I cleared the other day. As I continue to grub up old stock I’ll cover the whole allotment with this brown gold ready for my next big growing season.
The last few months have been so rewarding in my veggie patch. I’ve had such an abundance, the best I’ve had since I started working this plot three years ago, and I cannot expect it to reward me in the same way again unless I put something back into the soil. 
So thank you Peter. Here he is, having emptied the barrow load on my plot, looking cool despite the heat, and having cleared a barbed wire fence like an Olympic Athlete.
(Nigel and Steven, this may remind you of the time when you were boys and we lived in The Lake District in England and struggled to get a barrow load of sheep droppings over a dry stone wall. Not much has changed.)
Happy gardening.
Oct 09, 2014 @ 05:49:45
Peter the hero! I was once told by an elderly Italian gardener after I gushingly admired his awesome veggie garden in Western Australia that the secret to every good Italian garden was horse manure. That’s the very first thing that they go hunting for when they decide to start a veggie garden. It is the bees knees apparently. We are lucky enough to have a relationship with a horse owner that gets us a trailer load a month and them, a clean horse paddock. Perfect symbiotic unity with no barbed wire but we do have to drive a bit further than next door ;). I love reading about your allotment Jean, it gives me so much hope for the future of Sanctuary and how we can develop our own soil in difficult conditions 🙂
Oct 09, 2014 @ 08:33:40
I didn’t realise you had access to a whole trailer load of horse manure. You lucky lady.
Oct 09, 2014 @ 09:56:01
Good work.
Oct 09, 2014 @ 10:06:47
Thank you Mr T. It was a team effort.
Oct 10, 2014 @ 01:12:00
Yes, only a gardener would get so excited about poo! 🙂 You should have a fabulous harvest from it. So happy to have found your blog- I love reading about allotment gardens.
Oct 10, 2014 @ 05:52:52
Hi Sarah, thank you for visiting. I just love to get my hands on anything that will feed my soil.
Looking forward to following your blog and reading about your garden. I love your recipes for small quantities of jam, something that can be made in a few minutes.
Oct 13, 2014 @ 10:09:21
I have strong memories (mental scars, perhaps?) of trekking over the Kendal hills in pursuit of the poo and hoping that the world would swallow me whole if anyone I knew saw me there! That reminds me… it’s about time my boys mucked out the chooks.
Oct 13, 2014 @ 11:47:43
At least the boys don’t have to push it over a stone wall!