A barrow load of horse poo

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.