I told my friend I was finally ready for some more of his BS.

Nov 25, 2024

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A picture of a cow at a feedlot. — Not a bull I know, but I use BS here loosely. It came from a feedlot with both steers and spayed heifers.

It's good to have friends. It's better, if you're a gardener, to have friends that operate feedlots.

A picture of my gloved hand scooping out some aged manure. — For the record, I'm not squeamish, I just don't want my hands smelling like aged manure for hours. That stuff gets in under my nails and takes a couple washings to get out.

The reason why is that you can sometimes convince them to share some of their aged manure with you. That's the running joke I have with my friend who operates a feedlot out near me: I call him up when I need some and say that I'm ready for some more of his BS.

Soon enough, via a complicated Soviet-era style dead drop system since we don't cross paths in town that much, I have a bucket full.

I like to get some in late Fall. Out where I live, late Fall is usually still warm and pretty dry. If I get the compost then, I can spread it out on the ground before the serious snows set in.

This way all the rain/snow over the remainder of the winter will let the nutrients percolate into the soil.

My friend told me that you should spread it out about like you were peppering a steak. Now, keep in mind this is like "normal people" peppering, not like blackened chicken peppering or something!

A picture of my garden bed with compost on it. — The darker clods on top are the dried manure compost.

I also use hairy vetch as a cover crop, but I just go ahead and pepper on top of that too. come early Spring the whole mess gets turned in anyway (and no worries about burning the vetch, it's only there to hold the soil in place).

Another picture of a different garden bed, this one with a green plant dotted with manure. — More compost on top of the vetch.

If it's not going in the vetch, however, I will often cover the soil with a layer of mulch AFTER the composted manure goes down. Leaves from the trees around my yard, passed through the grinder, do really good. Not only can they (along with the mulch) be turned in, but they cover the soil and keep it moister during our dry cold winters.

A picture of the same garden bed as above. Covered with leaves. — Same garden bed as two pictures up. Covered with ground up debris after the compost.

There's one more use worth mentioning. Composted manure works wonders at beefing up and accelerating a compost pile. I'll sprinkle some on top (heavier than on the ground) and then turn the pile to mix it in.

Jack o lanterns covered with the composted manure on top of my compost pile. — An ignoble end for jack o lanterns, sunken mouthed and covered in manure, but they will live on in next year's garden.

If you know someone, or know someone who knows someone at a feedlot, offer them a cup of coffee and see if they'll trade a bucket of their composted manure. There's a reason you see farmers spreading it on their fields in the Fall.

It's a powerful source of nutrients and feeds the soil well.