1. Improves soil (lots of micronutrients!) and adds organic matter back into the garden. It is naturally high in nitrogen (and phosphorous and a bunch of other good stuff). Unless you are planting nothing but legumes, this will help your plants grow and bear fruit and/or flowers.
2. Won't burn your plants! This is what is meant by "cold."
3. Odorless! If you have a dry stockpile somewhere, it won't stink to high heaven like (enter animal's name here such as pig, horse, cow, etc.) manure.
4. Worms like it! Worm castings are also fabulous for soil and they are happy to dig around in rabbit manure making it even richer and resulting in happier plants.
You can make a fertilizer tea from it. This is not to drink. This is for your plants!
You can sow it directly. You can dry it out or not. I use trays, so I don't have the option, but a lot of people just scoop it from under the hutches or allow it to fall into trays with holes drilled in for a dry manure. We've never had a problem just emptying the tray directly into the rose bushes, raised bed, etc., but I do tend to do so when I expect rainfall to disperse the urine.
When I am anticipating a period where we are actively enriching the garden beds, I don't add anything to trays like wood pellets or stall fresheners. That way I know it is straight up rabbit gold going into our plants for food production. We used to dump trays directly, but now that I have a bum shoulder I tend to dump the trays into a concrete mixing bin I have placed in a wheelbarrow. It saves my limbs (and back), plus it makes for easy transport. I don't empty trays directly into the wheelbarrow because it would rust in no-time:
After I've worked on the garden beds, we rinse the concrete bin and done! No rust, no fuss.
Although we have a smaller area this year for gardening now that we have allowed the in-ground beds to go to grass, the soil in the raised beds is so rich and wonderful that we still have high hopes for production.
Now that we've been going on and on about poop, I'll leave you with our first cherry blossoms starting to open:
Happy Spring!
Ha, I talked about rabbit poop in my post from today too. :)
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing stuff! I've got several compost piles going, and there's no way I'm leaving those behind when we move! We are loading up the truck and carting it to our new place. I know the hubby will be thrilled. :)
Spring is looking great at your place. I'm glad you are enjoying it. :)
Thank you! Haha, I can imagine his joy at having to load a truck full of rabbit poop. I've never offered it, but I've seen ads where people (especially rose gardeners) are seeking to purchase bunny berries because it helps the soil and plants so much. I feel like I can tell a difference with our flowers and garden with and without enriched beds just at a glance. And if someone wants huge tomatoes, rabbit gold is the way to go!
DeleteMy mom and dad (our new neighbors, ha) have a huge garden every year, so I think that's where this truckload is going to go. They have really heavy clay, so I think it will improve the soil, greatly. It's awesome stuff! :)
DeleteAwesome! They will be thrilled. Our clay here was literally like cement when we first moved in, but now it is much more pliable, holds moisture better, and the plants are happier, too. :)
DeleteAhhh the joys of bunny poop! It is great stuff! Our two grow out hutches are situated right next to one of my rose bushes and I'm excited to see how the direct application from the rabbit to the bush effects my roses! Ps...I'd be taking that poop with me too!
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