Another morning of barrowing loads of manure from compost heap to fruit garden got me contemplating the power of poo. To the family who keep the horses and have to muck them out it is just a waste material to be discarded, a necessary chore, but to us gardeners it is turning into a godsend. Already it is a useful mulch on the cane fruit keeping weeds down and releasing nutrients slowly back into the earth. More immediately we use it to add to the planting holes of dahlias and sweet peas and when properly rotted it makes a rich addition to our compost, a medium without which no garden can function. Even more than that it caters to the needs of many a small being living in the microcosm of the big heap, it is proving rich in red brandling worms which help the vegetable matter to break down. The heat it produces, and that is considerable when you can see the steam rising over the garden wall from the other side of the lawn, makes it an ideal spot for over-wintering queen wasps, beetles and other bugs, which in their turn are food for the small black toads that think the heap is a palace. Finally it grows some very smart toadstools too. It makes one wonder how we ever managed without it!
"The fairest thing in nature, a flower, still has its roots in earth and manure"
D H Lawrence
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