Re: [gardeners] Lurkers come out
Terry King (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Mon, 13 Oct 97 07:49:59 -0700
On Mon, 13 Oct 1997 10:25:16 -0400, Seyfried,Alice wrote:
>
>The garden is a square island situated on the diagonal in my back yard.
>It receives a good many hours of sun per day, so we're going to make it
>a vegetable garden in the spring. Hubby is going to get a load of llama
>manure this week from a friend near by. We'll till that in and let it
>sit for the winter. Is llama manure good stuff? We also plan on
>tilling all of our falled leaves into the bed this fall. Should we add
>some general fertilizer, also?
Yes Llama manure is good stuff, much like sheep but it tends not to be mixed
with bedding unless they are stalled in a barn. Llamas are very tidy creatures
and will onl void in a particular potty corner which the whole herd uses but
would never eat or sleep in. After you till in all your good stuff I would cover
it with a mulch to protect your worms and prevent any early weeds from
sprouting. I've been *so* impressed with the soil I've been digging my
potatoes out of that I'm totally sold on mulch! The temps here have been down
to 23F and there are still worms in the soil around the potatoes because of the
mulch keeping them warm and well fed.
When I finish digging the last 2 rows of potatoes today I'm planning on raking
the area level, adding a little more 10-10-10 fertilizer, perhaps a little more
manure and covering the whole patch with cardboard and spoiled hay. Next
spring I'll move my strawberries to this spot.
Terry King North Central Eastern Washington
taeking@televar.com USDA zone 4, Sunset Zone 1