Hi all; There is alot of talk about compost and gardening, but I would like to open up a new but old idea on organic fertilizer. The other compost material was used when man started to till the soil and found a rich substitute for enriching the soil in the garden. This wonder compost is animal waste from such animals that ate only grass and grains from cows and horses to rabbits. Each animal has a very unique chemical property that raises everything from low acidity to low productivity. It really started to come into it's own during the Roman Empire and reached it's peak during the Medieval times. It almost was died out during the Victorian era due to the smell and idea of where it came from. Yet farmers still used and relied upon it heavly. They would delute it with enough water to spray it onto the fields where it was needed.
Today we can use the very same organic material that was time tested and proven to be a great fertilizer. Almost anywhere that raises such animals in large amounts would be glad to give you a few truck loads free just for the hauling (you have to provide your own truck, and there are car washes for afterwards). Get a load or few and put it in a spot all by itself then use it to spread over the top of the soil in your beds. For those who have vegitables and you till lay about 2 to 3 inches over the top before you till then work it in with the soil as you till. The first year the compost will be a bit brown but the following year it will be a rich black color and a wonderful loom to work with. You can also mix it 50/50 with your regular compost and it will help spread up the process up as well, yes it does produce heat internally much like any other compost material. I have dug out a large amout from the center right after a good midwest winter only to find it still warm. A word of caution though never use any animal waste that eat meat for it will have unwanted viruses in the material that can kill any good compost or gardening bed you have worked so hard getting to go.
I have used this system now for three years and found my whole garden to produce more and have very little problems in neutrient depleation, for those with perminate beds know what I mean with smaller blooms and loss of color. Yes I said color loss at first you dont see it but over time you will notice it especially when you see another bed with the same flowers you have and the look so much healthier. The problem is in time with the use of chemicals it robs the buds and colors of most flowers so why not go organic and bring back the love you have with any garden?
Everyone knows what N.P.K. is but here is a little fact on what it means and the breakdown of the nitrogen, phosphprus, and potassium that animal waste produces.

• Chicken - 3.6/1.3/1.3
• Cow - 3.3/0.8/2.0
• Goat - 0.7/0.3/0.8
• Guano - 10.0/3.0/1.0
• Horse - 0.7/0.3/0.6
• Rabbit - 2.4/1.4/0.6
• Sheep - 0.7/0.3/0.9

You see how working with different animal waste can be very benificial for your gardens, not just for vegetables but all forms of gardening without chemicals. In my medieval articles you can see how they used them instead of what we have used. We have gotten so high tech in gardening that we can litterly burn out the soil from its natural abilities to grow without replacing back what is needed. Using these alternating forms of animal waste can help the soil in any garden.

Organic Plant Nutrients

• Major Nutrients: Nitrogen (N), Phosphprus (P), Potassium (K)
• Minor Nutrients: Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Sulfur (S)
• Trace Elements: Silicon (Si), Boron (Bo), Chlorine (Cl), Manganese (Mn), Iron (Fe), Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), Molybdenum (Mo), Selenium (Se), and Sodium (Na)

All of these nutrients are in any organic fertlizer especially animal some at different levels so going organic is much more beneficial than grabbing a chemical byproduct off the shelf.

Common Sources of Organic Plant Nutrients

• Nitrogen: Bone Meals, Hoof and Horn Meal, Fish Meal, Fish Emulsion, Guano-High N, Seed Meals
• Phosphprus: Rock Phoshate, Guano, Colloidal Phosphate, Bone Meal
• Potassium: Cow manure, Greensand, Rock Potash, Potash Salts, Seaweed, Wood Potash

NOTE You could plant dead fish in your garden especially around such plants that require high nitrogen!