Manure or chemicals?

[Sasha]

Hello, I am bugged by a thought and hope that somebody will be able to help. I have started a vegetable garden and would like to use vegan-friendly fertilizer i.e. manure, but I read an article in a scientific journal about mass production of manure using cruel methods (did you know that 'producing' manure can be quite painful for cows, especially after giving birth?) so was going to go for chemicals but those are not good for the planet and the animals either... please help?

 

[amberfunk]

My parents have a garden and they use mushroom compost. Maybe try searching for that.

 

[alleycat]

I make my own compost from all the kitchen scraps and garden waste. I go 3 or 4 crops crops in a bed then cover it in compost and mulch, leave it for 4 to 6 weeks then plant again with the next crop. I am a lazy gardener and do not dig my beds, the worms, skinks, frogs and birds do a lot of the work for me, Though sometimes I have to protect seedlings until they can cope with all the activity .
Try joining a gardening forum or a local gardening club

 

[Sax]

Some people consider manure vegan-friendly?

I just broke ground on my first veggie garden. I definitely won't be using manure or any other animal products. I'm very interested in no-till and permaculture gardening, which sounds similar to what alleycat is doing.

I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with any bugs and critters. I don't want to kill animals to produce vegetables. What are your thoughts on that, Sasha?

 

[Forest Nymph]

Compost. Look up veganic farming, but composting would be my first recommendation.

I make my own compost from all the kitchen scraps and garden waste. I go 3 or 4 crops crops in a bed then cover it in compost and mulch, leave it for 4 to 6 weeks then plant again with the next crop. I am a lazy gardener and do not dig my beds, the worms, skinks, frogs and birds do a lot of the work for me, Though sometimes I have to protect seedlings until they can cope with all the activity .
Try joining a gardening forum or a local gardening club

This is GREAT. Not digging isn't "lazy" - no till is actually the key to having healthy soil and the most sustainable method of growing crops. Good for you!

 

[Sasha]

Thanks all, this is useful

 

[Nekodaiden]

In addition to vegetable compost, you can boost the growth of your veggies using something you likely throw away every day:

Your urine. It contains NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) and when added to the soil, makes a great fertilizer. If undiluted, add it to soil, not directly to plants (it can kill them). Diluted to 10% (90% being plain water) you can spray on plants.

I have grown plants using this as the only fertilizer and they did well.

 

[Consistency]

I agree with using urine. It's only natural. One year, during the winter, I collected my own human manure in a compost bin with dirt. When spring came around; I dug up the garden patch and mixed the human manure right in. Funny thing is that I didn't plant a single plant. Had tomato and berry plants plants pop up.