Gardening without animal fertilisers

[veggiechicken]

When our fish used to die & one hamster,I buried them in the garden next to shrubs,what would a vegan gardener do with it?

A vegan gardener probably wouldn't have them as pets anyway! BTW, I'm just guessing as its all a step too far for me - mainly because I don't know where to draw the line between what is acceptable and what isn't. Its hard enough finding veggie options!

[Jimny14]

This was always going to be a tricky thing to discuss on an Internet forum. I think for practical applications we have to accept detritivores etc exist and are not harmed due to gardening (excepting the odd worm you inadvertently slice with a spade) so using them to break down soil etc is fine. It would come down to each persons own moral code when it comes to what is acceptable in the garden.
Personally I prefer to garden without adding synthetic chemicals if I can but do use BFB (a byproduct of animal slaughter) as I am a meat eater and would prefer to see a use for as much as possible of an animal if it is going to die.
I think manure is a tricky one. I have sources of local chicken manure and horse manure where I would consider the animals aren't been harmed (not kept for meat or eggs) but the animals are looked after having been rescued and their waste is given away freely to anyone who wants it. Would this be acceptable to some vegans as it is not a byproduct of food production etc? That would be up to the individual.
As I say it's tricky.

[Scarlet]

My understanding of veganism is that any animal shouldnt be exploited for human use - food, clothing, animal tested products - makeup, some medicines - obviously one has to draw the line somewhere. Honey - no stealing bees food, no horse riding, but manure? I'm not sure using an animals waste is exploitation?

Great thread - even if it's going a bit off topic! Sorry Mark.

What's wrong with homemade compost? I rarely buy compost...green manures, Nettle, comfrey teas are all vegan friendly. I haven't used manure on my veg for years, it's back breaking, news paper, card, grass clipping mulches all seem to do ok for me.

Though I do love my worm bin and the feed it produces.

[veggiechicken]

Found an old thread http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ing_78122.html

[Snoop Puss]

This comes from the Vegan Organic Network (link provided by Jimny on page 1 of this thread):

"Vegan organic/stockfree organic broadly means any system of cultivation that excludes artificial chemicals, livestock manures, animal remains from slaughterhouses, genetically modified material and indeed anything of animal origin such as fishmeal."

So I'm guessing these are the principles by which Mark wants to garden. Excluding insect life naturally occurring in the garden would be impossible.

Home-made compost, green manures and hardwood ash would look to be your best bets, Mark.

[rary]

I dont know how close you are to the sea, but I would agree with Chestnut and go for seaweed, along with composted comfrey and nettles

[MarkHackwell]

Gardening without animal fertilisers

So I am trying my hardest this year to be more sustainable, so trying to move a little further away from Peat as well as animal fertilisers. Now a lot if not most of compost has animal fertiliser in it for nutrients, but what does everyone think of this one: https://www.gardenhealth.com/product...ll-veg-compost

It says '100% Sustainable, natural and Peat-free'. Im not sure what other's would think but to be sustainable and natural it wouldn't have animal products in it?

[SarrissUK]

This post has surprised me a little, and it may absolutely be my ignorance and for that I apologise... I always felt that animal fertilisers are about as sustainable as it gets. I grew up on a farm where we had dairy cows. Cows poop, it feeds the land, the grass grows, the cows eat and so on.
Personally the use of animal manure, whether from cows, sheep, chickens, horses or pigs, it feels so much more of a natural fertiliser than chemical fertilisers that you buy in a bottle.

[veggiechicken]

Its not clear what is in the compost apart from coir. Whether Coir is "sustainable" or not is open to debate!

https://www.gardenmyths.com/coir-eco...ute-peat-moss/

What do you mean by "animal fertilisers"? BFB or manure?

[Scarlet]

Personally the use of animal manure, whether from cows, sheep, chickens, horses or pigs, it feels so much more of a natural fertiliser than chemical fertilisers that you buy in a bottle.

I totally agree with this...and have used all sorts of manure over the years. Even used alpaca manure from a friends paddock etc but Vegans are often against animal cruelty and with commercial fertilisers you don't know how the animals that supplied the manure were kept....

[Scarlet]

Interesting read VC

[veggiechicken]

Just found your earlier thread about this, Mark. https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...ing_95554.html
What did you think about all the comments on there?

[Nicos]

Personally I just compost my own kitchen waste ( organically grown by my fair hands) and add it to the soil when ready.
Rotation gardening ...isn't that why we rotate...to give the chance for the soil to recover from particularly heavy feeders?
I can understand that's not going to work so well for those who grow in pots, but it seems to work for those of us who have the space not to grow veg intensively.

And yes, we do add organic cow manure from time to time ( twice in 11 years) but I prefer not to as there always are some weed seeds which come along with it.

[MarkHackwell]

Just found your earlier thread about this, Mark. https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...ing_95554.html
What did you think about all the comments on there?

I found all the comments on there very interesting Still didn’t manage to find a compost though and still searching but most appear to have a lot of animal fertilisers in them. I have however this year found a vegan and organic soil improver, but not too sure what it will be like in the soil so looking for something else too.

[veggiechicken]

I thought compost was just green/brown stuff unless it specified that it contained a fertilizer of some sort.
Not something I've thought about. - just assumed.