I feel the same, and I do all of my organic gardening without any animal inputs. Cover crops, vegetative compost, and regenerative, no-till agriculture work wonders all on their own without animal-based amendments.
I am lucky enough to have found one brand of vegan potting soil near me that I'll buy IF I really need to buy dirt. Otherwise, I'm focusing on using cover crops, no-till method, and relying on my compost pile for amending my garden beds. There's tons of vegan fertilizers you can buy as well if you really feel like you need a specific soil boost. It does take a bit of extra effort, but it's absolutely possible to grow a flourishing garden without relying on any animal products.
Really thoughtful question. This is actually something I’ve been thinking about a lot. If the byproducts of living animals were valued more than the bodies of dead ones, we wouldn’t be having this conversation in the same way.
Manure itself isn’t some mysterious or dangerous substance. The issues people point to, like salmonella and contamination, are largely tied to industrial animal agriculture. Huge volumes, stressed animals, centralized slaughter, long transport chains. That’s where the problems come from.
Small, local farms with living animals have been cycling manure back into soil forever, safely and effectively. That system doesn’t require slaughter, and it doesn’t carry the same risks.
What feels worth questioning is why we default to industrial byproducts at all, instead of building soil systems that don’t rely on killing animals or concentrating waste in ways that create harm.
We are really lucky as our garden was just weeds. Pure organic. We cleared it and set potatoes and beans and cabbage. We don’t use any imported fertilizers or poisons
Our patch is now 50cm higher due to no dig and compost. Our animals are rescued but not used but they contribute to the compost. A second compost we have is just green waste and it just as good.
Basically we don’t need any animal products, not even chicken poop.
I feel the same, and I do all of my organic gardening without any animal inputs. Cover crops, vegetative compost, and regenerative, no-till agriculture work wonders all on their own without animal-based amendments.
Bat guano and worm casings are as rude as I get for my garden ..I liked this essay the title was actually funny to me ty!
I am lucky enough to have found one brand of vegan potting soil near me that I'll buy IF I really need to buy dirt. Otherwise, I'm focusing on using cover crops, no-till method, and relying on my compost pile for amending my garden beds. There's tons of vegan fertilizers you can buy as well if you really feel like you need a specific soil boost. It does take a bit of extra effort, but it's absolutely possible to grow a flourishing garden without relying on any animal products.
Not a vegan but also not using bone and blood meal. Thanks for this thoughtful piece.
Yes…. Wondering what you think about various kinds of manure and chicken poop?
Really thoughtful question. This is actually something I’ve been thinking about a lot. If the byproducts of living animals were valued more than the bodies of dead ones, we wouldn’t be having this conversation in the same way.
Manure itself isn’t some mysterious or dangerous substance. The issues people point to, like salmonella and contamination, are largely tied to industrial animal agriculture. Huge volumes, stressed animals, centralized slaughter, long transport chains. That’s where the problems come from.
Small, local farms with living animals have been cycling manure back into soil forever, safely and effectively. That system doesn’t require slaughter, and it doesn’t carry the same risks.
What feels worth questioning is why we default to industrial byproducts at all, instead of building soil systems that don’t rely on killing animals or concentrating waste in ways that create harm.
We are really lucky as our garden was just weeds. Pure organic. We cleared it and set potatoes and beans and cabbage. We don’t use any imported fertilizers or poisons
Our patch is now 50cm higher due to no dig and compost. Our animals are rescued but not used but they contribute to the compost. A second compost we have is just green waste and it just as good.
Basically we don’t need any animal products, not even chicken poop.