Animal manures All kinds of animal manure, this includes cat and dog, can be pretty useful in the garden in their own way. Manure is only organic if it is totally free of chemical contaminants including antibiotics and the awful growth and milk production hormones fed or injected into livestock. The latter, unfortunately, means that most manure sold in our cities is not organic as buffaloes are given all sorts of horrible stuff to keep them healthy and productive and the residues of these remain in their manure.

This means that if you seriously want organic manure you must track down someone who keeps only a few buffaloes, cows, horses, donkeys or goats and does not feed or inject them with anything of a vaguely chemical nature. It is not possible to provide accurate figures on the micronutrients present in manure as this varies tremendously depending on the animals diet and localised climatic conditions.

Basically though, fresh manure should never be applied directly to the garden as it tends to be extremely high in nitrogen so will burn your plants. Fresh manure should be either mixed in to a compost heap and left to mature or be composted on its own. When fully rotted down, manure can safely be used in fairly large quantities but it is still safer to mix it with soil rather than apply it alone.

Cat and dog manure can be either mixed into a compost heap or directly applied to well established trees and shrubs. It is preferable not to use cat and dog manure on vegetable and herb beds. Please remember to wear gloves when handing manure and compost for the sake of hygiene.

Poultry manure Nitrogen content is very high in fresh poultry manure which can totally destroy your garden. Manure from poultry commercial farms is not organic as the poultry is fed some alarming chemical concoctions to keep them in reasonable health and their food can include some highly questionable ingredients. Some poultry farmers also spray their accumulated manure heaps with insecticides to reduce insect and rodent problems. The safest poultry manure is found on small farms where chickens are a side rather than a main investment.

Such chickens are also liable to be kept free-range (allowed to run free), eating a variety of wild plants and a bare minimum of cultivated grain. Finding pure organic poultry manure can also be quite a difficult proposition unless, of course, you keep a few chickens yourself which, these days, if you have the room, is a good idea if local by-laws allow. As with animal manure, poultry manure should be fully rotted down before use or mixed in to the compost heap. It is always best to mix it with soil prior to use as using it on its own is generally harmful for both soil and plants.

Bone meal Purists would claim that bone meal made from bones of farmed animals may also be contaminated with antibiotics and a variety of chemicals but, organically speaking, such bones are an acceptable fertiliser. Bone meal can be made at home by thoroughly burning clean bones of animals and chickens in an enclosed fire at high temperature. I save up bones, boiling them first to ensure they are completely free of fat, marrow and gristle which would attract rodents, and, when I figure there are enough, burn them, mixed in with wood, in a small outdoor cooking stove. Once thoroughly burnt, this usually takes quite a few hours, the bones can easily be crumbled down or, for stubborn ones, smashed up with a large hammer. Bone meal contains an average of 4 per cent nitrogen and 20 per cent phosphorous and is a wonderful, long lasting, food for everything in the garden when mixed in to the soil or, in the case of new trees, shrubs and roses, a handful placed in the bottom of the planting hole will not only get them off to a good start but ensure they grow well for a long time to come.

Blood meal Dried blood meal, often imported and therefore expensive, has just about the highest nitrogen content of any organic fertiliser with around 11.5 per cent nitrogen and 1 per cent phosphorous. This wonderful, all round, garden tonic is not widely used in Pakistan due to the cost and it is hoped that registered abattoirs realise the gold mine they wastefully flush away.

Indigenously produced blood meal should be far lower in price than the imported versions and would thus, one would expect, be more widely used as an organic alternative to noxious chemical interventions.

Please continue sending your gardening queries to zahrahnasir@hotmail.com. Remember to include your location. Answers to selected questions will appear in a future issue of the magazine in due course. The writer will not respond directly by e-mail. E-mails with attachments will not be opened. The writer’s garden is not open to the public.