Thursday, October 07, 2004

poop or gold?

A couple of good friends over the years have each given me a pillow with the words "Gardeners have the best dirt" sewed on it. I only have one left because Franklin (when he was puppy) tore one of them. I suppose "it's hard to have nice things when a puppy is around" is too long to put on a pillow.

Anyway, I thought about that when I invited friends to go play putt-putt for my birthday, adding that I didn't want any gifts. When one friend, through my partner, pressed, I said that I'll accept bags of composted manure.

This was actually a little upsetting for them. I don't think they were mad at me, they just could not consider the symbolism of giving somebody a bag of some animal's poop, regardless of its condition or its value.

They see bagged poop. I see a soil amendment that is invaluable for the garden. One can never add to much in this hard clay soil.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I worked with two women and all three of us garden. One friend also has horses. I went over to her stables and got a truckload of manure. On the way home, I dropped by my second friend's house and gave her five bags of it. It was her birthday and she was delighted.

The next day at work, she told everyone, "Well, yesterday was my birthday, and, as usual, all I got from Melissa was a load of @%#$!" We all laughed, but we gardeners knew that nothing could better.

Melissa (Zanthan Gardens)
http://www.zanthan.com/gardens/gardenlog/index.html

Don said...

Melissa -- thanks for the comments. Whenever I read a post from you, I think about your garden as I envision it after reading your blog. I have a soft spot for Austin gardeners. Particularly South Austin gardeners.