Karen used the melon pit idea from Compost Everything and fed rotten chicken to her squash with amazing results:
“I wanted to thank you for the melon pit idea which I replicated in miniature with some of my squashes this year, and hours of entertainment your audiobooks have provided.
After listening to your excellent audiobook Compost Everything I decided the 2 forgotten roast chicken carcasses stashed in my freezer waiting to be made into stock had a better use.
I buried one about a foot down and topped off with partially rotted compost into which I planted a patty pan squash. I thought you might like to see the difference it made after a few weeks, compared to a chickenless squash. No prizes for guessing which is which!
I also made an indoor Hugelkulture bed for my greenhouse. We have loads of dead branches and stumps from hedgelaying just rotting in ditches in country backroads in this part of the UK. It seems a shame not to rehabilitate them. It’s also a great boost for my madwoman reputation to be seen stuffing them into the back of a Toyota Yaris.
Best wishes thanks again for the excellent books and blogs.”
I love the melon pit concept and I use it regularly. Last year I grew some nice pumpkins on top of a dead rat.
This year I planted some Hubbards on top of a dead gar.
What better way to plant a squash gar-den?
4 responses to “She buried a rotten chicken carcass!”
She must have a heck of a fence. I’ve tried this several times, and will keep trying it, because I hate putting that stuff in the trash– the cans get full of maggots– but most times, I come out the next morning and find that the neighborhood critters have dug it up and run off with it– pork bones, chicken carcasses, dead fish, etc. Dunno if it’s neighborhood dogs, cats, raccoons, opossums, or what. Can’t keep the stuff in the garden, though.
I have had some trouble with things near the surface, but I have only had a 2′ deep pit dug into once.
I used to have trouble growing artichokes because gophers would eat them. Then I started trapping the gophers and planting new artichokes on top of their corpses. Great artichoke harvests resulted! I recommend this trick as a stealthy way to feed gophers to your vegan friends.
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