Hidy-ho, neighbour "do you have any manure?"

Brown Swiss herd

Milk, anyone?  It was early one morning around 6am I was having my coffee and I noticed them at the fence line. 

The warm morning sun was starting to rise in the east and the dense fog was starting to lift. The wind was unusually calm and it was very peaceful with the chirping of birds in the distance. As I started to photograph them, they turned their heads toward the camera with great interest. The morning sun was low and warm with colour creating patches of light on the herd, the composition was asymmetrically pleasing,  the fog created visual senses and the colours blended into a pleasing palette. Every morning around 4am the herd is milked and turned out to pasture to graze on the lush green grass, and that leads me to the point of this post.

One summer, my neighbour graciously offered me the contents of a very old wood corn silo that was falling down. It was filled with corn cobs that decomposed into a sweet smelling organic material. How lucky could I be!  Get to know your neighbours especially if they have animals or even if they don't have animals 😄 . The former, may have animal manure that needs to be piled, disposed and often given away. My current supply of manure comes from an equestrian riding stable that happily gives decomposed manure to anyone with a garbage can, shovel and strong arms. The manure is laden with small red wiggler worms that convert the manure to sweet smelling compost ready for the garden. That's pure gold to a backyard gardener. As Earl Hindman (Mr Wilson Wilson) on the sitcom Home Improvement would say "Hidy-ho, neighbour" my friend.