The News....

For those who read The Archers at The Larches Blog regularly, you'll know I'm obsessed with gardening. Well, now I'm also obsessed with poo, though only Lou's Poo, Dried Alpaca Manure. Having spent the last 5 years here at the smallholding stepping over the stuff, picking it up or composting it I haven't run short: The sheep and chickens have kept me in good supply. But. The poo from these creatures is a hot manure and so needs to be rotted down with added greenery a dash of leaves, moisture and a fair wind. For those who have done it, compost making takes time and effort and a fair bit of space to encourage the red worms to feast and the mix to turn into rich, fertile compost. I often asked the farmer to drop me a ton of cow muck (lovely stuff) and then spent hours barrowing it to the compost bays. 

Those days are over for me. For the past 16 months I have been using my alpaca manure direct onto my plants (from bum to roses etc) There is no need for delayed gratification with the alpaca poo; I have been using that directly around my shrubs, flowers and veg because it's not a 'hot' manure and doesn't scorch the plants.

Good Lordy! The results are amazing in my garden this year. The growth on the roses is stunning, even though they are planted in a poor bed, with precious little soil thanks to a new soak-away! The sweet pea are bedded into a 4 metre long trench filled with alpaca poo. At more than 6ft tall, there is an avalanche of flowers in lilac, red, marbled purple and two tone purple. The scent is fantastic! [Update: August 7 2014. I won a prize for my sweet pea at a massive Agricultural Show this week. All thanks to Lou's Poo, Dried Alpaca  Manure]

In the veg garden I was already deluged by courgettes by late May; the ratatouille is already in the freezer for winter.  

My twice, hand picked, air dried, alpaca poo is a wonderful slow release nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium soil enhancer. The fact that it is picked twice is very important. I work very hard to minimise the amount of additional organic matter that is contained in a bag of Lou's Poo to ensure that you, as a gardener, get less weed seeds and less 'burn' from any organic matter decomposition.

sweet smelling... in my humble opinion it smells like mowed grass and muesli, probably down to my clean paddocks and the great camelid food I feed the herd. All you need is a small handful in any indoor or outdoor potted plants or you can, like me, administer direct to soil or into a planting trench.

If you fancy a boost for your garden you can purchase the 550g dried version of Lou's Poo, Alpaca Manure, right here, right now! It comes, as per the pic, in a resealable, compostable, lined brown bag and retails at £9.99. A Gardener's Advantage! It makes a marvellous (and very funny) gift for the gardeners in your life too!

Happy Gardening!

Lou