Organic Gardening 101 or How to Shovel Horse Poop

Greetings from the Ponderosa Lodge!

I am Emily, one of the interns at the lodge. I first arrived at the lodge on Thursday night from Washington, DC fully dressed in business clothes that I was wearing from my part-time job in the city. Who knew that, in 12 hours, I would be in the pelting rain and removing more than a year’s worth of horse poop out of Ken and Jorene's friend's barn to use as fertilizer? We removed two truck loads. It was definitely more poop than I have ever seen, and there are still two more truck loads to gather in the near future.

I have to say, though, at the end of the day I was truly happy. I can list three reasons why. First, it is environmentally sustainable to use horse manure. It is great to know that The Ponderosa Lodge Farm and Bed and Breakfast uses fertilizer without chemicals found on so many farms in the USA. The second reason is that now I truly appreciate where my organic vegetables come from. Finally, the sense of community I found here is heartwarming. The manure we collected came from the farm of Ken and Jorene’s widowed friend who needed assistance removing it from her barn. The fertilizer was then distributed to her garden, the lodge's garden, and another garden down the road that Ken and Jorene use. Everyone helped with smiles and friendly jokes.

With all this manure on the farm, it is time to get planting! So far we are planning to grow beans, beets, cabbage, cucumber, corn, grapes, tomatoes, eggplants, herbs, and a plethora of beautiful flowers.

Plenty to tell next week as the planting gets into full swing!