How to make a garden with Rabbit Poop Fertilizer - Nigerians make a garden while the sun shines

With the abundant sunlight in Nigeria, you can create your own vegetable garden by sowing seeds in grow boxes made of wood, brick or breeze blocks even in your bedroom.

You can also sow your seeds in any other unused  clean and appropriate container.

Make sure you place the containers in a corner that gets sunlight during most of the day and is close to your water source.

How to prepare the soil

To prepare the soil you can mix:
• Garden soil
• Compost or decomposed rabbit poop
• Sand

How to do it

Be sure to remove stones, glass, litter, etc. And break up any large lumps with your hands and mix until all three ingredients are evenly distributed. You will use the mix to fill the grow boxes.

 

filled vegetable garden container

How to fill the grow boxes and containers.

•  Place a 2.5 cm layer of gravel, pebbles or broken clay tiles on the base for drainage.
• Add 5 cm of plant matter – garden or kitchen waste (fruit peel, pods, leaves).
• Add a 10 cm layer of the soil mix that you prepared earlier: one part garden soil,one part compost and one part sand. 
• Finally, cover with a 2 cm layer of decomposed rabbit manure.

Your grow box is ready now for planting

• Use the same method to fill any plant pots, plastic tubs and other containers thatyou plan to use to grow vegetables, herbs and other plants.
• It is best to grow plants with fairly short roots in grow boxes: lettuce, spinach, parsley, coriander, radishes, herbs, etc. Use deeper containers for plants with longer roots.

Sowing seeds directly into the ground

There are two ways of sowing seeds, depending on the size of the seed. The best planting method is always indicated on the seed packet.

Sowing directly into the ground

Sowing the seeds where they will grow.
Usually this method is best for larger seeds that are easy to handle.

Sowing indirectly into seedbeds

Best for plants with very small seeds that are difficult to handle. The seeds are

germinated in a propagator and moved outdoors later.

• Make sure that your grow boxes are moist.
• Use a trowel or your finger to make holes 2-3 cm deep. Place the seeds in the drills.
• The distance between the drills will vary according to the size of the plants. Leave1-2 cm between small plants like radishes. For larger plants like lettuces, you will need to plant the seeds in drills 20-40 cm apart.
• Using your hands, gently cover the seeds with soil. Make sure that they are notburied too deep and remove any lumps of soil.

The following plants can be sown in the ground: radishes, potatoes, carrots, beetroot, beans, peas, garlic, spinach, cucumber, coriander, parsley and basil.

How to improve soil

There are two most used methods of improving soil in Nigeria, by crop rotation or by fertilizer application

Why is crop rotation important?

• To avoid exhausting the soil
• To prevent spread of pests and disease
• To improve and maintain soil fertility

Fertilizer

After you have harvested your vegetables, you will need to add fertilizer to the soil to
replace the nutrients that have been lost.

To enrich your soil you can add compost (organic fertilizer) or rabbit manure.

Take all the soil out of the grow box or pot, mix with the rabbit manure and replace the soil. You are now ready to sow the next crop.

Remember to feed the soil regularly with compost or animal fertilizer, and if you have rabbits you have an endless supply of droppings at your disposal. 

Now I know that most gardeners dread having a rabbit in the garden. Rabbits are known to mow down veggies, burrow holes and generally not a friend to our gardens. BUT they can be. NO, I am not suggesting that you allow some bunnies to run willy nilly through your garden….but rabbit poop fertilizer should.

We have used rabbit poop in our garden from our pet rabbits and meat rabbits for years.

Rabbit droppings are little nuggets of nutrition with phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen. It can also contain trace elements of sulfur, calcium, copper and magnesium.

Can we say organic super fertilizer?

The secret to our healthy vegetable garden?  Rabbit poop fertilizer! Let me show you how we use it!

So how can rabbit poop fertilizer be used in your gardens?

Straight From Pan to the Garden:
Rabbit poo is not a hot manure so it can be used strait from the source. If you don’t use a lot of bedding (hay is ok) in your pans, you can pretty much take your poo straight to the garden. Sprinkle a little bit of the droppings around your garden and let it slowly release nutrients into the soil. I prefer to bury mine a bit to prevent flies but it isn’t necessary. But don’t worry about a stink, rabbit waste doesn’t have much of a smell to it at all.


Give Transplants a Boost:
When you are digging a new hole for a transplant to your garden, add a little rabbit poop into the whole before putting the plant in. This give the roots and instant fertilizer to tap into.


Compost Rabbit Poop:
Rabbit droppings are wonderful additions to your compost. They will add a rich boost of nitrogen to your compost pile and I have found they break down pretty quickly. This is how I use most of the rabbit waste that we have and it is part of making the rich soil that we use to grow our vegetable garden.


Brew Rabbit Compost Tea:
Rabbit poop compost tea is another fantastic option for that super rabbit poop fertilizer. To make it you’ll want to soak 2 cups of rabbit droppings in a 5 gallon bucket full of water. Keep that tea covered and only uncover once a day for stirring.

Make sure you keep your brew as far away from the house as possible because the flies love this stuff! It will take about 3 – 5 days for the poo to completely breakdown, settling at the bottom (it won’t dissolve completely). But keep the brewing tea in a warm, sunny, spot for best results.
Use the rabbit compost tea to water you plants, giving them an infusion for nutrients.

Create a Worm Sanctuary:
If you have an outside worm or vermicompost bin you can add your rabbit poop into worm farms; red wigglers especially love rabbit poo. You’ll want to combine the droppings with materials like straw, newspaper and coconut coir.


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