Quote:
Originally Posted by COMPOSTER
Be prepared to attract critters. Especially raccoons.
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Yes, that's true.
Most carnivorous and omnivorous animals will try to dig up buried fish if you allow them to. Even your family pet. Old Fido would like nothing better than to dig up an old rotten fish and roll in it! Skunks just love fish.
Gardens should be protected from animals. I use a fence. I don't bury shallow.
I am also careful not to contaminate the soil around the planting site. I freeze my fish parts on a large cookie sheet first then put them into freezer bags.
When I plant out, I dig all my holes (I use an auger) before I go to the freezer. Then I put the fish from the freezer (still frozen and in the freezer bags) into a clean bucket and wash my hands. I then put some disposable rubber gloves in my pocket before heading out to the garden.
Once I put the gloves on, I won't touch the soil any more. The empty bags are put back into the bucket and kept from contact with the soil also. After all the holes have their fish dropped down the center of the hole, the gloves go in the bucket and I remove it (the bucket) from the garden and wash my hands one more time.
Now I can fill in and plant out. I back fill all the holes with six inches of soil, strip the seedlings down, set them in the holes, back fill more, firm or slightly tamp the soil, and water them in.
It may sound like a lot of fuss, but it's not. I used to run a trap-line many years ago, so it is second nature to me. It just involves being more conscious of the acute senses that animals possess.
People that use fish emulsion to fertilize with have more trouble with animals than I do, and they have very little.
P.S. don't eat bacon in your sleeping bag
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Charlie