When I was a boy, everyone told me that manure must be composted before use. The alternative was land application in fall so dung could “mellow” over winter. “Never use fresh manure or bad things will happen”. Confident in my wisdom, I carried this lesson with me to India where I promptly discovered that everything I had been taught was WRONG. My little world was turned upside down. Since then, I have developed a healthy skepticism of advice from die Experten.

Most Indian forests were cut down centuries ago. Consequently, there is a great shortage of firewood. Dried cow manure is widely used as a substitute fuel.

Women shape fresh manure into disks about the size of a round cake pan. The “cow pies” are slapped up against a mud brick wall where they stick and dry in the sun. 3 days of intense Indian heat bakes the manure into dehydrated cakes that are stacked and sold in local village markets.

Half of India eats food cooked over cow manure fires. Many of the vegetables are also grown in dried cow manure. The process is simple: Crumble dried manure with your hands. Fill raised beds or containers with cow manure “potting soil”. Poke in some seeds or transplants. Add water and wait for Mother Nature to work her biological miracles.

Everything grows. Nothing fails. There are no weeds or bugs. No tools or machinery are needed, and you do not have to buy fertilizer or chemicals. There is no work other than planting, watering, and harvesting.

I have been using dehydrated cow manure for the better part of a century now, and I still do not understand how it works. My guess is that hot sunlight “cooks” or pasteurizes manure yielding a rough, instant compost that grows anything from bananas to watermelons.

I used to mix great piles of sand, peat, and earth to make potting soil. Now, I get manure from my neighbor and dry it on screens in a glasshouse. My operating costs have dropped significantly and I no longer have to worry about nematodes, crop rotation, or “sick greenhouse syndrome”. All plants are grown in freshly dried manure. Crops wastes and old “soil” are spread on gardens or fields. Insect and disease cycles are permanently broken.

I work in my hoop houses without gloves, respirator, or moon suit. I do not have to worry about chemicals in my food or my lungs. At my age, that is a considerable benefit.

So far, I have not found a “down side” to sun dried cow manure. It is far superior and much less costly than any potting soil I can buy or make.

Related Publications: Biological Agriculture in Temperate Climates; Burbank’s Seed Germination Mix; Dutch Potting Soil; Hot Versus Cold Composting; Swamp Potatoes; Wildcrafted Potatoes; Worm Farming.

Would You Like to Know More? For more information about composting or greenhouse management, please visit: http://www.worldagriculturesolutions.com — or — send your questions to: Eric Koperek, Editor, World Agriculture Solutions, 413 Cedar Drive, Moon Township, Pennsylvania 15108 United States of America — or — send an e-mail to: worldagriculturesolutions@gmail.com.

About the Author: Mr. Koperek is a plant breeder who farms in Pennsylvania during summer and Florida over winter. (Growing 2 generations yearly speeds development of new crop varieties).

Index Terms: Ayurvedic Agriculture; Cow Manure; Crop Rotation; Greenhouse Management; Insect Control; Nematode Control; Potting Soil; Sick Greenhouse Syndrome; Weed Control.

Original Publication Date: February 2005, Meyersdale, Pennsylvania.

Updated: June 2023 Venus, Florida.