Seabird guano-contains an equivalent percentage of plant nutrients,helps bind soil particles,aids in nitrogen fixation and greatly enhances beneficial bacteria. A great all around nutrient with quite a history.The most famous of all seabird guano??s was that used by the inca??s,the word guano actually originated from Quichua, language of the Inca civilization and means ??the droppings of sea birds?.The guano was collected on the rainless islands and coast of Peru.Where the atmospheric conditions insured a minimal loss of nutrients,leaving the Legendary fertilizer of the Incas.Seabird guano can be used as an soil amendment or as a tea at 1-2tbsp per gal.Bcause of its balanced npk ratio,an average of 10-10-2.5,seabird guano can be used as a base when making tea??s (throughout the grow)

3LB??s Guano Guide / Manure Manual (part 6)
Green Manures
A Green Manure is a crop grown for the purpose of supplying the soil with nutrients and organic matter. It is called a ??cover crop? when the green manure is grown for the added purpose of reducing soil erosion. Green manures are usually legumes or grasses, and they are grown with the simple intent that they will be turned back under the soil. Cover crops and green manures are certainly cost effective for large-scale farmers, but many backyard gardeners have no idea how simple and effective they are to use. And, as we mentioned earlier, they do offer a ??manure? option for growers who choose vegan organics.
Green manures improve soil in a variety of ways. Green manures add significant amount of organic matter into the soil. Like animal manures, the decomposing of green manures works to enhance biological activity in the soil. Green manures can also diminish the frequency of common weeds, and when used in a crop rotation, they can help to reduce disease and pests. When turned under, the rotting vegetation supports beneficial bacterial populations. As those decomposers do their work, nutrients stored by the cover crop are returned to the soil.

Red Clover
Alfalfa roots regularly grow to depths of five feet or more, soybeans and clover can reach almost as deep. Since their roots go deeper than folk would commonly cultivate with a rototiller or plow, a green manure crop can bring subsoil minerals up to where even shallow rooted plants can reach them. Green manures also help to improve overall soil structure, because those deep reaching roots leave behind minute channels deep into the soil. When these deep roots decay, they provide organic matter that promotes long-term soil building.
Except for buckwheat (a member of the rhubarb family) and rapeseed (related to the cabbages), all commonly used green manures are either legumes or grasses. Rye and oats are two good examples of grass family members that are commonly used as green manures. When we think of legumes, beans and peas are the ??classics? which come to mind, but the legume family also includes relatives such as clover and alfalfa. Members of the legume family can be particularly valuable as green manures, due to their ability to ??fix? nitrogen from the atmosphere.
In the legume family, a very specific type of bacteria works in league with plant roots. These microorganisms, called nitrogen fixing bacteria, form nodules on the plant roots where they work in a form of partnership with their host. Functioning in concert with the plant roots, nitrogen fixing bacteria transform atmospheric nitrogen (which plants otherwise can??t use), into ammonia, which plant roots can easily absorb.
If one of these plants is uprooted, the small nodules become visible as white or pinkish bumps the size of a large pinhead. The more nodules visible the better, since more nodules equals more nitrogen fixed. To assure that enough of these bacteria are present, commercially sold legume seeds are often treated with a bacterial innoculant. Make sure to get the appropriate innoculant for your specific legume crop if it??s necessary to inoculate your own soil or legume seed stock.
Each kind of legume requires a specific species of bacteria for effective nitrogen fixation, and each innoculant works for only a few species. It??s usually possible to buy an innoculant mix designed for all peas, snap or dry beans, as well as lima beans. Soybeans will require their own specific innoculant. A totally different innoculant will be needed to serve the needs of the vetches (as well as fava beans.) Still another nitrogen fixing bacteria will work with all the true clovers, but sweet clovers will require yet another innoculant.
With careful stewardship, a legume cover crop can enrich the soil with enough nitrogen to supply most of the following years crop nitrogen needs. Commonly used legumes for cover crops include: alfalfa; fava, mung and soy beans; a whole variety of clovers; cowpeas and field peas; common or hairy vetch; the lupines; and finally our favorite name among the legume cover crops - Birdsfoot trefoil.
Although the grasses and other non-legumes do not have the ability to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere, they still provide all the other benefits of green manures. Other non-legume crops grown for green manure include; barley, bromegrass, buckwheat, millet, oats, rapeseed, winter rye, ryegrass, grain sorghum, and wheat.
Seed for cover crop and green manures doesn??t need to come from fancy little packets at the garden center. Purchase grass and legume seeds by the pound, if you can, to save money. Farm and agricultural supply centers, what we call ??feed & seed? stores, usually offer the most economical source. If your garden area is small, a single pound of seed may go a long way. With the smaller seeds, a pound could be expected to last through a couple of plantings. The larger seeds of legumes, like beans and peas, don??t store as well, so it??s advised to purchase them fresh annually.

Comfrey
The use of green manures and cover crops is relatively simple, the primary necessity being the time to grow the plants. Some preplanning is always helpful to make sure the correct crop is selected to best meet the grower??s needs. So, for example, if enriching soil nitrogen levels is a goal, then it??s best to choose a cover crop from the legume family due to their ability to fix nitrogen.
Some green manure plantings tolerate poor soil quality better than others, so some cover crops may be chosen because they tolerate particularly acidic (or alkaline) conditions. If a grower needs to break up hardpan soil and improve drainage, some cover crops grow very strong and deep roots. Such conditions call for green manures like alfalfa and birdsfoot trefoil that can thrust their roots through anything but the most dreadfully compressed soils.
As stated earlier, deep-rooted plants can also bring up essential nutrients from the subsoil. And, some do even more; they actually accumulate nutrients, concentrating them. Growing these green manures can produce a measurable (although not huge) increase in soil nutrients. Some legumes, especially red clover, can help to increase phosphorus levels. Buckwheat also increases phosphorus, as well as helping to supplement calcium. Vetches are also accumulator plants, working to increase levels of both calcium and sulfur.

Commercial Compost
Buckwheat and Rye are examples of crops often grown as green manures that also function to control weeds. Winter Rye is actually a natural herbicide; it produces chemicals that are toxic to many weed seedlings. Buckwheat works by outgrowing its weedy competitors. The large leaves of buckwheat effectively shade out many common annual weeds.
It??s also necessary to consider the seasonal needs of your garden when planning a green manure planting. Some green manures are early season crops, while others do better when planted during the heat of summer. Winter rye and winter wheat are usually planted in the late summer or fall and then turned under in the following spring.
Another key to getting the most from a green manure planting is to turn them under at the proper time. Winter cover crops of rye and wheat, for instance, should be turned under as soon as the spring soil is dry enough to work. It??s best when turning under a winter wheat to allow at least two weeks for the green manure to ??work? in the soil before beginning any spring planting.
In order to assure good germination rates, it??s necessary to wait even longer for winter rye manures to be ready for replanting. A three to four week wait is suggested after turning under a winter rye crop before sowing seeds of another crop. This is due to the same herbicidal quality that makes winter rye effective in the control of weeds. In general with most grass cover crops, the best timing is to turn them under before they form mature seed.
Turning under legumes at any time will enhance the organic matter in soil and promote an active population of beneficial soil bacteria. But, to get the full benefit of a legume plantings ability to fix nitrogen, they should be allowed to grow a full season. Perennials like alfalfa, red clover, and birdsfoot trefoil can produce additional soil enriching nitrogen if allowed to grow for a second season. If allowed those two years of growth, they can be mowed multiple times, providing a high quality source of compost or material for mulching. An alfalfa cover planting can serve as a gardener??s own sure source of fresh materials for the manufacture of alfalfa teas.
3LB??s Guano Guide / Manure Manual (part 7)
Miscellaneous Wastes / Manures
this space reserved for further information on Miscellaneous Wastes / Manures
1. Earthworm Castings ?? deserve an entire essay of their own . . . worms are nature??s wonder . . . because of their many contributions to soil building and soil health . . .

Earthworm Castings
2. Cricket Castings ?? still learning ?? but with crickets being a common food for reptiles . . . there??s some promise here . . . probably a special niche for the herpetologists . . .
3. Aquarium Wastewater ?? we??re basically talking an ??offshoot? of aquaponics here . . . we have some experience and it??s very promising and promise to write more as we put together a revised edition of this manual . ..
4. Zoo Manures ?? we??re told that Elephant poop is really ??great shit?. . . and penguin poop is digested seafood goodies . . . undoubtedly rich in nutrients . . . as we learn more we??ll put it in the ??next edition? . . .
Finding Manure
As we??ve stated, one of the best reasons to use manures in growing is the fact that society (as a whole) has a surplus of animal shit. The disposal or dispersal of animal wastes is a real problem for areas where large agricultural operations produce copious excesses of waste. Even Vegans who might avoid pure animal products like bone meal or blood meal, might do well to consider using manures in growing, because the use of manures is beneficial to our planet??s environment.
The best advice we can give for finding good sources of shit is to look around! We suggest you simply contact people who raise the various cows, horses, pigs or chickens that make this fertilizer. If you are lucky, they??ll probably let you take a load home for free. Stables are usually listed in the phone book, and state fairs and traveling circuses can also serve as great sources for free manure. For the hopelessly urban farmer, the local zoo may also offer free crap. As an added benefit, zoos can offer some pretty exotic shit, like crap from critters like lions and tigers and bears, (oh my!) Some folk claim that manure from predator species like these can help to deter garden pests, such as rabbits and deer.

If none of these manure sources are available, or if you just prefer your shit pre-packaged, just head off to the local nursery or home-and-garden center. Wal-Mart, Lowes, and Home Depot are all examples of large outlets which will carry packaged manure products, usually cow and steer crap. Often these are at least partially composted and come labeled as ??humus and manure?. Nowadays, even many grocery stores carries manure products like humus and manure or mushroom compost. The budget conscious shopper can often wait until late in the season when stores are ??closing out? such products before winter, to grab these items at increased discounts.
Garden centers or hydro shops are usually better sources for the more exotic ingredients like worm castings and the various bat and bird guanos. Ingredients for green manures can often be found in rural animal feed stores, or other similar agricultural supply center.
3LB??s Guano Guide / Manure Manual (finale - for Now)
We??ve always envisioned this as a ??growing resource?, with a number of meanings intended. Although we??ve mostly retired from much active involvement on cannabis message boards since the demise of Overgrow and CannabisWorld, we hope this resource will continue to grow in size and scope here at the 3LB??s Cannabis Chronicles.
We thank our many friends for their comments and criticisms on message boards such as CW and OG, places that it seems are gone but not forgotten. Many from those sites have said we helped them produce more and better herbal medicines with our growing advice, we??re simply hoping that tradition will continue here.

Guano Island Act of 1856 (and More)
For our friends who??ve enjoyed and used our guano guide thru the years, we thought we??d continue the tradition . . . this time by sharing some of the newer articles and information found in the ??organics archive? at the bird??s nest . . .

Guano Island Act
by Matt Rosenberg,
from About.com
Whenever any citizen of the United States discovers a deposit of guano on any island, rock, key, not within the lawful jurisdiction of any other government, and not occupied by the citizens of any other government, and takes peaceable possession thereof, and occupies the same, such island, rock, or key may, at the discretion of the President, be considered as appertaining to the United States. - Guano Island Act of 1856
In 1804 geographer Alexander von Humboldt brought samples of Peruvian guano to Europe. This type of guano, decades later, would become one of the most highly prized natural resources in the world. In the 1840s, guano was prized as an agricultural fertilizer. The primary source for guano at the time were the Chincha Islands off of the Peruvian Coast. The guano mining operations of Peru kept the country from becoming bankrupt although American, British, and European farmers resented paying the high costs of Peruvian bird droppings.
Fish-eating sea birds, most notably the white-breasted cormorant, have been depositing their seafood-based droppings off the coast of Peru for thousands of years. The guano of Peru is most notable due to the limited precipitation in the region. Guano is dropped and dries quickly, preserving the chemicals that make it useful for fertilizer. Is moist environments, the nitrates evaporate, making the deposits less rich than those of Peru.

The White-breasted Cormorant
On some islands, as much as one hundred and fifty feet of guano had accumulated by the time the deposits were discovered. The western companies that exploited the islands for their guano also exploited Chinese and other laborers to mine the guano for use as fertilizer.
In 1855, the U.S. government received reports that Baker Island in the Pacific Ocean was also rich with guano deposits. Congress took action and on August 18, 1856 the Guano Island Act was passed. It empowered American citizens to take possession of any island or rock or key with guano deposits not under the control of a foreign government. The full act also allowed the President to utilize the military to protect the interests of the discoverer.
Additionally, while the act allowed the President to annex a guano island or rock or key, it did not require that the United States retain possession of a guano-filled locale. This was a difference in law as typically annexations require a treaty to give up possession of a territory - thus the Guano Island Act set out to differentiate guano islands from other annexed territories.
The first annexation was that of Baker Island on May 1, 1857. A Baltimore newspaper called the island ??a new El Dorado? due to the value of guano as a agricultural resource and the lower cost with which guano could be had by American farmers. Over the next few decades, dozens of rocks and islands were annexed into the United States due to their guano deposits and the Guano Island Act. These included Jarvis Island, Howland Island, Christmas Island, Johnson Atoll, Navassa Island, and Midway Island.

Baker Island
The industrial ideals of the late nineteenth century did not provide for conservation of wildlife so the exploitation of the guano islands resulted in the loss of millions of sea birds, making the guano on the islands a non-renewable resource. Nonetheless, the invention of chemical fertilizers dramatically reduced the need for guano as fertilizer.
What this article doesn??t state, is that the seabird guano??s were coveted for far more than their fertilizer value.
The Nitrogen / Nitrates found in bird guano deposits were once an important source of raw materials for armaments production. It??s even been argued in some ??eco-agricultural? circles that the dramatic increase in the marketing and use of synthetic sources of nitrogen, also coincides with the end of World War II. In what amounts to a miniature conspiracy theory, it seems that Governments had subsidized the production of synthetic nitrates on an industrial scale, and needed to find an outlet for that production as the world returned to a peacetime economy.

Nitrogen
Agriculture provided a convenient outlet.
As an added irony, we can attest that an observant organic farmer will likely notice that plants that have been overfertilized with Nitrogen seem to become quite susceptible to pests, to the extent it might be said that they even attract pests. Foliage that??s too darkly lush green from an excess of nitrogen actually produces a different, and attractive, image to insects, who ??see? in different wavelengths than the human eye. Over fertilized plants literally become a magnet for insect pests!
Of course, that makes sure there??s plenty of business for the Nitrate industry??s ??partner in crime?, the manufacturers of killing chemicals called pesticides / insecticides / herbicides . . . Who??d have thought they could literally create a market for environmental poisons???
Bunny Buds
In a recent thread in the organics forum at ICMag where we are were moderators, there was a brief discussion of rabbits as the ideal pet for the budding herbalist. Not only are rabbits actually delightful creatures to have as a house pet, their manure is one of nature??s best fertilizers. And, considering their prodigious appetite for green roughage, they serve the added purpose of acting as a live furry little garbage disposal for small stems and similar garden waste.

We are quite familiar with bunnies, one of our members once bred large numbers of rabbits as a part of a sophisticated collective breeding program. Another member of the 3LB??s raised rabbits as a part of 4-H projects, winning a number of prizes thru the years, including a Grand Champion. And, as far back as 25 years ago, Foghorn had his first house bunny pet. Over the years our attitudes have changed, and so have the ways our bunnies are treated, so we??d like to share the wealth of our experience for the benefit of others who might be interested in bringing a bunny into their home (and rabbit manure into their garden)..
Obviously, our rabbits were once bred and raised to be slaughtered and eaten, much like any other ??livestock?. However, after longer term exposure to ??house bunnies?, we??ve learned that rabbits are amazing animals with real intelligence and personality. Our bunnies are beloved pets like a dog or cat, and eating a rabbit to us is no more appealing than eating the family dog!

Rabbits are great pets, but please remember they are actually quite intelligent critters with real personalities and the ability to learn. House bunnies can (and should) be housetrained much like a cat, and once that??s accomplished, they should be given ??the run? of carefully selected portions of your home. To be healthy, a house bunny needs some room to run and stretch out their legs, they need interaction on a daily basis, as well as a good ??home? where they can rest and/or sleep.
Bunnies are playful and wilful creatures, as a ??herd? animal rather than a ??pack? animal (like a dog for instance), they are more independent than man??s best friend. In the social sense, they are probably more similar to house cats. Like a cat, there are times where a house bunny can be aloof, but overall they are probably a bit more friendly and social than a feline. Rabbits can be affectionate and playful, and a responsive and attentive owner can even expect ??bunny kisses? from their little furry friends if their bunny is happy.
As we??ve said, house bunnies make great pets, but they also require real attention like a cat or dog. Like many other furry friends, a rabbit will shed to an extent, so the occasional grooming is necessary, and because bunny fur is so soft and fine, it??s more likely to get airborne and cause allergy problems. Like dogs and cats, rabbits need their nails trimmed too, so many of the tasks that are essential for other house-pets, also apply to rabbits. Fortunately, rabbits shouldn??t be bathed like a dog, so they are lower maintenance than dogs or cats in some ways, and over all they are probably slightly less expensive to maintain than more common household companions.

Be prepared to protect power cords, phone cords, and the like, that may be exposed in the areas where your bunny is allowed, somehow is seems that thin cords look like linguini to rabbits. Generally it is also wise to keep valued books and other similar items out of a bunny??s reach, something about book covers and bindings seems to invite nibbling. Once an area is ??bunny proofed? by observing a few essentials like the previous precautions, then you and your bunny will be able to relax together without worry.
A few years back we wrote a ??manure manual / guano guide? designed to help folks with understanding the usefulness of a variety of different animal wastes in gardening. It??s got a pretty wide variety of information, and we??ll be featuring it??s here at the Cannabis Chronicles in the near future. There??s really no doubt in our minds, rabbit manure rates with worm castings as the most effective and useful garden fertilizers we??ve experienced. So, from a gardening perspective, rabbit manure is a very attractive ??by-product? of having a house bunny. Since dog and cat manures aren??t at all useful to the budding herbalist, this may very well be the deciding factor in some individual??s choice of an environmentally friendly house pet.

Tweedy bird will tell you that our ??Guano Guide??s? description of the usefulness of rabbit manure was very conservative. She??s used 100% fresh bunny manure as a potting medium back when she was breeding rabbits, and found great success. She found that fresh rabbit manure was very effective as a potting medium, and it did not burn even sensitive plants like African Violets. So, in our minds at least, it??s not even necessary to compost bunny poop, especially when applied outdoors. Inside, it??s primarily an aesthetics question, composted rabbit waste is probably preferable for indoor gardeners since composting will eliminate any potentially offensive odors..
With that in mind, it seems appropriate to briefly quote what we wrote about rabbit manure, before returning to finish this short guide.

Rabbit Manure (2.4-1.4-0.6) - is the hottest of the animal manures. It may even be higher in nitrogen than some poultry manures. As an added bonus it also contains fairly high percentages of phosphates. Because of it??s high nitrogen content, rabbit crap is best used in small quantities (as a light top dressing or lightly mixed into soil) or composted before use. An excellent fertilizer by itself, some folks combine rabbit hutches with worm farms to create what is a potentially very rich source of nutritious worm castings. As with other animal manures, healthier animals fed a nutritious diet will produce a superior manure fertilizer.
Most folks think of pressed ??rabbit pellets? as the most common and useful food for rabbits, certainly we??ve used our share thru the years. Alfalfa is a decent rabbit food, and most commercial rabbit feeds are made from alfalfa pressed into pellets. The truth is that those pellet foods are produced for commercial rabbit production, and they aren??t necessarily the best choice a responsible house rabbit ??parent? can make. Pellets often contain too high a level of calcium, which can damage the longer term health of bunnies that aren??t being raised and bred to produce as many offspring (food) as possible. Also, pellets do not contain enough fibre to satisfy a rabbit??s digestion, so fresh hay is always preferred.

Despite the common misconception about it??s value, alfalfa isn??t even the best or most nutritious hay for our little bunny friends. If you want to feed your rabbit alfalfa, the bigger alfalfa cubes are actually preferred. We actually find the so called ??rabbit pellets? are best used to line a rabbit liter box.
Timothy hay is not as rich as alfalfa, so it is actually a far superior choice as your rabbits primary food source. Timothy hay it??s usually available alongside alfalfa at most decent pet stores, so it shouldn??t be difficult to find. A regular supply of fresh timothy, perhaps refreshed with fresh hay once or twice daily, is the best possible basis for your rabbit??s diet.

Of course all of us like a varied diet, we think that??s even true for plants, and it??s certainly true for the healthy house bunny too. Occasional carrot treats are the ??classic? for a generation that grew up watching Bugs Bunny, and there??s no doubt that rabbits love not only carrot roots. As many backyard gardeners can attest, rabbits can make even quicker work of munching down carrot greens. Speaking of backyards, we??ve also found that Dandelion greens are great treat for our bunny friends.

Because bunnies have very sensitive physical constitutions, they can be harmed quite easily by poisons and the like, so please make sure any greens fed to your rabbit have not been sprayed with any chemical herbicides or pesticides. Perhaps the most important thing to remember about your rabbit??s diet, from a gardener??s perspective, is that the better nutrition the bunny gets, the better nutrition it??s manure will provide to your plant.
And of course, as we mentioned before, it??s true that most bunnies will develop a taste for Cannabis stems. For a number of reasons, fibre is an important part of a bunny??s diet. It aids in proper digestion and it??s actually essential to a bunny??s dental health as well. A rabbit??s front teeth continue growing throughout their entire lives, it they are not worn down during the normal process of a bunny??s life, your little furry friend can and will become physically deformed. So, it??s essential that rabbits are given the opportunity to gnaw on woody stems and other sources of fibre, to avoid having their teeth becoming dangerously deformed.

We hope this is a balanced and fair introduction to the joys (and work) of owning a house bunny. Certainly house pets aren??t the focus of our blog, but we felt that a quick look at the responsibilities of owning a bunny were in order, since it seems to be a more and more popular pet choice for folks who are also avid herbalists. For more complete information on owning a house bunny, we??d suggest the House Rabbit Society, it is a great resource for anyone truly interested in investigating all the details behind adopting a bunny friend for their family and garden.