I say “gems” but I really mean (dare I say it) ...dog poop. Let's stick with "gems" shall we?
Usually I pick up after the dog soon after she goes out in the garden. But when the temperature drops, the idea of venturing out into sub-zero Canadian winter in my pajamas is less than appealing. So as the dog lays her eggs, I let the snow fall and cover it.
I warn the kids of the dangers of building a snowman. I wait patiently until spring. I look out the window and admire the pure, white, freshly fallen blanket of snow masking the evil that lurks beneath.
The spring thaw yields layer upon layer of treasure. It resembles an archaeological dig: the snow melts enough to expose a few sparkling jewels at a time and I remove each layer over a period of weeks.
It’s normally hard going because the gems are cold and soggy; some even need to be dug out of the ice with a trowel.
An emphatically unglamorous activity.
This year however, I decided to refrain until all the snow melted. I waited for a dry day (today). Armed with my usual protective gear...
...and a zillion plastic bags... I went out to face what would surely be a bumper crop.
To my surprize, there were only half as many and the ones I found were half-sized hard little nuggets. Also, being dry, they didn’t smell.
Why, in twenty years of living with dogs, am I only just now discovering this?
My cats are our gardeners. They scratch away moss in the lawn, then dig a hole, drop their jewels, cover it and the next time they search for another spot with moss. In this way it will start to grow grass in stead of moss. And because they don't like the smell, they wait until they use the same spot again so they spread their talents around our garden. Moss remover and natural fertilization = The Cat.
ReplyDeleteVery nice of your cat to do the gardening for you. One of our neighbor's cats comes in and lays little 'surprizes' for me. I usually find them whilst planting annuals. I don't like it... *unhappy face*
DeleteThat's because our cats are better trained of course ;-)
DeleteBrilliant. Poop. Gems. Snow.
ReplyDeleteJust brilliant.
If only. Imagine how rich I'd be!
DeleteHaha Brilliant. I wish I could do this in England, but it just rains for 10 months straight and turns my gardens into a swimming pool of dog poop. Lovely xx
ReplyDeleteWe lived in London for 6 years, with a newfie. So yeah, I hear you on the poop soup.
DeleteI'm lucky that Blue would rather go in the field across the road or anywhere but our yard. I do remember having a Great Dane though, and she would only poop on the lawn. Add the fact that we lived in Northern Ontario, and you'll quickly deduce that there was 9 months of massive piles to pick up in May.
ReplyDeleteEach pile was a two-hander, amiright?
DeleteI have three dogs myself and a big garden, I always tell myself " it's good manure ! "
ReplyDeleteIt would be kind of cool to have a special compost just for the manure...but how to keep the flies away?
DeleteAh you've discovered what we do with Magpie's all winter.... NOTHING. But man I should have waited till a drier day this year to clean them up because it was one of the most gemful years we've had.
ReplyDelete