Dannevirke gardeners line up for enriched soil

Utes and cars with trailers backed into the A&P Showgrounds' animal stalls on Friday, October 6, collecting stable soil for gardens. Photo / Dave Murdoch

There should be some pretty big vegetables grown this summer, courtesy of the Dannevirke A&P committee.

Their decision to donate the contents of the animal stalls free to the public over the last few weeks has proved popular, with a trial advertisement last month resulting in 40 vehicles with trailers queueing up and taking away this precious soil.

A front-end loader filled the trailers with ease. Photo / Dave Murdoch

A&P committee president Kirsten Wahlberg says the committee decided they had to clear out the floors of the animal stalls, which had not been done for 17 years, and it seemed a shame to just dump it somewhere.

Locals quickly realised the value of the soil, enriched by years of animal droppings, and 40 vehicles turned up on the first day. A further collection date was postponed because of rain so heavy even tractors would have been bogged down, but a forecast of good weather for Friday, October 6 meant that day was chosen, and a further 60 vehicles came out, a queue of them stretching right out the gate.

Even after three hours there was a queue of vehicles as drivers waited for their gift of 17-year-old soil. Photo / Dave Murdoch

Committee member Grace Te Kahika said there is still a huge amount of soil left, and more soil will be offered even to the likes of people wanting to set up a community garden. Watch for the news on the A&P Facebook page.

She is even contemplating a special section for produce grown just with the A&P soil in the show next year.

Dave Murdoch is a part-time photojournalist working for the Bush Telegraph and based at Dannevirke. He has covered any good community storytelling news about the district for the last 10 years.