04-20-2022, 07:19 PM
We're talking about use of fish as a resource here, consumption and then garden fertilizer....and since this is a fishing site, a little garden use of the resource seems appropriate, especially to those of us who consider themselves 'Hunt/Fish/Gatherers'..... I prefer trout spp over panfish because of the larger amount of entrails, but overall, most any will work, just depends what you have....during the ice season, or Spring if it's too early to plant, I just freeze the carcasses whole...I've only been using this on pre-started plants, like tomatoes, pepper, eggplant,etc. So in my case, I have to figure out how many of those plants I'll be using, and divide by 2...ei. 12 tomato, 12 pepper, 6 eggplant = 30, div by 2 = 15 trout spp carcasses I'd need...After thawing for a day (protected from predators) I'll cut an average trout in half, and that seems to be enough per plant. Smaller fish maybe you'd want the whole thing, or 2 or 3 of small panfish..... 4 or 5 days before planting I dig all the holes, about 12" deep..place the cut (or whole) carcass in the hole, cover with at least 3" of soil - important, so predators don't come digging...you now should still have a 6 or 7" hole, deep enough for most of your transplants, in 4 or 5 days..that layer of soil also protects the young roots from direct contact with the carcasses, but allows them to find their way as nature and decomposition occur...So yes, I'm planting directly above...pretty sure this would also work well on seeds planted in a hill, ei. squash, cukes, pumpkin, corn, but I haven't...My first year trying fish carcass for fertilizer, I experimented by doing half with and half without, and the difference was very obvious, so now a carcass can be a good extra use of the resource..but it does get a little messy! ...Guluk...