Local gardener Paris Ferrante stopped by Sirius Alpacas a few weeks ago to pick up some prime alpaca-poop fertilizer for her gardens.

Although I hope Sirius Alpacas is more recognized for its high-quality alpaca apparel and accessories, it’s always gratifying to learn how much people love our poop. So far this spring, four groups enthusiastic growers of flowers and vegetables found out we give our poop away – FREE – and stopped by to pick some up. One group drove all the way from the west side of Cleveland to fill 5 garbage cans with prime alpaca poop. In fact, members of the Fairview Garden Club have made a couple trips over the past year to Sirius Alpacas to pick up manure.

“I love using alpaca poop in my gardens,” says Danielle Sundberg, president of the Fairview Garden Club, and avid grower of clematis and begonias among other colorful blooms. ”It’s great because it can be applied to the soil right away. I started using alpaca manure last season, and noticed an improvement in the size and frequency of my flowers.” Sundberg also adds the manure to her compost bins and folds the mixture into her soils. She’s seen a dramatic increase in the amount of worms, centipedes and other bugs that help aerate her garden soil. “The whole reason I started using alpaca manure was to improve my soil. Before I applied alpaca poop, I didn’t have good soil and there were no worms. Now, I’m seeing richer soil and thriving flowers.”

Sundberg’s garden club is selling three-quart containers of native, hardy perennials at the Fairview Garden Club’s plant sale this upcoming weekend. All plants were locally grown by members of the garden club. Some of the plants have been donated from gardens in last year’s home garden tour. Plant prices range from $3 to $5.

Plant Sale:

Saturday, May 19 – 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Sunday, May 20 – 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Location: Fairview Park City Hall (20777 Lorain Road / Fairview)

Shoppers will find a variety of potted flowers, vegetables, pots, feeders and new or like-new gardening tools. If you love your gardens and want to add to your beds’ varieties, you won’t want to miss the Fairview Garden Club’s plant sale. If you happen to overhear Danielle happily talking about the state of her flower beds, ask her about the power of alpaca poop.

And remember, when it comes to number 2, Sirius Alpacas is number 1.

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Sirius Alpacas is a family farm in Chardon, Ohio that raises and boards alpacas for fun, therapy and profit. The farm uses its fleeces in the production of high-quality yarns and felted goods. Sirius Alpacas also imports fair-trade Andean items including socks, scarves, hats, gloves, sweaters and more from Peru and Bolivia, offering the style and culture of South American goods while helping the farmers, artists and craftsmen of that region. Lori Weber, co-owner of Sirius Alpacas, is the creator and writer of this alpaca blog. You may reach her at Lori@SiriusAlpacas.com.

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