SUSTAINABLE GREEN HORSE KEEPING
We pride ourselves on our Green Horse Keeping principles and strive to be a model of Best Management Practices, which we use as teaching tools in our Environmental Stewards Programs to raise awareness of the importance of land and wetland stewardship. We are fortunate that our neighbors, Green Gulch Farm, enjoy the benefits of horse manure to enhance their composting efforts. We have partnered with Green Gulch Zen Center’s organic farm for the past fifteen years, renting one pasture during the wet season, and two during the dry season. All manure from both the stable paddocks and the pastures is cleaned daily and goes directly to the compost field where it is ‘seasoned’ before enriching the fields where their organic vegetables and flowers grow.
“There’s nothing like ‘delicious aged horse manure’ to kick start your garden.”
Wendy Johnson, Master Gardener and author of GARDENING at the DRAGON’S GATE
GREEN HORSE KEEPING is a COMMUNITY EFFORT
We schedule seasonal member work parties for upkeep of the facilities, the Green Gulch pastures, and to address our commitment to the health of the Redwood Creek Watershed and other natural resources.
Most of our Young Stewards Programs conclude with the children helping to clean the fields as a thank you to the land for taking care of the horses that they’ve enjoyed for the day. Children often comment that the highlight of their day at the Golden Gate Dairy is “doing the poop scoop!” and the opportunity to feel the warmth of one of the covered compost piles to see how the manure is becoming part of the cycle of life by helping to ‘cook’ some delicious earth for the baby plants.