As a vegan, you avoid using animal products or exploiting animals in all areas of life – food, clothes, cosmetics, household goods, entertainment. So what should be different about the garden? Vegan or ‘stockfree’ gardening avoids animal manure, fertilisers made with blood and bone meal, slaughterhouse waste and fish remains. It’s a safer, healthier and more sustainable way to grow food. You don’t need animal manure to grow fruit, vegetables and crops and a number of organisations have been proving it for years. The Vegan Organic Network is one of them and encourage gardeners and commercial growers to go stockfree. They say: “Veganorganics is any system of cultivation that avoids artificial chemicals and sprays, livestock manures and animal remains from slaughter houses. Fertility is maintained by vegetable compost, green manures, crop rotation, mulches and any other method that is sustainable, ecologically viable and not dependent upon animal exploitation. This will ensure long term fertility, and wholesome food for this and future generations”.