MANURE

[Chuckles]

Need some opinions on good old fashioned manure for use on Veg patch and in Borders please.

A neighbour has 2 horses on wood shavings and she has a humongous muck heap up 2 fields from me. She said I could help myself so I went for a look today, some of it is a least 5 years old so well rotted and just looks like the best compo you have ever seen. What do you call, it Black Gold, well it sure was that.

What does everyone else use or recommend
When do you apply it
Do you dig it in or just put it on the surface
Any other useful pointers

I’m sure I’m not alone in wanting to know these things

[4pygmies]

Well, I can only speak about what I do with my goat muck. In Spring and Autumn I mulch under all my orchard trees, fruit bushes in a very thick layer (mine is mixed with straw though) and on top of all the beds I've managed to weed and leave the worms to do their thing. I dig it into my runner bean trenches and veg beds when I get the chance. If you are putting it in your new beds for veggies I would mix with it with the existing compost for the heavy croppers like courgettes. For root veg I would try to bury it underneath the top soil as soon as possible to give it a chance to settle. And if I wanted to use some as soil conditioner for potted plants I would use it as a top dressing.

[roxann57]

Sounds like you have a gold mine there Chuckles.

[Chuckles]

I know roxanne, I was just worried about it being wood shavings but when I saw it I was amazed. It's always good to get others views on things like this.

The only problem is it's 2 long fields away and up hill. At least i'll be going down hill when the barrow is full but I'm not sure how many trips I'll do in one day ;D maybe 2

[Rosefriend]

You are one lucky person Chuckles. You are allowed 23kg luggage when you fly to Germany, - if I let you have 3kg for a change of clothes, could you load 20kg and bring it over to me. Would be much appreciated. ;D

Seriously though, it will be hard work but I think that it will be worth it in the end.

I think that 4P is right in how it should be used, possibly on the basis of a little goes a long way!!

RF

[4pygmies]

Just as an afterthought, Chuckles, once you loaded it in your raised beds you might cover some of them with a waterproof cover when you dug it in so the heat builds up and also if we get lots of rain the goodness doesn't leach away. Sunds lovely stuff though!

[Deleted]

greety said:

Need some opinions on good old fashioned manure for use on Veg patch and in Borders please.

A neighbour has 2 horses on wood shavings and she has a humongous muck heap up 2 fields from me. She said I could help myself so I went for a look today, some of it is a least 5 years old so well rotted and just looks like the best compo you have ever seen. What do you call, it Black Gold, well it sure was that.

What does everyone else use or recommend
When do you apply it
Do you dig it in or just put it on the surface
Any other useful pointers

I’m sure I’m not alone in wanting to know these things

There was an article, a few months ago, in the telegraph gardening section about using manure from horses bedded down on wood shavings. It mentioned that wood shavings take a very long time to rot down, much much longer than straw. I think the article also stated that wood will take goodness from the soil until it has completed rotted down too.

There are lots of paddocks around my village, many horse owners also use a machine for picking up horse poo directly from the paddock, I had been told that this can be used immediately - straight from the paddock to the garden. We moved barrow loads of it, and dug it into our new borders - the one draw back was the undigested oat or barley seeds which then germinated all over the place.

The reason you shouldn't put fresh horse muck from the stable straight onto your garden is that fresh horse urine is very strong and will burn!!

[Deleted]

Chuckles

I have a friend at work who has horses which are bedded down (I think that's the horsey term!!) on wood shavings - I didn't realise this when I said I'd have a trailer load of manure for the allotment .

I was abit worried when it arrived and after I'd shovelled it into my make shift manure store I was even more worried as the pile was huge . I posted over on the BBC asking what was best to do with it, and they only reply I can remember is that sometimes the shavings can be contaminated from the woodyard...

Anyhow, that was about last March time, I covered the pile with an old tarpaulin for a few months, turned it over a few times and now it's looking like the most fantastic stuff ever (and he pile is about a third of the size!!), it doesn't have any smell either ;D. I used a small amount of the more rotted down stuff in July last year for the second pea sowing (really as a moisture retaining method as it was so dry and hot) and I've put it around the rhubarb, this season I will use it in bean trenches and with the peas again. It was fully of worms when I last inspected it!!! I shall also be getting another trailer load delivered.....it's free ;D ;D ;D

The other place I use rotted manure in the garden is on my Gunnera (Beth Chatto does the same in her garden each winter!!), I fold the leaves onto the 'crown' and then pile on the manure - just gives a nice layer of protection against the elements. I also used manure in my new-est border, it had been a concrete footpath for years and the soil under was lifeless and heavy, the poo worked wonders ;D!!!

If the manure you've been offered is 5 years old, I'd get a convoy of wheelbarrows and get as much as you need ;D ;D ;D!!!!

GH

Just remembered, I also use manure (half and half mix with compost) in the pots when I plant the tomatoes in the greenhouse.

[Chuckles]

I think I've hit gold from the sound of all the comments on here ;D

GH a convoy sounds like a fab idea how you fixed ;D and bedded down is the correct term. Sounds like you were very lucky like me to come across this black gold too.

[Deleted]

greety said:

I think I've hit gold from the sound of all the comments on here ;D

GH a convoy sounds like a fab idea how you fixed ;D and bedded down is the correct term. Sounds like you were very lucky like me to come across this black gold too.

Chuckles - will you be supplying the wheelbarrows
You have hit gold with the manure( I think most horse owners are happy to just get rid of it!!).

[Chuckles]

You bet, how does Friday sound GH it will take you about 2 hrs here's the directions

www.multimap.com/map/aproute.cgi?client=public&lang=&rn=GB&input_rt=aproute_pan&startcountry=GB&startrd=&starttown=york&startpc=&endcountry=GB&endrd=&endtown=melton+mowbray&endpc=&qs=q&starttime=10%3A10

and I'll supply the wheel barrows, lunch and drinks and you can have a couple of bags to take home too ;D ;D

[Deleted]

Chuckles - Can't make friday, I'm at work ;D !!

[Chuckles]

Well today is the day I'm barrowing some of the Manure from up the fields, feel aching bones already but it will be worth it. OH was going to help yesterday but he's poorly so have enlisted the help of 19yr old nephew.

[Deleted]

Hello Chuckles, if you plan on doing any barrowing this week I'm available to help! Let me know - you're not that far from me.

[lottielady]

Chuckles please can you take a photo of the good stuff? It will be nice to see what it looks like when it's 5 years old - just to compare to my year old and new poo!

LLx

[Chuckles]

Oh pooooo, thanks for the offer HH just got back in. Filled 14 fertiliser bags and one barrow load, all spread and dug in the gdn now. I have a couple of bags of newish stuff that I'm going to incorporate in the compo bins. Will go up the fields some time this week and take you pics LL .

I'm feeling a tadge tired now, 2 hrs of slog and in need of a cuppa ;D It's the up hill bit thats done me in, can cope with the bag filling and carrying and digging etc. Poor old sole

[Susie Snowdrop]

Bless

S x

[Chuckles]

Pictures of poooooo just for LL ;D ;D

On the veg plot and a little mixed up, the lumps are the other manure I got a couple of weeks ago



Close up on veg gdn, you can see mainly the new poooooo on this



This is newer stuff from today that I got to use as a mulch and maybe mix in with compo for pots, it looks like it will hold moisture well. Probably 12-18 months old and you can still just see it's wood shavings



Can't believe I've taken taken pics of Poooooo and posted them ;D ;D

[lottielady]

Thanks Chuckles - It's good to see the difference and know what I have to look forward too. Most of mine has straw with it, I did get some from a different stables last year that bed the horses on shavings , but we tried to get more poo than wood from there, the pile was massive too

The veggie garden is looking fab by the way!

LLx

[Susie Snowdrop]

[lottielady]

susiesnowdrop said:

Poo is good for the soil Snowy - so no more face pulling please

LLx

[Susie Snowdrop]

OK Missy Lottie .........................oops, sorry

Actually, I have to buy my poo, £3.80 for 60lts of composted manure blend ;D. It is absolutely wonderful stuff I agree, but just don't have room for a cart load at a time

S x

[lottielady]

Yucky girl!

LLx

[Susie Snowdrop]

Ouch!

Bet you laughed though

S x

[Chuckles]

I reckon I must have got about £60 worth today then, it was hard work. Plan on getting some more when I feel a burst of energy come along. I've started to use the bags I got to put in the compo bins on the beds in the gdn so need some more for them. Also the less rotted stuff looks like it would be good to mix up for filling pots or hanging baskets, as in it looks like it will hold moisture for the summer months.

[Chuckles]

Well it took just over a month for me to find the burst of energy to go get some more. This time I got OH with trailer and nephew to help ;D

21 bags later we were ready to go back home and unload

My helpers and me