Topic: manure and resting part of plot

[TAB]

Hi. I have a pile of manure which i am going to use in the autumn but it now has got weeds on it. Is it best to leave the weeds on it or to weed it. As someone told me that if i leave it then the manure will not dry out and stay quite fresh. And another question someone told me because i have grown on my plat for the past 3 years that it would be a good idea to let a part rest. So i have put black plastic sheeting down. Have i done right or what.

[Tee Gee]

Resting it is nonsense are you getting mixed up with' crop rotation'

Put the plastic on your manure and this should kill off most of the weeds.

[gavinjconway]

If you don't get rid of the weeds they will seed and you will plant them in the plot when you spread the manure

Old wives tail ... One years weeding = seven years weeding..

[Digeroo]

I would certainly take off the weeds from the manure.  One of the most common is sometimes referred to as manure weed otherwise known as fat hen.  It starts off small and looks very innocent when it is easily hoed off.  But at a over a meter tall and producing up to 1/4 million seeds per plant it is a pain, and difficult to pull up.   It best removed asap.  The seeds stay in the soil for years, anytime anyone rotovates up they come to the surface and presumably will continue for more than seven years.   This is our sixth year and  there is still not shortage, when people rotavate for the sixth time.   

It maybe worth raking the manure over to persuade more weeds to germinate before you spread it around.   

[juju]

That is what I do TeeGee, soon as the farmer delivers the manure I cover it with black sheeting for a year then use it the following year. The amount of worms that's in the maturing muck heap I found. Those guys who go fishing always come round to me for their worms. I must be soft in the head.

[ancellsfarmer]

If you are storing it for a year, you could use some to "spice up" a compost heap . If you have the space, build a heap of a mix of the manure, layers of green waste  (including those weeds) and a fibre source such as brown cardboard cartons. Collect the materials together and then layer as you would with a lasagne. Add water if required  and some of a previous years compost heap. Cover loosely to protect from excessive rain. This should heat sucessfully and destroy weeds seeds etc. If you turn the heap it will be all the better. This would be a suitable base  material for sieving for seeding and planting beans etc next year.