fresh manure

[Le-y]

so i put it in a whopping pile? do i cover it or not? turn it occasionally or leave it?

plus if i am not growing anything on the site this winter (apart from some green manure) when i do the digging in prep of leaving it for the winter can i dig in some fresh manure? cos it will rot in the ground well before i plant anything right?

that leaves me with a big pile cooking up for next year and slightly better soil come spring right?

aparently i've got as much manure as i can carry for as long as the riding school is there :)

[Le-y]

[chriscross1966]

Fresh horse that isn't too strawy can go straight in now everywhere except where you'll be putting carrots and parsnips, then get a big heap sorted out... if it's big enough it won't need covering, or you could use the 1-ton builders bag method and stack it up around the place but one big heap is good.... get lots....

If I had that much then I'd dig/rotavate a load in, get the green manure going then use the rest to stack for next year.... a mix of 50:30:20 manure:leaf-mould:soil is an excellent growing medium for tomatos in large pots and potatos in big bags, but both will want some fertiliser (BFB and wood ash for the toms, BFB and bonemeal for the potatos...

chrisc

[Le-y]

lovely thanks :)

[Chrispy]

I am a bit surprised by Chris' reply, I thought manure makes your soil more acid, so would not put anywhere you are planting acid hating plants, ie your brasicas.
I surpose it depends on what sort of soil you start with, mines very heavy and quite acid already.

[Eristic]

Brassicas are not really acid-hating plants, they just prefer a less acid or neutral soil. I really doubt that an occasional application of manure to depleted soil is going to change the natural acidity of the soil either.

[Chrispy]

Brassicas are not really acid-hating plants, they just prefer a less acid or neutral soil. I really doubt that an occasional application of manure to depleted soil is going to change the natural acidity of the soil either.

Yes, I would agree, I surpose if Le-y's soil is not in a good condition, then getting nutriants into the soil is more important than worrying about the PH.

[macmac]

I don't know too much about this but a lottie friend Kate with many years experience said it's always better to stack and rot (turning if you can) because you'll get grass sprouting otherwise.We've just stackecked some we had delivered a couple of weeks ago and there was grass growing on the top.

[Digeroo]

Don't forget to do a bean test just in case.

[macmac]

Don't forget to do a bean test just in case.

??? ??? ???

[ceres]

Don't forget to do a bean test just in case.

??? ??? ???

For aminopyralid contamination.

[Eristic]

We've just stackecked some we had delivered a couple of weeks ago and there was grass growing on the top.

Free green manure!

It's only a bit of grass. Dig it in.