Here is the difference in digging cow muck into the ground makes to a row of King Edward potatoes, they was all planted on the same day.
                 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/richardkinson/potatoes/000_0149.jpg)[/img]
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      This is the row in question.
                (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/richardkinson/potatoes/000_0147.jpg)[/img]
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The half which as been mucked.
               (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/richardkinson/potatoes/000_0148.jpg)[/img]
The half which as no muck.
I did not think it would have made that much difference to the growth. It will be intresting to see what the end crop will be like at the end of the season.
          ;)
That is amazing.
Excellent post Richard
Next year, would you mind doing half a row with cow much + half with horse - wonder if there'd be a difference there?
Anyone tryied it?
D
It's interesting to see the difference. You could do one with sheep muck, one horse, one cow and one with nothing. We are doing this test at the mo but with seedlings like beetroot, carrot, spinach and making tea to water them with. We're doing nettle and comfrey tea as well as the manure teas. When I say "we" I mean me and my lotty hoppo who's just made Phil Cooper's patent comfrey pipe :)
Wow, what a difference. I wish my potatoes were looking like that, but alas they're looking rather sorry for themselves after being hit by frost :(
How did you get hold of cow muck? and does it need to rot down first or did you just dig it straight into the soil?
was this rotten cow muck or fresh?????
This is the 8th May using horse and compost.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/Kenkew/138SpudsMay05.jpg)
They're looking well :) Mine have been blackened with frost :(
Sweet pea the muck was this years so was not rotted down as much as I would have liked, but you will find out that most of the manure farmers put on there ground is only about six month old.
Being an ex market gardener I know one or two farmers so getting muck is no problem.
::)
Thanks Richard
My allotments by a stray where they graze cattle so I could always take my barrow there and see if I can fill it :)
Living in a village I have plenty of cow muck available for free. I spread it on in March and it has not fully rotted down. I have four compost bins and plan to keep picking up a truckload of it from time to time and layer it in with the other garden stuff so that by next spring it should be champion.
I have been told that there are uric acid problems with horse muck and definitely never use horse muck that is from woodshavings or sawdust, which a lot of stables now use instead of straw. Nutrients are taken from the soil to rot down the sawdust, so it takes two years for horse muck on sawdust to be of any good.
I do not know if this info is true, but I am sticking with cow poo. - Bob
Very interesting.
I have a copious amount of Comfrey & placed a good quantity under rotted horse manure with chitted seeds planted in. I am trying these newfangled 'Sarpo'
varieties this year due to my first blight disaster in 37 years. So far not impressed. Chitting was so slow & they haven't appeared yet. (late planting - frosts)
I still have high hopes from previous reports.
In addition, I agree with Gledhillbo.
My supply of stable manure is straw based.
Wood shaving based, if not rotted for two years would denitrify the soil if applied too soon.
A few of my pupils are farmer's children - do you think it would be unethical of me to ask them to ask their parents if they have any spare poo?
Put it to your class as a question. 'Why is manure good for the soil'? 'Anyone know if my plants would be better with or without it'?.....then as the discussion gets going, pop in ....'Anyone know a place where manure is available'?
Tellboy I am also growing sarpo, and they are late showing themselves compared to all the other varieties I have! We shall see what sort of crop we get ;D
Quote from: kenkew on May 20, 2005, 11:10:39
Put it to your class as a question. 'Why is manure good for the soil'? 'Anyone know if my plants would be better with or without it'?.....then as the discussion gets going, pop in ....'Anyone know a place where manure is available'?
A good idea - but doing 'helping plants to grow well' next year (one of my favourite topics :)) I shall have to tie it into literacy or something.
Or start a gardening club & send a note to parents asking for contributions of seeds, tools & muck! :o
This teaching lark good get quite profitable. 'Ello Mr Trotter! ;D
It would be a pleasant change from the lunacy which is the teacher's normal lot!
Richard
The difference in growth rate is quite apparent but I would be loathe to use any kind of manure given what is fed and injected into to the animals that produce it.
Growth hormones, anti-biotics and steroids are extensively used to treat animals, all of which contaminate the manure.
No amount of rotting down will remove them from the manure, they will be passed on to the crops that are grown using it.
My fertiliser is an mix of Comfrey and Nettles, it stinks to high heaven but at least it is not polluted.
I felt that I had to put forward a case against manure so that those reading this post are made aware of the possible dangers of using it.
No slight intended just a different point of view.
PREMTAL ::)
Premtal,
I don't think I can agree with you.
I believe the Soil Association allows organically certified growers to use animal manures from non organic sources provided that they have been rotted for 6 months
A more dangerous aspect of horse muck(when fresh) is that you can catch tetanus from it. I agree the liquid feeds are good and I use them but they do not provide humus
Phil
I find myself agreeing with Premtal and Phil...
Although there's no hard proof, I don't like the thought of the drugs they pump into factory animals getting into my (vegetable) food supply either (if I can help it). So I'm ditching animal manures after this season.
But we organic types are meant to feed the soil not the plant. So comfrey/nettle brews are good but not the whole answer. Which explains why good compost is the key to the whole thing. But doesn't explain where to get enough raw material from...
I've been reading a book recently which suggests the appropriate mammallian waste is...well ...look in the mirror... (!!)
You may well be right; the Chinese have maintained their soil on 'night soil' for 6000 years while so many other regions have ruined theirs.
I find myself agreeing with Premtal and Phil...but not Max...
What about all the chemicals we pump/inject/ inhale into our own bodies, surely that would follow through to the plant ???
Know what you mean Roy B, but at least we know pretty much what chemicals they are and can avoid what we don't think is such a good idea... for us or our food (which is the same thing, I guess).
Who knows what they really feed to livestock?
Well what we put into our bodies has to come out somewhere so be it animal or human organic is best
Phil,
I do not doubt that the Soil Association allows the use of animal manures, but all that is allowed is not necessarily safe for human consumption!
I sometimes wonder how the soil and plants survived before the human race took a hand in things.
Sadly we must agree to disagree on the use of manure.
PREMTAL
Hi Terrace Max,
Hard proof is something you will never get, the major pharmaceuticals control the studies that are published.
Very few if any truly independent organisations have the finance to conduct and publish their findings.
There was one rerport back in the late 70's which stated that every person in the UK would test positive for DDT, and I think that organisation had their funding withdrawn.
As I said it my reply to Phil, I sometimes wonder how the soil and plants have survived without mankind's help.
PREMTAL ::)
Given that eskimos were testing positive for the stuff, I think that would be inevitable!
Hello Premtal
I'm sure what you say about research funding is correct.
I reckon allotmenting offers the best possibility to stop a lot of the carcinogens and mutagens getting into our food and therefore our own tissues. Hence my decision to avoid animal manures in future.
Quote from: PREMTAL on May 22, 2005, 03:18:57
...... I sometimes wonder how the soil and plants have survived without mankind's help.
 [\quote]
As far as vegetables go, it produced the wild versions of the current cultivars - the ones we usually regard as weeds!!
In the intensive way we grow on allotments there will always be a way to add to the soils nutrients and humus
PhilÂ
PS the research done by the SA is definitely not funded by the agrochemical industry