Allotments 4 All

I popped in to our local horse riding stables today and inquired about manure, they said there was a great pile of the stuff in a nearby field I could help myself to for free. :D
Having inspected the said dung heap, it appeared to be hay more than manure more like a hay stack, should I pass this opportunity by and go for the cow variety or will all that hay rot along with the horsy dung? ???

Depends what you want it for Roy.  Is it to go straight onto the plot or is it to make a compost heap.. If you want to put it on right away then I would pass for now.. However if it is to make a compost heap ......  well every bit helps and so what if it takes a bit longer to rot down.  Just had a trailer load delivered from a friend who has started stabling horses and has a squillion tons of the stuff to get rid of.

if it's a big stack the best stuff will be in the middle, down a bit! the new stuff will be on top. where i get my horse manure from at the end of my road, they have the biggest pile you ever did see, they have a horseshoe shaped wall and it is built up against this. just enormous! they advised me to dig down, and after several barrowloads i could stand in the hole i had made! hope you don't have to wear glasses though-they don't half get steamed up by what comes off the heap!!
so....how deep is the heap? ;)

Thanks Girls, I think I'll give it a miss for now, we also have a wild life country park close by, I will pop in there and see if they want to off load any manure as there are cows sheep and fowl of all kinds there.
Our allotment secretary gave me a number to ring of a supplier and he is asking £45 a load for one plot, by comparison to what I have heard on here, that is dear. >:(

Yippee! I have found a supplier of farm manure, a local farmer is willing to sell me a trailer load for £20 including delivery, what a bargain, it should arrive within 3 weeks. ???

Will that be too late to dig in this year? I hope not as I'm getting very impatient and wanting to crack on. 8)

Depends if it is fresh or seasoned. If it's the latter by all means. If it is the latter you may also want to find out if it was under cover or not as this could have affected it's nutrient levels.

Hehe, just made me think about something I saw on Ebay tonight whilst browsing the gardening section. Someone is selling 8 pieces of horse poop, 65p plus £1 postage!  :o Expensive considering I get a whole potting soil bag full of the stuff for 25p.

Roy if it's well rotted it will be okay but if not I'd leave it to rot down in a heap first. Or use it to make a hotbed if you have the space and grow some squash or pumpkins in it this season and then spread it over your plot at the end of the year.

Hmmmmn.  'Talking horse manure'.

Is that manure from horses that talk? :-\

And if so, is manure from talking horses good for any particular plants?  Rhubarb, perhaps?? ;)

Anyone with stables will give the stuff away. Expect to pay for delivery of course but not the muck. I've just had 3tons delivered 13 Km's to my plot for £3. It comes from a 4 horse stable and he ends up paying the council to remove the surplus every month.

I can get unlimited amounts of the stuff but the stable owners can't deliver, I need a tow bar and trailer and that is out of the question and as I said earlier, it appears to be more hay than dung. ???

QuoteHmmmmn.  'Talking horse manure'.

;D

newchangeling (thats not your real name is it?) ;D Maybe I should have said "Singing horse manure" as it Hummmms ;D ;D ;D

Roy,  If he is bedding the horses on hay and not straw, I would be tempted to say thanks but no thanks..
It would need a lot of rotting down otherwise you would be setting a meadow when you used it on lottie  with all the grass seed etc that will be in it....Jim :)

Thanks for the tip Growmore, I used the word hay loosely, it may be straw how can I tell, is it obvious ???

when all mixed in it is hard to tell! But straw is usually more coarse than hay.  Your best bet is to ask :)

Are horses often bedded on hay? I don't know of any, hay for eating, straw/newspaper/woodshavings for bedding.

 Yes NM horses are usually bedded on straw and fed hay ..Roy straw is flat and thick hay is a lot finer and round .Maybe with seed heads on.....  Jim ..

Cheers Guys in that case I think it was straw. :-[ ;D

Believe me - no horse would ever be bedded on hay - it would eat far more than would be removed from the stable still in it's hay state in the morning!

Common mistake, Roy, don't be embarrassed!

Thanks aquilegia  ;D still :-[  ;D ;)

Straw & poo rot down nicely together.  Do a bit of digging as was mentioned & you'll soon get to the good stuff.
If you make a big enough heap out of it, then come the winter & your freezing cold, just jump up on top & bury your feet in it. Nice & toasty!  :D

Nevermind. I just saw the "Got my Muck" thread.  ;)

Is it possible that the 'Talking Horse' is none other than Mr. Ed, star of TV from my childhood?