Allotments 4 All

Is there a certain type of manure you use for growing veg when you dig it in - or is it just horse manure (this i can get free)

When you refer to farm manure is that is mix of different poos?

if you can get free horse manure - go for that. but you want it from horses bedded on straw, not wood shavings. also check with the yard owner when the horses were last wormed so you don't get that.

make sure it's well rotted (usually if you dig down in the muck heap you can find the good stuff - it should be black and crumbly and not still look strawy). but if it's fresh or semi-rotted, just dig it into your compost heap and leave it until it's rotted. or use it for your squashes.

as a rider and gardener, manure is something close to my heart!

can use cow manure too if you can get it.  There is a place near my dad who sell it and it is the most gorgeous stuff for digging into the ground!!  It is fairly expensive though but good for a bit of a soil treat.

Brings back memories of last year. We ran a livery yard until 2003 and the previous owners had kept cows and had never got rid of their muck heap boy was it big, not a lie to say it was taller than the stables and at least 6 boxes long and 3 boxes deep. So their's and owers combined was huge. Well their's was over 20 yrs old and well rotted looked like peat. Ours was heading that way.

Last year we had a punch up between allotment owners and the council. I really mean punch up we had to break it up!!!! They all wanted the last of the manure. You see as we gave it away free and still do we quickly got rid of it, remember that we use alot of it as well. Well this year we needed alot more so we even had people shouting at us cos we would not let them have any.

 ;D LOL this end. Poo pats at dawn.

My next door farmer gives me my manure for free. Had eight tons delivered. Its in a stinky heap and just out of the winter cow shed.

The dog thinks he's died and gone to heaven and he stinks too!!!

The heap is staying put till October then it will get spread, by me and me barrow. Then ploughed in when spring comes.

Can you put fresh manure on squash 'n' pumpkins then? I thought it would scorch the plants??

the pile of horse poo that I have had delivered is still in little poo like balls but apparently it is about a year old.  Do you think it is ok to use round plants?   

Supernan - I think squashes will grow on any old pile of muck!

IMO probably not. I would wait another 6 months. We have become efficent at breaking down our poo but not all livery yards take time care and attention to muck heaps. We said it had to be straw or easibed or readybed down or aubiose. All is quick to break down without mushroom spores developing. We also said no baling twine!!! Then we made the liveries tip it on muck heap which we then forked into correct areas on muck heap so muck heap level. Then once a week we walked on it. That combined with rainfall works a treat. Each year we started a new muck heap and let grass grow on the old one. That way the poo does not remain in "balls" and breaks down within a year. All the gardeners our way including council love it as it looks like quality soil/peat. The tight balls you mention sound like the fresh droppings that we made the liveries pick up from the field each week so the field always worm free count (that and routine horse worming and field rotation). All what I call poo picking poo that comes from the field is never allowed on rested muck heap but goes on the one in use for the mucking out of stables.

Any where you could store it and turn it and tend to it like you would a muck heap, even adding old straw bedding etc and water to help it break down quicker?

There are cows out in the field behind the house... now, if I go out there (avoiding the bull), can I just shovel cow muck into a bag, and then shove it straight onto the brassica beds/around the squashes/dig it in?

Or does cow muck have to be 'aged' like horse muck?

???

It's far safer to compost all manure for a few months, it can badly scortch and kill plants when fresh

I read somewhere that in terms of oomph - goodness that pig was best (difficult to get hold of as it usually gets converted to slurry) cow next and then horse.

But any is much better than none and if you can get hold of horse muck, especially if it is free, grab it with both hands (or forks if you are squeamish or worried about tetanus)

Phil

I believe chicken poo is even better but it's obviously far less bulky

Chicken, pigeon and any other bird droppings are very very strong (but less in quantity - cf size of chicken to shire horse!)

They are best used as a compost accelerator because of the high quantities of nitrogen (they produce solid urine - I can't remember if it's the white blob on top or the brown bit at the bottom!)

Phil

 :-X

We're lucky.  ;D   A local farm gives away cow manure for free - you just turn up and take as much as you want.  Next job on the new lottie list is to collect some to rot down! 

We used to buy well rotted for 40p a bag, but they've stopped doing it now..we can get fresh for free but nowhere to rot it down..they were big sacks too, not the carrier bags...lol...so I'm stumped...unless I buy expensive manure from B&Q's but can't really afford too much of it.

Val,

You only need a square yard (or metre if you're younger) to build a heap. Cover it with something, even if it's only cardboard, to keep out rain and keep in heat. A garden cane at each corner will keep the covering in place.

Pile it as high as you can and wait 2 or 3 months - it's a lot cheaper than B&Q!

Phil