Bpyboy wrote:

Hi guys,
I have a couple of days off here, and was going to put in another plot,
and
help my brother in law who just bought a home put a garden and some beds
in there.

I was wondering, is it possible to OVER-DO the organics? We have access
to some fresh horse bedding, cattle bedding from a local auction place, a
lot of free stuff from the landfill (all the wood chips and grass and leaf
clippings they pick up in the fall).
I was thinking that we might just till as much of all of it as possible
into
the soil. Then let it "rest" for a couple months (or maybe until next
season).

That rest will work wonders by giving natural processes a chance to "do
their thang".

Do note that how you treat the soil is just one part of a larger picture
Growing things 'organically' means controlling pests and diseases
organically, too. . This means allowing time for pest / predator
populations to build to a stable level and for previous applications of
bagged fertilizers / spray-on death to break down in the soil.

How long does it take for the breakdown to re-release nitrogen?
any thoughts?
thanks
john

Nitrogen depletion, while real, is not a real problem. There are certainly
plenty of readily available sources of organic N (blood meal comes quickly
to mind) with which to compensate in the event that the N levels go too low
for good growth. Some of the N will always be locked up in digesting
organic material for as long as you maintain a soil with organic material
in it. Probably, however, you will never, in practical terms, be aware of
it. I do not know the time to re-release. The answer is complicated by the
fact that some of the released N will in turn be picked up by other
organisms.

The cattle and horse bedding will be fairly rich in N. I doubt if you will
have to add any external N for quite some time.

Bill
--
Zone 5b (Detroit, MI)
I do not post my address to news groups.