26-02-2004, 12:28 PM
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3 year Old Manure
The message
from (Julie) contains these words:
I have access to a HUGE pile of 3 y/o manure.
Mmmmmmm!
Can I plant directly in this I am gonna take a pic and post it in this
thread in the am. It is quite dark and it smells only a little bit.
Don't post the pic here. Put it on a website and point us to it with the
url - however, most of us know what it will look like.....
Most servers strip out binaries from posts, so no-one will see your pic
- or very few, at best.
I would be putting it into raised beds and planting various veggies
among which are the standard Tomatoes...Beans (bush and climbing)
courgettes, cukes, dill. fennel, carrots and pumpkins to name a few.
If not how much soil (or whatever should I add to make it better....
Not sure about the beans and herbs. The carrots are a definite a no-no,
but the rest should have a field day.
This is my first year doing a "real garden"...last year I got the
Notion way to late....veggies grew but did not mature before seasons
end.:-(
If in doubt, turn the seed packet over and believe the guidelines.......
Be kind to the foolish one..:-)
Damn! Can never resist a direct appeal........
Some vegetables are greedy and will thrive on rich soil. Neat (even
well-rotted) manure won't be appreciated by most plants, however.....
As a guide, all cucurbits tend to like more than their fair share.
(True) cauliflowers will grow in neat, unrotted muck, celery likes a
lot, rhubarb, asparagus and others like a surfeit too. (But asparagus
will survive on more-or-less straight sand....)
Beans and peas tend to like plenty of phospate, but have a symbiotic
arrangement with a bacterium which provides a good proportion of their
nitrogen, so I'd avoid giving them too much of the manure.
I've no evidence/knowledge about root vegetables, but I have a gut
feeling that a little, dug into the ground won't harm them, but don't
overdo it. Someone will be along any minute to expand on this....
Onions - don't give them any. IIRC, the idea is to heavily manure the
soil and grow curcurbits, caulis, celery, tomatoes, etc on it the first
year, cabbage, root veg, peas and French beans on it the second, and
onions, sweetcorn and some root veg (radishes, for one) during the third
year.
Runner beans are best treated as a permanent crop: dig a trench and put
manure, old woollens, old leather, bones, etc in the bottom. (Get your
woollens and leather from the leftovers from jumble sales) Infill with
the excavated soil. Since there are few (if any) diseases which attack
runners in this country, you can grow them in the same position year on
year.
Treat rhubarb as the runners, but the trench (pit) needs to be at least
three feet deep, and the experts recommend four - depending on water
table. You can give them as much manure as you like, but the woollens,
leather and bones are important as they release phosphates slowly, and
over a long period.
If you do plant rhubarb, you will be wise if you don't even pull a
single stick during the first year.
HTH
--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/
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