On Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:05:38 +0100, Granity
wrote:


Janet Conroy;819192 Wrote:
Fresh manure can "burn" veg seedlings. I would always let it rot down
either in a heap, covered up with thick black plastic or a tarpaulin to
keep out the rain, or in with compost, where it is an excellent
"accelerator". You'll know when it's ready because there will be no
smell and it will be crumbly. I'm trying to think what veg you would
plant so late in the year, as different things need different feeding
regimes.

Also there may be bits of couch and other weed seeds that haven't
rotted yet, leave it for a while.

If horse manure it will have a lot of seeds and covering with
tarpaulin won't produce enough heat in the pile to kill many of them.
You need an insulated bin and frequent turns over to get the
decomposition working at a fast rate.

If you dig it in deep now, eg at the bottom of a 12" deep trench, it
should have broken down enough to plant early spring. It breaks down
faster in the soil than on top of it. The longer you leave it the less
chance of the excess of ammonia damaging plants or nitrogen being used
up by the start of the rotting process.

I'm also wondering what you might be sowing in a month from now.
Lettuces have a very shallow root system so might be ok 12" away from
manure. Root crops, no way!