On Mar 2, 6:06*pm, "SteveB" wrote:
I live in the middle of pasture land. *Lots of free cow patties. *My wife
seems to think that this would make good fertilizer, or at least good mulch
if tilled in.

Other than using fresh dung for the production of food, are there any
downsides to using manure? *I believe I once read that stall manure had high
levels of urea, and would not be good to put on plants. *This is pasture
manure, so it would not have as high urine level as stall manure.

Yeah, I know I can go buy fertilizer, too. *But I can also take the money I
save and go fishing a few times.

Tips and caveats on manure use? *Good/bad for flowers or areas where I am
going to put lawn?

Thanks.

Steve

All ruminant animal manures are very good organic sources of plant
nutrients. But with very few exceptions, they should never be used
fresh. They need to be aged at least 6 months or preferrably, properly
composted. This will allow the high concentrations of ammonium (urine)
to volatize and dissipate and reduce most weed and pathogen issues.
Once they achieve this state (proper aging or composting), they can be
applied as a mulch over any garden area or worked into the soil.