On Mon, 2 Mar 2009 19:06:32 -0700, "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


You are lucky to have cow patties. Used fresh, cow patties can
quickly burn a plant. Collect your patties, compost them for 6
months, then use on bedding plants, some vegetables, trees, shrubs,
roses, lawn, etc. If you can till the composted manure into the soil,
all the better. Some plants should not have any manure at all, it
can be too rich for herbs, peppers, etc. Horse manure, unlike cow
manure, can contain a lot of weed seeds. It needs hot composting to
kill the seeds. Also you can make manure tea for feeding plants.