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Natural Girl[_2_] · 25-04-2013, 05:44 PM posted to rec.gardens

David Hare-Scott wrote:
Natural Girl wrote:
On 4/23/2013 10:22 PM, songbird wrote:
wrote:
Picked up some rabbit manure, it is mixed with straw and wood
shaving. what is best way to use in vegetable garden? can i simply
till it into soil? any advise appreciated.

no need to till it and scatter it all over
the place. also, no need to leave any of it
on the surface subject to wind and rain.

run a small trench along the row or use
holes to bury some near the planting spots
of select plants. different plants feed
at different levels. this way you can
maximize the effectiveness and not waste
it to the wind or rain.

songbird

I have a friend who live out in the country and they have chickens. I was
wondering how long chicken manure has to compost before it can
be used in my tomato garden? They don't have any rabbits, so I
thought I'd ask about the chicken manure.

Same issues as with rabbit, it is a valuable resource but you need to
be a little careful. Fresh chicken manure is "hot", that means it
contains soluble compounds that if applied too heavily will damage
plants (ie "burn" them). Either apply it in small quantities not
actually on the plant (in trenches as Bird says), mix with other
organic material (eg sawdust, wood shavings, straw etc) or compost it
first. I favour the second. Generally I make up a mixture of chook
with compost, composting material, lime and other goodies and apply
that once or twice a year. This way you improve the chances of the
soluble and volatile compounds getting into and being bound by the
garden bed soil rather than making the grass grow better downhill
from the compost heap.

Thank you, David, for the info. How long do you think it should it be
composted before it's safe to use it?

--
Natural Girl