"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
Brooklyn1 wrote:
"Natural Girl" wrote:

How long do you think it should it be
composted before it's safe to use it?

All manure needs to be composted a minimum of one year before used in
a garden.

Not true. I have broken this rule constantly for decades and never
damaged a plant or anything else.

Same here. I use both horse and chook fresh but I don't dump either of them
on tender young seedlings. Established bushes don't care aobut either of
them beign put aroudn their bases (so long as they aren't Australian native
bushes).

When too fresh it will damage plant roots

Only if it is a "hot" compost like rabbit or bird AND if it is applied too
close and too heavily.

And even that works wonders on poor 'soil'. We bought in some 'soil' a dit
was THE most pathetic stuff and didnt' gorw anythign well. A good cleaning
of the chook pens had about 5 wheelbarrows full put onto this ghastly stuff
and raked across it . Now the soil really is soil and all the plants
growing roudn the edges of that bed (perennial spincah, strawberries, kale,
rhubarb, silver beet) are lookign much healthier and still gowing despite it
being Autumn here.

I apply "cool" manure to mature plants while it is still warm out of the
horse. The plant all thrive. This supplies digested organics and some
nutrients at the same time.

That's been my experience with horse poo too.

Applying fresh manure directly to soil does more
harm than good.

Only if you are clumsy and heavy handed.

Yup. If I hadn't applied my chook poo cleanings to the bed of bought in
'soil', it'd still be devoid of worms and as lifleess as a slab of concrete.