hello,
bought a trailer load of horse manure from teh stables, but sadly it
contains sawdust (rather than straw - not that i blame them when comparing
prices of the two things).

i'm concerned there is so much sawdust in there that mulching with it atm is
not a good idea - having read that the sawdust will break down quite slowly,
using up all the nitrogen in the process. it looks to be up to about 50%(??)
sawdust although it is hard to tell. it's old & hot & breaking down, but you
can still see sawdust, iyswim.

how long would you wait until using it? i put a very little over the
asparagus (which i mulch constantly, having put the plants in too shallowly
in the first place), & mulched some empty beds with it (going to use the
beds for potatoes in a month or two) but that is all.

any thoughts? ta!
kylie

On Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:33:59 +0000, 0tterbot wrote:


how long would you wait until using it?

We just end to apply it directly to the beds as mulch, just making sure it
doesn't come in contact with the plants.


Otherwise, try adding some dynamic lifter if you want to compost it. BTDT.

"0tterbot" wrote in message
...
hello,
bought a trailer load of horse manure from teh stables, but sadly it
contains sawdust (rather than straw - not that i blame them when comparing
prices of the two things).

i'm concerned there is so much sawdust in there that mulching with it atm is
not a good idea - having read that the sawdust will break down quite slowly,
using up all the nitrogen in the process. it looks to be up to about 50%(??)
sawdust although it is hard to tell. it's old & hot & breaking down, but you
can still see sawdust, iyswim.

how long would you wait until using it? i put a very little over the
asparagus (which i mulch constantly, having put the plants in too shallowly
in the first place), & mulched some empty beds with it (going to use the
beds for potatoes in a month or two) but that is all.

any thoughts? ta!
kylie



I would expect the nutrients in the manure and urine would be adequate to
support the breakdown of the sawdust and other fibre. This seems to have
commenced already so I would use it directly in moderation.

David

"0tterbot" wrote in message

bought a trailer load of horse manure from teh stables, but sadly it
contains sawdust (rather than straw - not that i blame them when comparing
prices of the two things).

i'm concerned there is so much sawdust in there that mulching with it atm
is not a good idea - having read that the sawdust will break down quite
slowly, using up all the nitrogen in the process. it looks to be up to
about 50%(??) sawdust although it is hard to tell. it's old & hot &
breaking down, but you can still see sawdust, iyswim.

how long would you wait until using it? i put a very little over the
asparagus (which i mulch constantly, having put the plants in too
shallowly in the first place), & mulched some empty beds with it (going to
use the beds for potatoes in a month or two) but that is all.

any thoughts? ta!

The sawdust will have lots of pee in it so lots of ammonia. Don't waste
that. I'd use it on any bed that is fallow so any rainfall washes the pee
into the bed and then, if you need to plant in the bed, rake off the stuff
and move it elsewhere.

How did you survive your -13 morning recently?

"0tterbot" wrote in message
...
hello,
bought a trailer load of horse manure from teh stables, but sadly it
contains sawdust (rather than straw - not that i blame them when comparing
prices of the two things).

i'm concerned there is so much sawdust in there that mulching with it atm
is not a good idea - having read that the sawdust will break down quite
slowly, using up all the nitrogen in the process. it looks to be up to
about 50%(??) sawdust although it is hard to tell. it's old & hot &
breaking down, but you can still see sawdust, iyswim.

how long would you wait until using it? i put a very little over the
asparagus (which i mulch constantly, having put the plants in too
shallowly in the first place), & mulched some empty beds with it (going to
use the beds for potatoes in a month or two) but that is all.

any thoughts? ta!
kylie



Sawdust isn't such a bad thing unless it was from treated pine and then I
would be avoiding it. Also for horse manure as mulch make sure the horses
haven't been drenched for worms lately as it will knock off earthworms. Also
avoid manure from racehorses as they are feed a lot of oats and it comes up
everywhere.

The fresh smell of horse manure isn't such a pleasant thing either.

That exact thing happened to me. I used horse manure from stables near a
local racetrack to create a flower bed. Next thing I know I had a crop of
grains coming up in my front yard. All my mates thought I'd become a farmer
in Metro Perth!

"Loosecanon" wrote in message
...

"0tterbot" wrote in message
...
hello,
bought a trailer load of horse manure from teh stables, but sadly it
contains sawdust (rather than straw - not that i blame them when
comparing prices of the two things).

i'm concerned there is so much sawdust in there that mulching with it atm
is not a good idea - having read that the sawdust will break down quite
slowly, using up all the nitrogen in the process. it looks to be up to
about 50%(??) sawdust although it is hard to tell. it's old & hot &
breaking down, but you can still see sawdust, iyswim.

how long would you wait until using it? i put a very little over the
asparagus (which i mulch constantly, having put the plants in too
shallowly in the first place), & mulched some empty beds with it (going
to use the beds for potatoes in a month or two) but that is all.

any thoughts? ta!
kylie



Sawdust isn't such a bad thing unless it was from treated pine and then I
would be avoiding it. Also for horse manure as mulch make sure the horses
haven't been drenched for worms lately as it will knock off earthworms.
Also avoid manure from racehorses as they are feed a lot of oats and it
comes up everywhere.

The fresh smell of horse manure isn't such a pleasant thing either.

On Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:33:59 +0000, 0tterbot wrote:


any thoughts? ta!

Someones post reminded me.
One day, whilst out driving, we collected someones roadside offerings
already bagged. Hmm, fresh enough to need to find some water to wash
my hands after loading it. With it I filled a
wheat bag and stood it in a large tub, about the size of a half 44 gal
drum and trickled the house through it. Then used the resultant liquid
like worm wee. Worked well.

When we collected stable cleanins, we made sure that we took the
old stable cleanings which were a bit composted anyway. Tended to work
from and edge at ground level and brush off any recent dumpings from the
top. So it was preaged.

when we have taken fresh stuff, I just leave it in a pile for 3 months and
let the rain clean it out. doesn't seem to affect the worms underneath.


kylie

g'day kylie,

i would be expecting there to be a fair bit of urine in it coming from
stables, so this would help the break down more quickly.

i would spread it over the bed in a light layer then mulch over it,
that way it will be less likely to take up nitrogen. the only thing
with sawdust it can pack down a bit.

also sounds like it is breaking down already. as for the potato beds
if you added this now and covered with mulch i would think that it
will be broken down enough by then, can't see it affecting the
asparagus, just add light layers about a month apart maybe?

are you aware of whether this stable material was collected at the
time of worming of the horses, that may be the only consideration in
its use?


On Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:33:59 GMT, "0tterbot" wrote:

snipped
With peace and brightest of blessings,

len & bev

--
"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

"Loosecanon" wrote in message

Also for horse manure as mulch make sure the horses haven't been drenched
for worms lately as it will knock off earthworms.

I seem to recall doing some research on that at some stage. IIRC, that
sanction against using poop that may contain horse vermicides is an old
wive's tale as the worms in a horse's gut are totally unrelated to
earthworms.

Also
avoid manure from racehorses as they are feed a lot of oats and it comes
up everywhere.

But they are much easier to get out than any other weed. I'd take oats over
any of the other garden weeds I have here any day of the week.

The fresh smell of horse manure isn't such a pleasant thing either.

Hmmmm. I don't find the pong of any farm animal (except pig) manure at all
bad. Human's; yes; mice, yes; but horse cow and chook are all tolerable.

"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
...

The sawdust will have lots of pee in it so lots of ammonia. Don't waste
that. I'd use it on any bed that is fallow so any rainfall washes the pee
into the bed and then, if you need to plant in the bed, rake off the stuff
and move it elsewhere.

How did you survive your -13 morning recently?

crikey!! i must have slept through that one!

we don't get the same weather as in town, though. (which is sometimes a good
thing).
kylie

"0tterbot" wrote in message
...
hello,
bought a trailer load of horse manure from teh stables, but sadly it
contains sawdust (rather than straw - not that i blame them when comparing
prices of the two things).

i'm concerned there is so much sawdust in there that mulching with it atm
is not a good idea - having read that the sawdust will break down quite
slowly, using up all the nitrogen in the process. it looks to be up to
about 50%(??) sawdust although it is hard to tell. it's old & hot &
breaking down, but you can still see sawdust, iyswim.

how long would you wait until using it? i put a very little over the
asparagus (which i mulch constantly, having put the plants in too
shallowly in the first place), & mulched some empty beds with it (going to
use the beds for potatoes in a month or two) but that is all.

any thoughts? ta!
kylie

thanks everybody!! tbh i was forgetting that horses wee as well, making the
sawdust much less of a problem, now that you mention it!

it's pretty old, we took the older stuff. (it was scorched at the deepest
level, in fact).

have put some around - the rest can keep breaking down until i get to it.
goodness only knows when i will get to it as i am currently on a Weeding
Programme in my orchard, before it all gets out of control entirely.

concerning oats & other things that come up from one's manure or mulch - my
view on this is that the grain plants (you always get wheat etc if you use
straw, too) are easy to deal with anyway, and plus my chooks like them :-)
but ultimately, the little extras that grow because you mulched or manured
are 1: less than the masses of weeds you'd get if you didn't, and 2: not so
much of a problem that one would ever consider avoiding mulching. mulching
is our saviour, hurrah! g

ta again,
kylie