"Ed" ex@directory wrote in message
o.uk...
I have a couple of large compost bins on my allotment which I regularly
fill with compostable materials from home, but this only accounts for a few
percent.

For the most part, I go to the local riding stables where they bag up the
horse manure and leave it outside for people to take for free.

In the winter time, when the horses are inside the stables, the mix is
heavy with straw and bedding. But now in the warmer months with the
horses outside , it is mainly stuff gathered straight off the paddock
areas where the horses pass their days.

The thing is this. The bins are 4'x3'x3' and I just do not have the
energy or strength to turn them. So , in effect they are cold compost
heaps. I let the contents rot down over a 2 year period.

But is there a danger that the pathogens in the horse dung will not die
off (as they would if I were operating a hot heap) and that my family
could become seriously ill if I use this composted material on my
vegetable plot even if it is 2 years old?


There is no concern with pathogens with manure from vegetarian beasts except
perhaps if you know the beast to be ill with a disease transmittable to
humans. In your case I'd be more concerned with viable weed seeds.

On 15/07/09 16:12, brooklyn1 wrote:
"Ed" ex@directory wrote in message
o.uk...
I have a couple of large compost bins on my allotment which I regularly
fill with compostable materials from home, but this only accounts for a few
percent.

For the most part, I go to the local riding stables where they bag up the
horse manure and leave it outside for people to take for free.

In the winter time, when the horses are inside the stables, the mix is
heavy with straw and bedding. But now in the warmer months with the
horses outside , it is mainly stuff gathered straight off the paddock
areas where the horses pass their days.

The thing is this. The bins are 4'x3'x3' and I just do not have the
energy or strength to turn them. So , in effect they are cold compost
heaps. I let the contents rot down over a 2 year period.

But is there a danger that the pathogens in the horse dung will not die
off (as they would if I were operating a hot heap) and that my family
could become seriously ill if I use this composted material on my
vegetable plot even if it is 2 years old?


There is no concern with pathogens with manure from vegetarian beasts except
perhaps if you know the beast to be ill with a disease transmittable to
humans. In your case I'd be more concerned with viable weed seeds.



Weeds aren't a great problem for me.. I got the time and I love weeding
most days. Most of my weeds anyway are in-blown from other plots so I
always expect them.

But thanks for the re-assurance on the pathogens though. I'd hate to
grow my own crops and then find I make my family ill.

Ed

"Ed" ex@directory wrote in message
...
On 15/07/09 16:12, brooklyn1 wrote:
"Ed" ex@directory wrote in message
o.uk...
I have a couple of large compost bins on my allotment which I regularly
fill with compostable materials from home, but this only accounts for a
few percent.

For the most part, I go to the local riding stables where they bag up
the horse manure and leave it outside for people to take for free.

In the winter time, when the horses are inside the stables, the mix is
heavy with straw and bedding. But now in the warmer months with the
horses outside , it is mainly stuff gathered straight off the paddock
areas where the horses pass their days.

The thing is this. The bins are 4'x3'x3' and I just do not have the
energy or strength to turn them. So , in effect they are cold compost
heaps. I let the contents rot down over a 2 year period.

But is there a danger that the pathogens in the horse dung will not die
off (as they would if I were operating a hot heap) and that my family
could become seriously ill if I use this composted material on my
vegetable plot even if it is 2 years old?


There is no concern with pathogens with manure from vegetarian beasts
except perhaps if you know the beast to be ill with a disease
transmittable to humans. In your case I'd be more concerned with viable
weed seeds.

Weeds aren't a great problem for me.. I got the time and I love weeding
most days. Most of my weeds anyway are in-blown from other plots so I
always expect them.

But thanks for the re-assurance on the pathogens though. I'd hate to grow
my own crops and then find I make my family ill.

Ed


Ed, your biggest concern should be whether or not the horse's paddock was
sprayed with a broadleaf herbicide. The herbicide will pass harmlessly
through the horse and wipe out you garden. Check with the source of your
manure, it would be heartbreaking to have that happen.
Cheers,
Steve

In article ,
"Steve Peek" wrote:

"Ed" ex@directory wrote in message
...
On 15/07/09 16:12, brooklyn1 wrote:
"Ed" ex@directory wrote in message
o.uk...
I have a couple of large compost bins on my allotment which I regularly
fill with compostable materials from home, but this only accounts for a
few percent.

For the most part, I go to the local riding stables where they bag up
the horse manure and leave it outside for people to take for free.

In the winter time, when the horses are inside the stables, the mix is
heavy with straw and bedding. But now in the warmer months with the
horses outside , it is mainly stuff gathered straight off the paddock
areas where the horses pass their days.

The thing is this. The bins are 4'x3'x3' and I just do not have the
energy or strength to turn them. So , in effect they are cold compost
heaps. I let the contents rot down over a 2 year period.

But is there a danger that the pathogens in the horse dung will not die
off (as they would if I were operating a hot heap) and that my family
could become seriously ill if I use this composted material on my
vegetable plot even if it is 2 years old?


There is no concern with pathogens with manure from vegetarian beasts
except perhaps if you know the beast to be ill with a disease
transmittable to humans. In your case I'd be more concerned with viable
weed seeds.

Weeds aren't a great problem for me.. I got the time and I love weeding
most days. Most of my weeds anyway are in-blown from other plots so I
always expect them.

But thanks for the re-assurance on the pathogens though. I'd hate to grow
my own crops and then find I make my family ill.

Ed


Ed, your biggest concern should be whether or not the horse's paddock was
sprayed with a broadleaf herbicide. The herbicide will pass harmlessly
through the horse and wipe out you garden. Check with the source of your
manure, it would be heartbreaking to have that happen.
Cheers,
Steve

FarmI wrote last Oct. "I also spread horse poop as it comes (often
almost still steaming) straight onto garden beds and it results in a
huge worm population explosion."

I might mention that she is still with us, which argues favorably for
the use of fresh manure. Most will caution against getting fresh manure
on the edible parts of the plant (touching or splashed) for at least 3
months.

More often the advice is to work fresh manure into the ground 3 months
before planting.

Standard procedure is to compost (hot or cold) for 6 months before use,
or to incorporate it into the soil in the fall.
--

- Billy

There are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by reading. The few who
learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and
find out for themselves.
Will Rogers

http://countercurrents.org/roberts020709.htm
http://www.tomdispatch.com/p/zinn

"Billy" wrote in message
FarmI wrote last Oct. "I also spread horse poop as it comes (often
almost still steaming) straight onto garden beds and it results in a
huge worm population explosion."

I might mention that she is still with us, which argues favorably for
the use of fresh manure.

Yeah, I'm still here. Nothing wrong with me other than the red spots all
over, the squint, the gummy jaws, the baldness and the limp.........

In article
,
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote:

"Billy" wrote in message
FarmI wrote last Oct. "I also spread horse poop as it comes (often
almost still steaming) straight onto garden beds and it results in a
huge worm population explosion."

I might mention that she is still with us, which argues favorably for
the use of fresh manure.

Yeah, I'm still here. Nothing wrong with me other than the red spots all
over, the squint, the gummy jaws, the baldness and the limp.........

These ideosyncracies only add character to our siren of the soil.
--

- Billy

"For the first time in the history of the world, every human being is
now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the moment of
conception until death." - Rachel Carson

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7843430.stm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI29wVQN8Go

"Steve Peek" wrote
Ed, your biggest concern should be whether or not the horse's paddock
was sprayed with a broadleaf herbicide. The herbicide will pass
harmlessly through the horse and wipe out you garden. Check with the
source of your manure, it would be heartbreaking to have that happen.

Yes, indeed. Farmyard or stable manure is wonderful stuff if you can get
it, but there's one particular herbicide persisting in manure that has
caused quite serious problems for some allotmenteers and gardeners in
recent years. There's info on the RHS site:
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile...ler-manure.asp

It can also be quite difficult to actually find out if any particular
load is 'clean', unless the source can be absolutely certain that all
their feed and bedding is clear too, because of buying and selling of
hay and silage feed.

One case I know of locally happened where cattle manure from one farm
where they didn't use this stuff was affected, unbeknownst to the
farmer, due to contaminated feed and hay bought in from elsewhere.
--
Sue

In article ,
brooklyn1 wrote:
"Ed" ex@directory wrote in message
news:iP6dnZNfUIW_c8DXnZ2dnUVZ8ridnZ2d@brightview. co.uk...

The thing is this. The bins are 4'x3'x3' and I just do not have the
energy or strength to turn them. So , in effect they are cold compost
heaps. I let the contents rot down over a 2 year period.

But is there a danger that the pathogens in the horse dung will not die
off (as they would if I were operating a hot heap) and that my family
could become seriously ill if I use this composted material on my
vegetable plot even if it is 2 years old?

There is no concern with pathogens with manure from vegetarian beasts except
perhaps if you know the beast to be ill with a disease transmittable to
humans. In your case I'd be more concerned with viable weed seeds.

That is essentially true. There are very few diseases with sufficiently
resistant spores that they will survive any form of composting, and most
of those are extremely implausible. None will contaminate vegetables,
anyway, and the only risk is getting the compost into a cut, eating it
if you don't wash it off, etc.

The only ones that are at all likely are carried by cats and other
carnivores, as you say. Worrying about tetanus and anthrax is not a
productive activity ....


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.