How do you turn fresh horse manure into something that can go on the garden?
How long does it take? Thanks,

--
Hayley
(gardening on well drained, alkaline clay in Somerset)

I've been sticking mine in the compost bin, mixed with the regular kitchen
waste. It takes about a year to rot down cold, faster if you can get the
heap hot (I've never managed it). However my compost heap has been "seeded"
from my wormery and those little devils are doing one hell of a job. So
much so that if they survive the winter in the compost heap, I'm
contemplating ditching the wormery altogether.

Paul DS.

"H Ryder" wrote in message
...
How do you turn fresh horse manure into something that can go on the
garden?
How long does it take? Thanks,

--
Hayley
(gardening on well drained, alkaline clay in Somerset)

The message
from "H Ryder" contains these words:

How do you turn fresh horse manure into something that can go on the garden?
How long does it take? Thanks,

A big pile of freah manure (cubic yard plus) will get very hot for a
week or two. Also, it may contain viable seeds. Some people dislike the
smell. Those are some reasons why some people let it mature before using
it.

If you want to do that, stack it, protected from rain to prevent rain
leaching it, and wait 6 months. It will cook the seeds then cool and
begin to decompose into a crumbly dark odourless friable material.

However, if pushed, you can spread it neat on the soil during winter
months (avoiding contact with any plant stems), and leave it for worms
to take down into the soil, which they will do very quickly. You may get
a few weeds germinating but IME it's a trivial problem. Or, if you are
double digging, fork in large amounts of manure as you go. There won't
be a weed problem because they're buried too deep to germinate. I
usually use the 2nd or 3rd method, because I fetch manure in sacks
during winter, and it's just more convenient and labour-saving to
shift them only once.

When I acquire it in small amounts..such as, dropped by horses
passing the garden gate.. I just add it to the compost heap as an
activator.

Janet.

On 10/11/05 9:46, in article , "H
Ryder" wrote:

How do you turn fresh horse manure into something that can go on the garden?
How long does it take? Thanks,

This is a useful site: http://www.primalseeds.org/compost.htm

But otherwise, do what stables do and pile it in a corner and leave it alone
for six months or so. You can then either dig it into the soil or put it on
top and let the worms do the work for you

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

How do you turn fresh horse manure into something that can go on the garden?
How long does it take? Thanks,

This is a useful site: http://www.primalseeds.org/compost.htm

But otherwise, do what stables do and pile it in a corner and leave it alone
for six months or so. You can then either dig it into the soil or put it on
top and let the worms do the work for you

That is exactly what I do, the only difference is that I pile it in a
sausage shape and then I can remember which is the old end and chuck it
on the garden to over winter.
kate

On 10/11/05 11:45, in article ,
"Kate Morgan" wrote:


How do you turn fresh horse manure into something that can go on the garden?
How long does it take? Thanks,

This is a useful site: http://www.primalseeds.org/compost.htm

But otherwise, do what stables do and pile it in a corner and leave it alone
for six months or so. You can then either dig it into the soil or put it on
top and let the worms do the work for you

That is exactly what I do, the only difference is that I pile it in a
sausage shape and then I can remember which is the old end and chuck it
on the garden to over winter.

I used to have a wonderful book called (IIRC) The Untidy Gardener. The
female author said that she asked a young friend to clear out the stables
one day and he forked the manure straight onto her flower beds. All she
could see were her precious plants waving feebly at her from below several
inches of horse dung. She was absolutely certain they would all be 'burned'
and would die but all survived and came back as if on steroids!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

snip
I used to have a wonderful book called (IIRC) The Untidy Gardener. The
female author said that she asked a young friend to clear out the stables
one day and he forked the manure straight onto her flower beds. All she
could see were her precious plants waving feebly at her from below several
inches of horse dung. She was absolutely certain they would all be 'burned'
and would die but all survived and came back as if on steroids!

well worth the risk I guess maybe we gardeners worry too much. Talking
of Steroids, not long ago I had a huge muckheap, one of the horses was
on strong painkillers and when an organic gardener came along wanting to
take all the muck heap away, I was tempted to say nothing but I did the
decent thing and explained the situation and used it on my own flower
garden.
kate

[.thread the rearranged have I :Yoda]
Paul D.Smith wrote:
"H Ryder" wrote in message
...
How do you turn fresh horse manure into something that can go on
the
garden? How long does it take? Thanks,

I've been sticking mine in the compost bin, mixed with the regular
kitchen waste. It takes about a year to rot down cold, faster if
you
can get the heap hot (I've never managed it). However my compost
heap has been "seeded" from my wormery and those little devils are
doing one hell of a job. So much so that if they survive the
winter
in the compost heap, I'm contemplating ditching the wormery
altogether.

There's a bit of a contradiction between worm-working and "classical"
composting. I've just visited friends who didn't seem to have grasped
this. At the hot stage, a compost heap is going to be an unhealthy
place for worms. A cold heap is all right, and it's the only
realistic thing for many gardeners; but it breaks the stuff down
rather differently -- more like the slow formation of leaf-mould. I
suppose a cold heap actually _is_ a wormery, so there's little point
in having both.

I must have said here before that I think wormeries, as such, are an
interesting hobby for a while but otherwise pretty pointless.

--
Mike.

"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
...
SNIP
...I
suppose a cold heap actually _is_ a wormery, so there's little point
in having both.

I must have said here before that I think wormeries, as such, are an
interesting hobby for a while but otherwise pretty pointless.


Surely one can put more in a wormery - cooked food etc. that one would not
want to put on the heap?

Slatts

In article ,
"Sla#s" writes:
| "Mike Lyle" wrote in message
| ...
| SNIP
| ...I
| suppose a cold heap actually _is_ a wormery, so there's little point
| in having both.
|
| I must have said here before that I think wormeries, as such, are an
| interesting hobby for a while but otherwise pretty pointless.
|
| Surely one can put more in a wormery - cooked food etc. that one would not
| want to put on the heap?

Not at all. One can put anything on a cold heap that one can put
on any other form of composter, and then some. And many of us
do ....


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

H Ryder wrote:
How do you turn fresh horse manure into something that can go on the garden?
How long does it take? Thanks,

You can create for yourself box or pens made out of chicken wires or
wooden pallets. I have created a wooden pen where I keep my manure in,
with an thick black plastic sheet as cover. I have made two of these.
In September I get my manure from a farmer friend. This september
manure I keep until spring which by then is crumbly and not smelly at
all and I use for all my vegs. In March I get some more which I use in
the automn for my garden and flower beds. What's left in the automn I
top with the leaves I gather then. HTH

On 10/11/05 12:58, in article ,
"Kate Morgan" wrote:

snip
I used to have a wonderful book called (IIRC) The Untidy Gardener. The
female author said that she asked a young friend to clear out the stables
one day and he forked the manure straight onto her flower beds. All she
could see were her precious plants waving feebly at her from below several
inches of horse dung. She was absolutely certain they would all be 'burned'
and would die but all survived and came back as if on steroids!

well worth the risk I guess maybe we gardeners worry too much. Talking
of Steroids, not long ago I had a huge muckheap, one of the horses was
on strong painkillers and when an organic gardener came along wanting to
take all the muck heap away, I was tempted to say nothing but I did the
decent thing and explained the situation and used it on my own flower
garden.

That halo is dazzling me!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

H Ryder wrote:
How do you turn fresh horse manure into something that can go on the garden?
How long does it take? Thanks,

--
Hayley
(gardening on well drained, alkaline clay in Somerset)


My father used to leave it out in a big pile for his market garden late
Autumn to over-Winter as it was bought 'green' as they called it.

Richard.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
"Sla#s" writes:
| "Mike Lyle" wrote in message
| ...
| SNIP
| ...I
| suppose a cold heap actually _is_ a wormery, so there's little point
| in having both.
|
| I must have said here before that I think wormeries, as such, are an
| interesting hobby for a while but otherwise pretty pointless.
|
| Surely one can put more in a wormery - cooked food etc. that one would
not
| want to put on the heap?

Not at all. One can put anything on a cold heap that one can put
on any other form of composter, and then some. And many of us
do ....

that, of course is true, but every time we put any kitchen waste on the heap
we get visits from the local rat population. so we chuck all our kitchen
scraps
into the wormery and they get through it in doublequick time. with the added
advantage of a liquid feed byproduct.

Dave H

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:
In article ,
"Sla#s" writes:
| SNIP
|
| Surely one can put more in a wormery - cooked food etc. that one
would not
| want to put on the heap?

Not at all. One can put anything on a cold heap that one can put
on any other form of composter, and then some. And many of us
do ....

But that's (preferably) only a rat-proof composter.

I haven't put anything like that on my heap, and it has rat holes in it
now. (And the heap's in such a position that it would be dangerous to
try to pick them off with the air rifle.)

--
Rusty
horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/