Hi All

I've had a good look through the archives and founds some very useful
info on horse manure, but a couple of questions remain unanswered.

I have a source of well-rotted (I'm told) horse manure from a local
farmer.

1) Is it too late in the season to be putting it on my veg beds now?
i.e. does it need a few weeks/months to integrate with the soil, or is
there benefit with spreading it over newly-planted or
soon-to-be-planted beds?

2) Apart from "as much as possible", what sort of quantity would I
need? I have 4 raised beds, each about 15' x 4', so a total of 240 sq
ft. The farmer has asked me how many bags I want. Presuming that "a
bag" is about the size of a potato sack, could anyone hazard a guess
for how many bags I'd need? Too much isn't a problem because I have
space for storage for later use, but I don't want to under-order.

Grateful for any advice,

Regards

Will

wrote in message
oups.com...

I've had a good look through the archives and founds some very useful
info on horse manure, but a couple of questions remain unanswered.


Hi, Will. I have the exact same questions as you. I have a new allotment
that's recently been dug over, but it's a swamp right now so I can't even
build the raised beds that I want. I'm chomping at the bit to get going,
but it looks like it'll be a long wait before the soil is dry enough.

It sounds like you also have a new allotment? If so, I'd be interested in
hearing about your progress, what you plant and when, etc.

I've just found this site that might answer your question re quantity of
manure (Florida, so maybe not?), but I'd hazard a guess at a bucketful of
horse manure per square yard of soil, and on another website it says a
garden barrow of manure for every 4 square yards

http://www.mastergardenproducts.com/...IMAL%20MANURES

also

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2339624


Regards,
Mel

No!

But do not apply lime at the same time

Lime should not be applied at the same time as organic matter or fertilisers, it may cause the release of ammonia, which wastes nitrogen and may damage tender growth.


I use approx 3 builder sizes barrowfuls to a bed 40' x 5' wide and find this about right.

Conversion say two to three bags to the barrowful, sorry I can't be any more accurate than that.

Looks like you will need similar, don't judge it by weight, some manures are wetter than others go by volume.

Thanks Mel.

No, I don't have an allotment but I do have quite a large front garden,
and have built 4 raised beds. I have grown veg before - a couple of
years ago - and am keen to continue. Previous successes we early
potatoes, onions, beetroot, lettuce, cauliflowers, beans, spinach,
courgettes. Less successful were maincrop potatoes and tomatoes (both
had blight problems), carrots and parsnips (soil a bit too stony
perhaps), leeks and salad onions (neither really got big enough).

Main lessons I learnt last time were the importance of regular watering
(a bit of a challenge this year as our hosepipe ban has just begun),
and successional planting. Last time I made the mistake of planting
all my lettuce in one go, which meant a lot went to waste. The key
requirements seem to be having a system and a routine. If you're just a
weekend veg gardener you can still grow some nice stuff, but you'll do
much better if inspection, troubleshooting and watering become part of
your daily or every-other-day routine.

How come your soil is so "swampy"? Moist soil is good, but you suggest
that yours is too wet to plant. I thought we had a drought?!

Will

wrote.
How come your soil is so "swampy"? Moist soil is good, but you suggest
that yours is too wet to plant. I thought we had a drought?!

I live just north of Manchester. It's hardly stopped raining since last
November (when I got my allotment). On the days that it's not rained it's
been cold and the ground has been frozen. My patch is fairly wet anyway
which I'm hoping will be to my advantage in summer, but at the moment I
literally sink up to my knees in mud (I almost lost my wellies last week).

Regards.

wrote:
Hi All

I've had a good look through the archives and founds some very useful
info on horse manure, but a couple of questions remain unanswered.

There was a thread on this a week ago. I think you'll find it helpful
if you do a rather more thorough search.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon

wrote:
Hi All

I've had a good look through the archives and founds some very useful
info on horse manure, but a couple of questions remain unanswered.

There was a thread on this a week ago. I think you'll find it helpful
if you do a rather more thorough search.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon

wrote:
Hi All

I've had a good look through the archives and founds some very useful
info on horse manure, but a couple of questions remain unanswered.

There was a thread on this a week ago. I think you'll find it helpful
if you do a rather more thorough search.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon

Thanks Sacha. I thought I did read the recent posts but I'll take
another look.

wrote:
wrote:
Hi All

I've had a good look through the archives and founds some very useful
info on horse manure, but a couple of questions remain unanswered.

There was a thread on this a week ago. I think you'll find it helpful
if you do a rather more thorough search.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon

Thanks Sacha. I thought I did read the recent posts but I'll take
another look.

The thread I'm thinking of contained quite a bit on checking whether
animals had been given any medicines which would affect organic
gardening. There was also something on the use of cow manure. That's
why I suggested you try to find it, because there's a lot of good info
in there that people might not be inclined to post all over again!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon

writes
How come your soil is so "swampy"? Moist soil is good, but you suggest
that yours is too wet to plant. I thought we had a drought?!

Don't ever be misled into thinking that what you hear on the SE-centric
'national' news is necessarily representative of the country as a whole
;-)
--
Kay

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi All

I've had a good look through the archives and founds some very useful
info on horse manure, but a couple of questions remain unanswered.

I have a source of well-rotted (I'm told) horse manure from a local
farmer.

1) Is it too late in the season to be putting it on my veg beds now?
i.e. does it need a few weeks/months to integrate with the soil, or is
there benefit with spreading it over newly-planted or
soon-to-be-planted beds?

No time is too late.

2) Apart from "as much as possible", what sort of quantity would I
need? I have 4 raised beds, each about 15' x 4', so a total of 240 sq
ft. The farmer has asked me how many bags I want. Presuming that "a
bag" is about the size of a potato sack, could anyone hazard a guess
for how many bags I'd need? Too much isn't a problem because I have
space for storage for later use, but I don't want to under-order.

Lots!

Do not use 'fresh' manure where you plan to grow any root crops. They get
confused
about where the nutrients are and grow in every direction. It is called
'forking'

So one bed of root vegetables - no manure.
One bed with lots of manure and wet, shredded paper in the bottom - peas and
beans.
One bed with manure dug in for brassicas. beetroot, lettuce and other
'leafy' crops.
Any bed with 'permanent' crops such as rhubarb, asparagus, artichokes, fruit
bushes then 'mulch with
manure after a heavy rain or good soaking. This keeps the moisture in. If
you mulch over dry
ground you will prevent the rain from soaking in.

As for how much, it depends on how much help you have shifting it. It is
heavy.
After about ten sacks, I am looking for another job to do. YMMV

HTH

Dave

I have heard of a method of using fresh horse manure that will solve a lot
of the problems mentioned above. It has been made into manure tea. They
shoveled it into a bag that will let water in and out, then filled a 5
gallon container. The bag was put into the container and allowed to soak
for a while. Then they drain the water out into the bucket. Then they
dilute it between 5 and 10 to 1 with water and pour it onto the items to be
fertilized.

You can do this every two or three weeks if you want, to keep your garden
well nourished. I have never done it, but I went out this morning and
picked up 3 buckets full and will start using it next week.

Dwayne (from Kansas)
wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi All

I've had a good look through the archives and founds some very useful
info on horse manure, but a couple of questions remain unanswered.

I have a source of well-rotted (I'm told) horse manure from a local
farmer.

1) Is it too late in the season to be putting it on my veg beds now?
i.e. does it need a few weeks/months to integrate with the soil, or is
there benefit with spreading it over newly-planted or
soon-to-be-planted beds?

2) Apart from "as much as possible", what sort of quantity would I
need? I have 4 raised beds, each about 15' x 4', so a total of 240 sq
ft. The farmer has asked me how many bags I want. Presuming that "a
bag" is about the size of a potato sack, could anyone hazard a guess
for how many bags I'd need? Too much isn't a problem because I have
space for storage for later use, but I don't want to under-order.

Grateful for any advice,

Regards

Will

"Dwayne" wrote in message

I have heard of a method of using fresh horse manure that will solve
a lot
of the problems mentioned above.

I've never had any problems with using fresh horse manure. I use it
all the time.

The one time I used it that way, I came up with a crop of grain that had
been fed to the animals that provided my fresh horse manure. It made a mess
out of my asparagus bed and other parts of the garden.

Dwayne (from Kansas)

"Farm1" please@askifyouwannaknow wrote in message
...
"Dwayne" wrote in message

I have heard of a method of using fresh horse manure that will solve
a lot
of the problems mentioned above.

I've never had any problems with using fresh horse manure. I use it
all the time.