Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: binner on October 11, 2009, 17:47
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hi guys, i have a constant supply of horse manure as my otherhalfs horse is on the same site and i have strated to pile it up each day when we muck out. as its my first year im a bit unsure, do i need to keep it covered up or add anything else like a bit of soil or leaves ect?
the council have put some new allotments on the site so the communal muck heap lasted all of a week lol, this was well rotted but it had been there years, mine has been going for around 5 months now and dosn't seem to be rotting at all :blink:
cheers binner
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I used to have my own horses, and used their bedding etc for compost. Best thing is to heap it up and forget about it for at least 18 months. It will have shrunk in height by about half to two thirds but will be light and crumbly. It shouldn't smell of anything other than earth by that time.
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ok cheers, 18 month seems a bit long though as il need it again this time next year, can i do anything to speed the process up?
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Is it pure dung or does it have straw/shavings with it. If pure dung it is best mixed with something else. If you have a compost heap why not mix it with the compost material layer by later. It will be a good accelerator for the compost.
If you decide to use the manure by itself will be OK to use after 6 months but a year is better. Pile it high and cover with plastic to help it rot and stop the nutrients being washed out by the rain.
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its pure horse poo we pick up out of the paddock, so its ok if it has straw mixed in, what about grass cuttings and kitchen waste ect, all go in? do i need to keep turning it over(iv read it somewhere)
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yep - bung it all in together and turn regularly as this helps to get air into the pile and speed the whole process up.
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thanks for the help to you all