[madcat]

We were given some part rotted in the early spring (it had been on the muck pile since the snow started and it froze solid) and the plan was to dig it in the beds where the hungriest plants were to go.  Well, life ran on and by the time it got to courgette / squash planting out time, still wasnt dug in.  So we just spread it on, covered it with pound shop weed suppressant fabric and planted through it.  The Triffids have gone like the clappers ......  never seen anything like it.  Wow.  Wonderful stuff.

[Livinhope]

i have more of the stuff that i know what to do with we have a horse on the same site as out allotment,
i would say if you can get a good supply just pile it up and let it rot, covered with some old carpet etc, last year i run out so ended up spreading fresh stuff on a couple of the beds and now they are solid with weeds! it does seem that if you let it rot down most of the grass and weed seeds from the paddock and hay dont grow back

You must know that some things pass straight through the horses' gut undigested but when the manure is left to rot down in a pile or bags the heat generated kills off most of the weed seeds.

We put some fresh straight on to the ground left by the early potatoes, we have a few magnificent weeds but they are easy to get out.  Our marrows were planted on what looks like ordinary soil except that underneath is a mound of fresh horse manure, hence the glut of marrows and courgettes.

[Sue33]

we put quite well rotted horse manure on part of our plot in january this year, turned the soil over april/may and planted marrow, courgettes, bns on top - they are doing really well, i did put some compost around the plants about june time when they were beginning to flower, the sweetcorn also had exactly the same treatment and they are good this year as well 

[Livinhope]

Perhaps we could erect a monument in praise of horse poo 

[potatogrower]

i would let it dry up or until its crumbles under light pressure with your hands. Winter is best time for it to decompose. i used horse manure but it was very wet and i foolishly dug it in. on top of the fact i had clay soil didn't help because the poo wouldn't break up and soil wouldn't either so it was like an mountainous islands of poo and soil everywhere....big mistake in my opinion.

[aelf]

I have a regular supply of fresh muck and stable sweepings (old straw) which I dump in 1 ton sand sacks at the back of the plot. The worms find their way in and it becomes lovely brown crumbly stuff in about 4 months (longer over winter). Boootifal!  

My choice is to spread it and dig it in at the end of Jan, begining of Feb.


edit: I cover the sacks with polythene to keep the weeds down, rain off and heat in 

[potatogrower]

My choice is to spread it and dig it in at the end of Jan, begining of Feb.


edit: I cover the sacks with polythene to keep the weeds down, rain off and heat in  

yes good idea, cover it up. the horse manure i got from was literally just one big pile of **** and rain must have soaked in making it too wet.

[binner]

i have more of the stuff that i know what to do with we have a horse on the same site as out allotment,
i would say if you can get a good supply just pile it up and let it rot, covered with some old carpet etc, last year i run out so ended up spreading fresh stuff on a couple of the beds and now they are solid with weeds! it does seem that if you let it rot down most of the grass and weed seeds from the paddock and hay dont grow back

You must know that some things pass straight through the horses' gut undigested but when the manure is left to rot down in a pile or bags the heat generated kills off most of the weed seeds.

yes just like that chemical amino something or other that wipes plants out so becarefull where you get your muck! our horse is fed on hay from a farmer that does not use chemicals on his grass fields

We put some fresh straight on to the ground left by the early potatoes, we have a few magnificent weeds but they are easy to get out.  Our marrows were planted on what looks like ordinary soil except that underneath is a mound of fresh horse manure, hence the glut of marrows and courgettes.

[binner]

huuuuummm what happened there then?

[Yorkie]

Binner, when you use the quote facility, you need to make sure that you type your reply after the [ / quote ]

Have you typed before the [ / quote], hence the computer interprets your reply as part of the original quote?

Or perhaps the computer simply hit Post before you'd typed anything (happens to me a lot!)

[binner]

ah yes its mixed in for some reason, found it now

yes just like that chemical amino something or other that wipes plants out so becarefull where you get your muck! our horse is fed on hay from a farmer that does not use chemicals on his grass fields