[Spanky855]

Once again Thanks for everyones help over the past few months.

Winter Onions are growing, Garlics growing YAY first things I have ever grown .

I have access to big pile of manure that is on my allotment site, im not sure if it horse or cow, reading past post I belive that if its horse it can be used straight away.
If it turns out to be cow , whats the alternatives in organic manure eg Chiken pellets , Fish Blood & bone etc and whats the best??

Regards

Leee

[noshed]

I think it would be best to let either sort of manure rot for a few months. Although you could spread some on beds where you're not going to plant carrots etc and let the weather at it.
The people on our site mainly pile it up in bins and grow pumpkins and squashes in them and then spread it on the beds in the autumn. I did that this year and it seemed to work.
I've used chicken manure pellets and BFB and I couldn't tell any difference except that chicken manure smells more.
If you can get some comfrey that is good - John has an article on the site about it I think. Comfrey tea is just about the smelliest thing I've ever encountered on the allotment but it works well on tomatoes and peppers and is free.

[Eristic]

While you are worrying about it, the pile will be diminishing. Get a wheelbarrow and some large sandbags and get your share onto your plot as soon as possible. Once the communal pile has gone you will then be able to fret at your leisure.

Cow manure tends to be a heavy gooey sticky lumpy mass with lots of straw (wide stems) in it. Horse manure tends to be a light crumbly mix of horse poo, sawdust, shavings and bits of hay (narrow stems). An over simplification and your pile may be a mixed lot but make sure you get your share regardless.

When you fork away at the heap, if it becomes hot and steaming it will be best if you store it for a while but still it should all be deployed this spring.

[Spanky855]

Thankyou guys.

Eristic, thanks and never a true word spoken, im on my way up to the plot with my barrow and fork tommorow, im sure work can do without me for a few hours,

Thanks again

Lee

[muntjac]

can i just point out that chicken pellet manure is definatly not organic .it is taken from the beds where the chickens supplied for your chicken portions etc are kept as in our nearby farm which houses 1.5 million birds they are scraped out with the choped straw bedding and subjected to steam heating and extruded through small pipes to make the pellets . what the chickens are fed is a concoction of different things including chemical antibiotics. if you want organic use the only alternative manure from cows /horses . note rabbit manure can be used straight away but some still contains chemical additives

[shaun]

and another point is that chicken pellets and the like dont had any bulk to the soil they are more of a feed.