[Barry Dunning]

If I can't get the provenance of the manure can anyone suggest a substitute, excluding compost?

[gregmcalister]

The only thing I could suggest would be poultry manure but then it would really be better added alongside compost or leaf mould to improve soil structure as well as adding nutrients.

[woodburner]

If you can dig manure in now, it should be alright by the spring, but it does need to be dug in. I'm not too keen on the digging so I'm trying green manure and my own compost for next year.

[Salmo]

Mushroom compost is a good soil conditioner. It does not contain many nutrients but also has no weed seeds.

[vegmandan]

Trouble is with mushroom compost is, that it too could be contaminated if it's been made partially from horse muck (which some frequently is) taken from any horses that have been fed on hay or haylage taken from a field that's been sprayed with the nasty stuff. :shock:  :shock:  :shock:

Avoid anything remotely related to horse and cow muck and hay products,or any manure from anything that's eaten hay or silage.

Nightmare.  

[fatbelly]

I have just put six barrow loads of Manure on my plot where my spuds will be going, will any contaminants in the manure leech out before next spring?

[vegmandan]

The advice seems to be dig it in well or rotavate ,and once any residual plant matter in the manure breaks down in the soil, it diminishes as the nasty stuff binds to the plant material or someting apparently. :?

But if it's not contaminated as the vast majority isn't then it won't matter anyway.

I put a tonne on half my plot this Autumn and just put old compost and grow bags on the other half just in case mine was contaminated.

Just got to hope for the best I suppose.

[rhian13]

green manure? field beans can go in sept-november

I'm going to sow mine soon, now I've cleared a bed..........

My lecturer said green manure is the future as its often difficult to get enough animal manure, so he has a really good crop rotation that I'm hoping to emulate, where you have one bed as a green manure, and the others you alternate between light and heavy feeders (as recommended by the soil association) the idea being that you save precious animal manure for crops like brassicas or squashes, and as the soil isn't exposed then the nitrates don't get washed away - I'm looking forward to experimenting, I used red clover in my garden this summer and that worked a treat.