[Molly6]

Good morning everyone, a bit of a newbie to this forum and am seeking a bit of advice please. I have been fortunate to have been given a load of very well rotted manure and wondered when is the best time to spread this on my allotment here in North Yorkshire. Any advice would be greatly received, thanks

[Goosegirl]

Hello and welcome to this lovely forum. Lucky you to have this just at the right time of year so you can spread it on your new allotment. Just make sure you don't have any nasty weeds like couch grass etc, then bung it on so it's about 2" or so thick so the earthworms will have a bit of insulation from the upcoming cold weather so they can use and take it down into your soil.

[SnooziSuzi]

Who told you it was well rotted?  how old is the newest lumps of it?

I know of lots of people that have been sold / given WELL ROTTED manure when in fact it's still steaming!

[SnooziSuzi]

Also, welcome to the site

Before you do spread it anywhere, do a bean test to make sure it isn't laced with aminopyralid herbicide.   Have you done that before?

[Molly6]

Thank you for your replies.
The manure is from a friend of mine who keeps horses and sheep. It is over a year old and I'm confident the land has not been sprayed with anything untoward. I'm lucky to be able to have a good supply and hopefully I will reap the rewards next growing season. If you don't mind me asking, can I manure everything or do any vegetables not like manure?

[Molly6]

Also, welcome to the site

Before you do spread it anywhere, do a bean test to make sure it isn't laced with aminopyralid herbicide.   Have you done that before?

Thank you for the welcome, this seems like a nice friendly forum. I haven't heard of a bean test

[SnooziSuzi]

Ooh how lucky

Yes, you can use it on all of your beds if it's that old.  Some say you shouldn't use it on carrots or parsnips because it's said to cause them to fork (i.e. grow extra 'legs') but I don't know if that has been definitively proven or not and I haven't experimented to find out tbh.

Some people just spread it on the surface and let the worms do their work, others dig it into the ground. 

Personally, I put cardboard down first on the surface (after digging out tap rooted weeds such as dock and dandelion, and nettles which have long cable like roots that would love the manure) and I put the manure on top of that after wetting the cardboard.  I do this because it encourages the worms to come to the surface and closer to the manure (ever left some cardboard on the ground and then picked it up after a few days;  worm central!)

[SnooziSuzi]

I haven't heard of a bean test

simply; put a bean seed into some of the manure and keep it somewhere warm to germinate.  If it comes up with distorted leaves then it may be tainted with aminopyralid, but if it looks normal then probably not. 

If you did find it was tainted, you should let your supplier know so that they don't sell or give it to anyone else and you could report it to the Corteva hotline (links in this link which has more info: https://organicgrowersalliance.co.uk/aminopyralid-the-herbicide-that-hasnt-gone-away/).  I don't know what Corteva will do once it was reported, but it helps them to know if it's being used incorrectly, I suppose.

[Yorkie]

As said earlier, I would avoid it where you plan to grow carrots or parsnips next year.

[Goosegirl]

What I've done is to spread mushroom compost and/ or well-rotted manure over the beds in autumn then left it for the worms to burrow beneath and keep them warm over winter. When I start to plant carrots, parsnips etc, I push the compost aside in rows so to get to the friable soil beneath, make a little deeper furrow and sprinkle the seeds on this, then I cover the row with the same friable soil so avoiding any forking from lumps of compost.

[bobbyt]

Just a question on the subject of horse manure. I now have a big pile of manure mixed with straw, stacked on my plot, been there since Aug/Sept this year.  Do I cover over winter to rot down to use on the plot next season, spread it as it is, or leave it uncovered to rot down, then spread it next season? The plot is quite heavy with clay in places, in other places not so bad. Probably get conflicting advice, but I'm not sure which way to go, as I've never had this amount of manure before. I've added a pic to show what it looks like 

[rowlandwells]

we use quite a lot of horse poo I think good old horse or cattle dung is like gardeners' gold we shifted 3 loads of horse manure today 1 load fresh for stacking the loads well-rotted ready for spreading on the allotments have to collect about 4 more loads I think one can never get enough manure it's just the ticket 

[Subversive_plot]

Just a question on the subject of horse manure. I now have a big pile of manure mixed with straw, stacked on my plot, been there since Aug/Sept this year.  Do I cover over winter to rot down to use on the plot next season, spread it as it is, or leave it uncovered to rot down, then spread it next season? The plot is quite heavy with clay in places, in other places not so bad. Probably get conflicting advice, but I'm not sure which way to go, as I've never had this amount of manure before. I've added a pic to show what it looks like 

I'll offer conflicting advice #1 (is it conflicting if I go first??  )
It looks pretty well rotted already.  I'd rake it our and turn it under.  That way, the worms and soil insects can drag it under more evenly, rather than having nutrients concentrated in one spot (under the pile).

[Snow]

Just a question on the subject of horse manure. I now have a big pile of manure mixed with straw, stacked on my plot, been there since Aug/Sept this year.  Do I cover over winter to rot down to use on the plot next season, spread it as it is, or leave it uncovered to rot down, then spread it next season? The plot is quite heavy with clay in places, in other places not so bad. Probably get conflicting advice, but I'm not sure which way to go, as I've never had this amount of manure before. I've added a pic to show what it looks like 

Looks well rotted but there is still a bit of straw there. I would either spread it on top of your beds now, or put it in a tall pile and cover, then spread it in spring, again on top, don't bother digging it in.

[Subversive_plot]

Some thoughts on safely using manure. 

Well-rotted manure is not necessarily safe (yet) from a pathogen (bacteria and parasite) standpoint.  There are well-researched guidelines available regarding the time between manure application and crop harvest time.  The short version: if it's a crop that grows in the soil, or that can touch the soil (for example, melons, potatoes, squash, carrots), there should be a minimum of 120 days between application and harvest. That can shorten to 90 days for crops that are held up off the soil (corn, tomatoes if staked, etc.). 

Detailed safety information is available at https://extension.psu.edu/wise-use-of-manure-in-home-vegetable-gardens.  Note that routine composting, where time / temperature requirements are not controlled, does not render compost safe from a pathogen standpoint, you should still follow the  120-day or 90-day harvest guideline.