[TheSpartacat]

I've been down the plot wheeling manure this week, and piling it up in order to rot it down before using it.... it's all straw and manure lumps... but am extremely surprised to see that all the plot holders around me, including more "experienced" plotters and the site secretary have spread their fresh manure directly onto the beds

Do they know something i don't?
 

I noticed they were all doing that in June last year too, when fresh manure got delivered- it all went straight on the beds, like a mulch around what was growing (lettuce, brassica beds, etc) which flies in the face of everything i've read. But i didnt hear of anyone complaining of scorched plants or poor crops.

I'm only a newbie there, so i feel a bit cheeky questioning what seems to be "the norm".... but....?  huh?
Am i wrong? Will it have rotted on the beds before April?

[Mark-S]

Don't you remember the Nitrogen Cycle you did at school?  Problee in Biology......

The issue is not fresh or otherwise manure - the microbes act uopon the OM in the soil to break down and release nutrients, so the more rotted down it is before it goes into the soil, the quicker the NPKS etc will be made avilable.

If i have fresh box muck then i let it rot down, ideally thsi is done before its is delivered.  However if the farmer can only deliver it fresh then i will apply it as a mulch and let the worms do their business.

[TheSpartacat]

Don't you remember the Nitrogen Cycle you did at school?  Problee in Biology......

The issue is not fresh or otherwise manure - the microbes act uopon the OM in the soil to break down and release nutrients, so the more rotted down it is before it goes into the soil, the quicker the NPKS etc will be made avilable.

If i have fresh box muck then i let it rot down, ideally thsi is done before its is delivered.  However if the farmer can only deliver it fresh then i will apply it as a mulch and let the worms do their business.

Exactly my point.... doesnt it deplete available nitrogen whilst rotting down?
And do you not suffer from scalded plants if you apply it fresh? (from the ammonia?)

[Trillium]

One spring I couldn't get any rotted manure, nor the previous fall, so I happily took some fresh manure and lightly mulched my strawberry plants with it because they really needed it. By cropping time, almost all the plants had died.

So, you do need to know what you're doing with fresh manure, which plants will tolerate the strength of fresh and which won't. Until then, you'd be best to not take chances and simply stick with rotted for spring use and fresh for the fall when you finish your plot for winter. Winter is the only time I use fresh manure now - to ready my garden for sleep. Lesson was well learned.