[mamalovesmambo]

Hi,

I'd like advice on what kind of manure to use on my plot.
What are the pros & cons of Cow/Horse/Chicken manure?
Is it hard to get deliveries of these?
I am growing organically on my plot, would you advise trying to get hold of organic manure?

Thanks for any advice.

[James]

>Would it be advisable to get organic manure?


It depends how obsessive you are.  Your allotment can never be truly 'organic' in the way that you could sell it to a supermakret as organic as your neighbours use chemicals.  The strict definition of organic includes an exclusion zone.

My own attitude to gardening is 'broadly organic'.  So I will sometimes throw a handful of growmore around, and will very occasionally zap nasties when they threaten to overtake the whole crop, but I will generally pick blackfly off my beans.

[hayles62]

I look set to recieve plenty of....manure and wondered how long you let it stand before it's usable or can you just chuck it in?

[James]

A jolly good question.  If you use it fresh, it will probably kill your plants.  (Although if you have a 'hot bed'  it needs to be fresh.  A hot bed is a way of generating early vegetables.  You fill the bed with fresh manure and put the soil on the top.  The heat generated by the rotting manure allows the plants to start growing much earlier than would otherwise be the case.)

At least six months, up to two years.

[hayles62]

A jolly good question.  If you use it fresh, it will probably kill your plants.  (Although if you have a 'hot bed'  it needs to be fresh.  A hot bed is a way of generating early vegetables.  You fill the bed with fresh manure and put the soil on the top.  The heat generated by the rotting manure allows the plants to start growing much earlier than would otherwise be the case.)

At least six months, up to two years.

That is interesting I will try that as I'm into experimenting in me little back garden so when I get my allotment there will be more room to play, thanks for that

[mamalovesmambo]

Hi James,

Thanks for your reply.

I was just wondering if there's any possible nasties in manure that's not organic. Either from the manure itself, or the straw or other stuff that's mixed in with it. I'm not looking for organic certification! Just want to avoid chemicals. I know bad stuff can leak out of carpets if you use them to cover beds. I was wondering if anyone knows if there's any similar risks of residues in manure, or is the amount to small to worry about?

Cheers.

[Oliver]

I was wondering if anyone knows if there's any similar risks of residues in manure, or is the amount to small to worry about?

As I see it the only way you can be sure manure is 100% "organic" is to have your own cattle etc and be aware of what they eat and where. E.g. Can you be sure your cattle have not eaten feed that had non-organic fertilizers, can you be sure they have not had feed that contained antibiotics and other stuff? I would say the answer to all this is no. So we just have to do our best. So she is also broadly organc when it comes to slugs. :?

[James]

Even organic cattle can be fed certain drugs.  And I would suggest that not worming animals on a regular basis is cruel; even if I kept my own organic cattle I'd want to have them wormed!


It serves me right, what I said earlier.  I went outside at lunchtime and there are greenfly on my artichoke seedlings; on my french beans and my sweetpeas (crawling).  Come on you blue tits...

[Judymac]

I also try to be organic as possible, but as far as manure goes, get what's going free in your neighbourhood!   Some stables may deliver FOC to an allotment site.

For instance each year we get a tractor load of cow manure from Guy the local organic farmer, I collect some horse manure in buckets from the local hotel that caters for equestrian guests, and I add our hen house cleanings whenever possible. The lot is put in my manure compost section and when I have enough garden/house compost I make up a layered heap and leave it for a year or two. At the moment I have two large layered heaps, and am building up the household compost ready for next springs cow manure delivery.

Sheep and rabbit droppings are also good! In the spring many farmers bring their sheep indoors to lamb, and are happy if you offer to take the droppings away. Rabbit breeders are also open to this...

Hope that gives you a few ideas  

[shaun]

i think that its taking it bit far worrying about what chemicals are in the manure,i bet if you tested it for trace ellements or whatever you wouldnt find what your looking for if you know what i mean ,if you think about it the cow eats the grass with chemicals ,digests the grass (if its a dairy farmer then its eaten cow nuts) all digested and comes out the other end as manure then its mixed with water urine and straw and may be a bit of derv or oil of the tractors baked by the sun watered with the rain (if your lucky) transported to the plot stud for a few months then spread on the plot .it comes a long way before you spread it on your crops,
i pay £15 pound for a trailer load i guess its about 5 ton and its the best way to spread weeds from the farm to your plot

[mamalovesmambo]

Thanks Judymac,

I'll try and get organic manure if I can.
My other question was what to do with it once I've got the manure.

From what you're saying it sounds like it's best to make a layered heap of compost and manure.
Should I do this in the spring, or whenever I can get a manure delivery?

I'm guessing this would hopefully make a "hot" heap, and kill off the weed seeds that are imported from the farm.
Is it best to get fresh manure to make a hot heap, or can I use stuff that's already been well rotted?
I'll leave this at least a year, then dig into the beds in autumn.

I've just inherited the plot, so this year I've just got a pile of well rotted compost.
Will this be sufficient to enrich the soil if I dig it in this autumn?
Or should I get hold of some manure too?

If I can only get fresh manure will it be ok to dig that in to the beds with the compost this autumn, as long as I don't replant that bed till spring?
Or will it still scorch the plants when they're planted in spring?

Many Thanks

[Eristic]

Manure has been badly maligned over the past 30 odd years by the  industrial propaganda machine until now there are so many crazy beliefs and fears about the stuff, people tend to just buy a small tub of growmore and hope for the best.

Nothing will get results that compare with using manure on the allotment and remember, before you start improving the land, you have to replace decades of depletion. Manure though, comes in many different flavours. Get what is available locally at a favourable price. In London, horse manure is freely available on a free to take away basis so while free it may cost for transport.

Horse manure does not burn the crops and can be applied fresh or cooked, either dug in or top dressed.  My preference is to place a layer about 2" thick on the surface during the spring and summer months and the remains can be dug in during the autumn/winter digging.

If you want results, think in tons per yesr.

[Judymac]

If you ask two gradeners how they do things, each one does it slightly differently, especially compost, most ways result in the same end product eventually - good soil improvement.

I can only say how I do it. I have a victorian bed system.

Already rotted manure goes on the beds in the autumn and gets turned in. This is particularyly good for next years potatoe, tomatoe, curcubit and bean beds (not the carrot bed though, or you'll get forked carrots)

In the spring, a week or so before planting I fork in a large bucket of layered compost per square metre.

How to make good organic compost, try HDRA at this link:
LINK

Most of my manure arrives in the early spring, so I layer it mid spring with the contents of my garden/kitchen waste compost bins, fruit bush prunings and stinging nettles. That is then left for a year.

Any manure arriving later is stacked in its own heap, I stop adding to that heap at midsummer, and it is dug into the beds as rotted manure in autumn. This is usually a very hot heap.

Manure after midsummer is added to the garden/kitchen compost bins to help them along.

Whilst my heaps are hot enough to kill most weeds, one type does seem to survive, but is very easy to weed when small, thistles!

Judy