[Jimmy84]

Hi all, I'm very new to gardening and growing but have recently purchased a house that has allowed me to have enough space for an allotment. I've started the task of digging all my areas and would like to know when to start fertilising, I plan on growing root veg and fruits like strawberries and gooseberries etc. Fortunately where I live there is quite a few people that own horses and are giving there manure away. It's all going to be fresh/raw, am i Ok to dig this in now as I'm not going to be planting anything till the spring? Or do I need to let it rot down? If that's the case what do I let it rot in, the bags the horse owners put it in?

Any help would be much appreciated

James

PS I have got a gooseberry bush waiting to go in now can that go in with manure?

[New shoot]

Hi Jimmy and welcome to the site 

You would be better to empty the bags of fresh manure out into a heap and let it rot down before digging it in.  Any straw or bedding material in the manure needs to break down and fresh manure can be very acidic and can damage plants. 

If you have a gooseberry that needs planting now, it would be worth buying a bag of stable manure from the garden centre to dig in for that.  You can spread any excess on the soil surface as a mulch.

Rotted manure adds organic matter to soil improving its structure.  Fertiliser is a fast acting feed, so you only need to apply this when plants are growing 

[Jimmy84]

Hi thanks for your reply,

When should I look to dig it in then?

Is it ok to use everywhere I should i only use it on certain vegetables and fruits?

Thanks again

[Yorkie]

Best to avoid putting manure where you plan to grow parsnips and carrots, as it can make them fork.

Otherwise no real limits. If applying it as a mulch, don't let it touch the stem of plants / trees.

I'd leave it on the top of the soil over the winter, and dig it in in spring when you prepare the plot.  The worms are likely to do some of the work for you over the winter.

[Jimmy84]

Ok, brilliant, thanks for your help.

[Goosegirl]

I echo Yorkie's advice about leaving it on top of the soil over winter but keep it away from your gooseberry bush. As regards fertiliser; apart from a sprinking of bonemeal in the hole for your gooseberry bush, don't bother as it will only get washed out over winter and plants don't need it as they aren't growing now. Get as much horse manure as you can from now onwards, use what you can on the beds, then make a heap with the rest as you get it and find something to cover it with to retain some heat to help it rot down, then make another one to use later on.