[dmg]

As a rough guide how many bags of manure would I need for a 14ftx35ft bed. i am using household bin bags. I have 4 beds and would be doing the usual suspects legumes,brassicas, pots and alliums. I know I can't do root veg in the soil with the manure in it and these will be in containers.

thanks
dmg

[savbo]

on the basis that this is about 5x7 yards=35sq y I'd say 1/2 or 1 bag to sq y so 20-30 roughly

[rowlandwells]

i would be interested to know how you base your calculations on savbo

i put quite a lot of horse manure on the ground last year may be it was the wet season  but the muck didn't  broke down as it should have may be it had not been standing long enough   to fresh when i spread it 

also do different types of manure need different usage  say i used horse manure does that need more per square yard than say cattle muck and not being to familiarize with using green manure is there any advantage to using that in conjunction with farm manure say on a rotation basis for different crops i know one should avoid using manure on root crops until its well rotted 

[gavinjconway]

Simples... Just load you car up and when you have put enough on the bed its full... If you have too much all the better... if you dont have enough go back for more!!

Then go back for more and make compost with it..

[SG6]

Using the idea of 5x7 then I would put 2 bags on each of the meter wide strips that are 5 meters long, so 14-15.

It does however depend on how deep you want to apply it. People covering a plot to stop weeds coming up will have a deeper amount then someone wanting to add to the fertility for the next crop.

I have a small rectangle of about 2x3 mtr (6x10ft) and I added 4 bags to it. It was added simply to add fertility and they were on offer of 4 bags for £??. Maybe I should have bought 8 bags, but I would have to raise the height of the bed to accomodate extra material.

[finleyfreyaseth]

Simples... Just load you car up and when you have put enough on the bed its full... If you have too much all the better... if you dont have enough go back for more!!

Then go back for more and make compost with it..

same idea as me

[savbo]

i would be interested to know how you base your calculations on savbo

Very rough guess but half-remember John's book saying about half a barrow per sq yd? Not sure how much you could fill a binbag given the weight of manure so that's why I went as high as 2/sq y.

[rowlandwells]

i note your replies i am collecting apox 2 tonnes per month for stacking not spreading if i remember going back to my farming days after winter come spring when we turned the cattle out of there winter sheds having cleared all the muck out the sheds we put it in a heap

then in autumn after harvest we used to muck spread it on the harvested fields and plough it in on a rotation basis surprisingly the muck  heap was half its size from when it was put there i call it gardeners gold

[dmg]

Thanks for all the replies folks,
Looks like a few more trips to the stables is called for 

dmg