yet ANOTHER manure question

I am getting a load of fresh horse manure over the next day or so and was intending it for the pumpkin/squash patch. Would I be better to bury it a spit deep just now or leave it on the surface and let it weather down. I don' t intend to plant them out before mid may at the very least, will it still burn the roots after this time?

Thanks
Dmg

Manure needs to be in the soil so if possible dig it in now to start breaking down. if not you have no option but to spread and dig it in, in Spring.

Not really any other option now than spreading it over the bed and leaving it till spring. Too wet to dig now. You will do more harm than good bt digging now.

Totty

If you've got a decent amount of it then I'd put it in a heap and cover it to stop the rain washing through it and keep the heat in so that it rots down a bit before spring when you can add it to your beds. Squash are quite shalow rooted, so I'd just spread it on top and plant through it.

I covered the beds with fresh manure and then covered that with mypex. It will allow water through I know, but it worked last year and all I did was to cut X's in the mypex and plant through that. After the BNS had finished I removed the plant remains to the compost, removed the mypex, dug the plot over and have recently added another load of manure. The mypex has gone back on and so the cycle continues ........