[Snoop]

We had dreadful rain last week. Ten days on, my vegetable patch is still under water. I can't even get anywhere near my muck pile: the ground is so sodden that you sink up to your knees in mud. Some of my potatoes need planting urgently, but there's no sign of the land draining any time soon due to water still coming down from higher ground.

So, I'm clearing a bit of semi-virgin land higher up that has dried out to put these potatoes in. Maybe not the best thing for a good crop, but it's as good as these potatoes are going to get. A couple of weeks back, I had a delivery of sheep muck that would be good to use in another two months, I was told. In these last two weeks, it's been turned twice and had a good dousing of rain (35 cm over four days). Any views on whether it would be safe to use with my potatoes? Is it likely to burn them? Cause disease (unlikely, I think)? Any other issues I should know about?

I have some granular fertiliser too (one that is nitrogen rich and another that is P and K rich), but I'd rather add some humous if I can to make the most of my efforts and to loosen the soil a bit for the crop. Would adding the n rich fertiliser be a good idea if the muck steals nitrogen from the soil as it breaks down? Or would that really be too much for the potatoes?

Thanks for any advice.

[ARPoet]

Never used sheep muck.. i get pony muck for free and have used that pretty fresh before now.
If i were you i would plant yer tatties and spread the sheep muck on the ground between the rows and let the worms do the work.

[Norfolkgrey]

I don't know why but I had in my head that fresh manure can cause scab and that is about it, so would shorten the storage life of ya spuds but I could be wrong 

[mumofstig]

I think the rain will have washed most of the 'heat' out of it, I'd just make sure the spuds aren't planted on neat manure

[crh75]

Sheep manure is not hot like cow and horse manures so will be fine fresh. 

[Snoop]

Thanks guys. Just the kind of reassurance I was looking for.

And thanks for letting me know about scab, Norfolkgrey. I'll start with the first earlies, so there will be none of them to store. With any luck, by the time I've cleared the ground and planted them, the beds set aside for potatoes in my proper patch will have dried out enough for me to start putting the second earlies and maincrops in there. (For someone who used to say I'd never grow potatoes again, I've got rather a lot this year...)

[ARPoet]

Growing at home means i never manage to grow enough tatties to keep, so dont worry about scab.

[Norfolkgrey]

Thanks guys. Just the kind of reassurance I was looking for.

And thanks for letting me know about scab, Norfolkgrey. I'll start with the first earlies, so there will be none of them to store. With any luck, by the time I've cleared the ground and planted them, the beds set aside for potatoes in my proper patch will have dried out enough for me to start putting the second earlies and maincrops in there. (For someone who used to say I'd never grow potatoes again, I've got rather a lot this year...)

Your welcome. So just how many spuds are you growing? yes I am rather snouty    When I first started growing veg I grew quite a few different varieties. Then stopped and only grew pink fir as I couldn't notice a great difference between what I grew and shop bought. I am trying different varieties again this year 

[Salmo]

I don't know why but I had in my head that fresh manure can cause scab and that is about it, so would shorten the storage life of ya spuds but I could be wrong 

Muck is what you apply to stop getting scab.

[Snoop]

So just how many spuds are you growing?

I don't know - but 2 kg packs of Dunluce (the ones I'm currently planting), Charlotte, Pink Fir Apple and Purple Majestic plus about 3 kg in total of Picasso and Rooster. But some of them, especially the Roosters, are quite large.

Muck is what you apply to stop getting scab.

Thanks for that, Salmo. I did Google it and the first hit was someone confirming what Norfolkgrey said. I'll add plenty of muck to the next bed. I only put a top dressing on the bed I did yesterday, so probably not enough. Still, at least they're in the ground.

[Goosegirl]

When we had sheep I used to collect their poo and put it in old pairs of tights suspended in a bucket of water. It made a good liquid feed when diluted to a straw-like colour.

[Snoop]

That's a good idea, Goosegirl. At least I'll be able to feed them. I just hope the soil doesn't compact too much: I used this patch a couple of years back, but it was pretty hard to dig up and is a bit 'cloddy'.

But my real veg patch is still under water and more is still flowing in even today, plus on Tuesday we're due showers, continuing till the end of the week. Total forecast rainfall 24 litres (2.4 cm) per square metre. I hope that's a bit more accurate than the last rains: initial forecast 74 litres per square metre, later downgraded to very little, then real rainfall of more than 350 litres (35 cm) per square metre. But I shouldn't complain - one town 22 km from us but higher up in the mountains had 590 litres (59 cm) per square metre! I can barely imagine what that must have been like.

[Aunt Sally]

I don't know why but I had in my head that fresh manure can cause scab and that is about it, so would shorten the storage life of ya spuds but I could be wrong 

Muck is what you apply to stop getting scab.

I think you've got that the wrong way round, Salmo.

Applying manure to potato fields can cause an increase in scab infection.

...

Maintain soil pH levels between 5.0 and 5.2 by using acid-producing fertilizers such as ammonium sulphate. Avoid or limit the use of such alkaline-producing amendments as lime and manure.