[davepitch]

Hi, not posted in a while as my garden conversion plans where put on hold whilst my wife had a baby.  All is well now and will be looking to make a start in the autumn.  ( After a small matter of removing 12 or so Giant Llelandi)

Anyway, I have been on the look out for manure and have spotted that there are four horses in a field behind my house with a small stable.  Have thought that I would find the owner and ask if I can utilise the manure.  this seems to be piled up in the field next to the stable.  From a far it is in individual piles and all look straw coloured. (? each time the stable is mucked out.)  Do you think it would be worth some prelimenary work here and making one big pile (if given permission) to encourage rotting?  Also how long should Horse manure take to rot?

I would probably be aiming to dig it in in the the spring so should have plenty of time, yes?

Cheers

DAve

[compostqueen]

you can use it fresh but it does get a tad messy but stuff will grow in it.  You can put it on your soil anytime though and let the worms and weather work their magic on it

You can compost it in a big heap like you say or put it in those plastic dalek type compost bins to rot down, straw and all.

[flowerlady]

If you are lucky the stable might have a muck heap that has sat for three years   ... that would be the best ... but my family have horses and they use it sparingly from fresh if they have to !!

[Little Dibber]

CompostQueen,

I have a couple of horses near by and have been advised that maybe my potatoes need a feed, can I put some new/old manure on top of the soil were the potatoes are? Maybe making sure it doesnt touch the stems/halums.

[compostqueen]

Well I do     I don't dig so I'm always in search of something to mulch with or to bulk up my homemade compost and leafmould so muck is just the job.  I grow spuds in it, earth them up in it too. I have used it very fresh but it's wet, heavy and messy so best left to dry off a bit  if possible.  I turned some out of my compo bins last weekend and that had been rotting for months but it was still wet and very heavy ,so difficult for me to shovel on to my beds so I stood there and threw it instead. Very therapeutic    My aim got much more accurate after a while    This is cow muck by the way and it was in large lumps

My style of gardening is not for the purist so I don't say that's what you should do but it gives you some idea what you can do with your manure  

[robbodaveuk]

so I stood there and threw it

I now have to clean the tea off my keyboard that I spat out after reading that bit. Got a mental picture of you standing there throwing sloppy cow-pats.    

  Dave.

[Little Dibber]

Thanks compostQueen,

I'll "muck up" some of the spuds that don't seem so happy.

[lincspoacher]

so I stood there and threw it

I now have to clean the tea off my keyboard that I spat out after reading that bit. Got a mental picture of you standing there throwing sloppy cow-pats.    

  Dave.

when i was an evil child, we used to think it hilarious to put a banger (firework) in a cow pat to detonate as someone went past - took some timing tho !!

[DD.]

so I stood there and threw it

I now have to clean the tea off my keyboard that I spat out after reading that bit. Got a mental picture of you standing there throwing sloppy cow-pats.    

  Dave.

when i was an evil child, we used to think it hilarious to put a banger (firework) in a cow pat to detonate as someone went past - took some timing tho !!

Oh.... it was YOU was it!!

[PAH48]

Hi one and all, as a wee youngster I used to collect horse manure for my
Grandad, he would tip it into an old hessian sack, hang it in a barrel of water and use it as liquid manure, as I do now. Worked for him and now for me.
I've noticed down the lottie since I've done so two others now do the same.
Hope that helps... bye PAH

[Little Dibber]

PAH48,

Thanks that's a great idea, was thinking to do it for my next batch of nettle brew, will try it for manure brew now too :-)

[compostqueen]

sheep shoite is dead stinky so stick with hoss or cow  

[davepitch]

don't get em mixed up little dibber.

Thanks all for the advice, just have to pluck up the courage to go over there now, it all looks a bit ramshackle and sinister and lots of burly men in vans coming and going???

Ah, well, all in the name of good muck.