[Snap Dragon]

I only took over my plot this year and had planned to get hold of some manure and put it on my beds over winter ready for next year. My earth desperately needs goodness in it for next year.

I have had trouble with some of my beds this year showing signs that manure with Aminopyralid in it had probably been used last year.

I am now paranoid about getting manure for the pot.

Will farmers admit this chemical has been used?
Do stables know if the horses feed contains it?
Are bags of garden centre manure even safe? (although that would be a very costly option!)

What is everyone doing about sourcing (and trusting) their manure this year?

[digital_biscuit]

After it only slightly affecting my plot i am not going to bother for next year! I also cant be bothered with the 2 rounds of digging i'd normally do with it anyway! Going to just hoe and maybe dig in a few weed trenches here and there.

[Christine]

I fear that manure is out for safety's sake.

You could contact your council if they have garden waste collections as whoever is composting the waste may well have "stuff" for sale that is cheap and good. You may also be able to get a loose delivery or collect yourself in which case there is probably only the problem of cost.

I'm going down the road of compost only and have been snaffling compostable "stuff" since the start of the year.

I'm lucky in that there are pigeon lofts on our allotments and I take all their clearings that no-one else wants to add to the compost heaps. Also have hedges around the allotment so that is useful. That's another route to try but it needs to be allowed to rot down and to be mixed with other "stuff" to be useful.

[siztenboots]

Daft question but what is Aminopyralid , and will this be found in horse manure ?

[siztenboots]

Daft question but what is Aminopyralid , and will this be found in horse manure ?

Actually, having now googled I wish I never knew, talk about pandora's box

[Christine]

Yes isn't it just a pandora's box but I'm glad that you are now forewarned about the problems now.

Back to the compost heap folks.

[yummy]

Didn't know about this.

We manured ours last October. Then we both had bad backs for ages so it stayed on top of the soil and never got dug in. On about 1/4 of our plot we still have manure piled on top.

Everyone on our plot gets their manure from the same farmer and noone has mentioned this problem so far, so I'm guessing that means the manure was ok. I will ask at the society shop this weekend.

It says it takes longer to break down if left in piles, to be on the safe side, I might scrape off the manure that is on the top of these beds, rather than dig it all in. Hmmmm...

[GreenOwl]

I only took over my plot this year and had planned to get hold of some manure and put it on my beds over winter ready for next year. My earth desperately needs goodness in it for next year.

I am now paranoid about getting manure for the pot.

What is everyone doing about sourcing (and trusting) their manure this year?

Have you considered green manures?  I know, I know, your plot needs to be in a state to grow stuff but with the manure situation I'm guessing this will be a popular option.

[woodburner]

Well I for one won't be using manure again, (at least not for anything other than grain/corn) for a couple of years, longer if the stuff doesn't get banned before next season.
If you got well rotted manure (as I did), it's last years droppings which are from the previous years crops.
In other words this year's (contaminated) harvest will be consumed over the next year, so unless you can use use it fresh  :?: it's got to sit around for another year, and it'll still be contaminated. Maybe mixing large quantities of topsoil in with fresh compost will help? :?: That's still over a year total though, more if you allow for weedkiller that's been bought but not used yet.

My lottie site is once again being 'visited' by a thief, so I'm not taking the chance but going to use the lottie for grain and green manure. I can use the remaining animal manure on the lottie where the grain is going to go.
The patch at home that got aminopyralid'ed I will grow sweetcorn on next year, with a mental note to burn the stalks rather than composting them. Same with the straw. :/

[PinkTequila]

I shall be using manure, I am lucky though in the manure I get is also used by the farmer on his crops, so at least if it effects mine his will be messed up as well! I guess one could try a bit mixed with compost in a pot first and grow a bean or something to check it out ... don't know of this would work.