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Local Manure with bark chips

SuperheroSuperhero Posts: 53
in Fruit & veg
So I've found a local source that has a lot of well rotted horse manure to give away for free. Perfect for the allotment, I thought. They said that they use bark chips from the local tree surgeons which then rot down nicely (I assume as bedding for the horses). So my only concern is that the trees must have been untreated as I don't want to end up eating pesticides. But how would I tell? Or is it irrelevant if the manure is well rotted, would pesticides have leaked out?

Posts

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    if it's composted enough to use, I'd have no problem using it.
    Others may, and probably will, disagree.
    How often are whole trees treated with pesticides?
    Devon.
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    My local farmer delivers me a load of mixed. He has stables with horses on shavings, and cattle on straw. He mixes the lot and leaves it a year or two. It doesn't have any smell, and not a lot of weed seeds in it.
    I agree with hosta, not many trees are sprayed with pesticide.  If you are worried about herbicide (aminopyralid in particular), try using some of it to sow  a few bean seeds in and see how they do.
  • SuperheroSuperhero Posts: 53
    How about chemicals like wormers?
  • Allotment BoyAllotment Boy Posts: 6,774
    I have never kept a Horse but I used to work with people who did. Horses do have a lot of veterinary interventions it seems but, as discussed it is generally held that during the composting process breaks these down. Gardeners have been using Horse muck for ever so I think so long as it's well rotted it's ok.
    AB Still learning

  • SuperheroSuperhero Posts: 53
    edited January 2019
    Allotment Boy said:
    I have never kept a Horse but I used to work with people who did. Horses do have a lot of veterinary interventions it seems but, as discussed it is generally held that during the composting process breaks these down. Gardeners have been using Horse muck for ever so I think so long as it's well rotted it's ok.
    I know that some people use natural wormers but not everyone does.
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