We keep two horses and so I have a good steady supply of 'end product' however I find that to make the best use of it then it should be well composted so I mix it in the bins with green waste and I shred all my waste paper and add that too. The only minor problem I have is that bedding straw takes a while to break down.
I am told that I could add the fresh 'end product' to water in a barrell/bucket etc. to make a readily usable liquid feed? I do not know what quantities to use when doing this. Can anyone help?
Hi Bob Harper, perhaps you can help me. I am currently digging a new flower bed and the soil is very hard compacted clay . I have access to a horse manure heap but I have used most of the really rotted black stuff and am left with the straw/manure mix.
Do you think putting that on would help break up the consistancy of the soil or is it too fresh (its about 3 months old) I could pick up dung from the field as an option. ?
Hi ginagibbs, I set up my kitchen garden about 3 years ago and began, like you, with our old heap. Once used up I composted the manure in 4 bins which I rotate so the compost I use would be about 6 months old (or 9 months if it was Winter).
If you are not going to plant up your flower bed till next Spring however, I would use the manure straight from the field and let the worms take it down into your soil over winter.
My Wife handles the shrub borders and uses recent manure on shrubs, against my better judgement but always seems to succeed and prove me wrong.
would it not be better if the strawry stuff was double trench dug into the ground?Also i tried using the refuge bins hat we have as i had a spare one given to me by one of my mates who works there.However i found id difficult in the way that it is difficult to rotate it.So this winter i will construct the pallet method and put it into the woods at the bottom of my garden so it will be out of site.This will help with a bit of privacy for when you wish to pee on it.
Bob H. That is a bit extravagant To have two horses to produce your own muck.that is more exspensive than to but fertiliser off the shelf.Take some feeding horses.
gardenjeannie, you could use calcified seaweed aka Maerl (french name) to raise the pH of you soil. It adds lots of micronutrients at the same time. I always use it on my cabbage patch. Its not to be confused with seaweed meal, which is dried seaweed ground up. Calcified seaweed looks like quite coarse bits of lime, but it takes longer to break down. I use to use Seagold calcified seaweed , which was dredged up off Falmouth, but The EEC stopped them and now the only source is french. (OK to dredge up the Brittany Maerl beds)
Also, this year I gave the entire veg patch a good dressing of Sear Rock dust. (ordered by the tonne works out cheapest). I know its been a good year, but I have to say that in the 25 years I have been working this garden, this years veg have been the best ever. The sweet peas that I grow in the veg patch have also been magnificent. I have been giving away sweet peas and veg to friends, relatives, workmates, and neighbours. I intend using it again. Its not a fertiliser as such, it just puts back all the micronutrients that get washed out of the soil over the years. I've started to put a sprinkle every six inches or so in the big compost heap used for maturing. The worms work it in, so when I use it for top dressing, the benefit gets spread around the garden.
Thanks Diddydoit4u, Perhaps you could explain that to my Wife - I tried many years ago but I have not got the guts these days. At least we are down to just 2.
I made my 4 compost bins out of old palletts so I have room to recycle the horses production.
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We keep two horses and so I have a good steady supply of 'end product' however I find that to make the best use of it then it should be well composted so I mix it in the bins with green waste and I shred all my waste paper and add that too. The only minor problem I have is that bedding straw takes a while to break down.
I am told that I could add the fresh 'end product' to water in a barrell/bucket etc. to make a readily usable liquid feed? I do not know what quantities to use when doing this. Can anyone help?
Hi Bob Harper, perhaps you can help me. I am currently digging a new flower bed and the soil is very hard compacted clay . I have access to a horse manure heap but I have used most of the really rotted black stuff and am left with the straw/manure mix.
Do you think putting that on would help break up the consistancy of the soil or is it too fresh (its about 3 months old) I could pick up dung from the field as an option. ?
Hi ginagibbs, I set up my kitchen garden about 3 years ago and began, like you, with our old heap. Once used up I composted the manure in 4 bins which I rotate so the compost I use would be about 6 months old (or 9 months if it was Winter).
If you are not going to plant up your flower bed till next Spring however, I would use the manure straight from the field and let the worms take it down into your soil over winter.
My Wife handles the shrub borders and uses recent manure on shrubs, against my better judgement but always seems to succeed and prove me wrong.
Thanks Bob, I am planning to plant a few shrubs for now to get them established, so I will give it a go!
would it not be better if the strawry stuff was double trench dug into the ground?Also i tried using the refuge bins hat we have as i had a spare one given to me by one of my mates who works there.However i found id difficult in the way that it is difficult to rotate it.So this winter i will construct the pallet method and put it into the woods at the bottom of my garden so it will be out of site.This will help with a bit of privacy for when you wish to pee on it.
Is that ok Addict.
Bob H. That is a bit extravagant To have two horses to produce your own muck.that is more exspensive than to but fertiliser off the shelf.Take some feeding horses.
gardenjeannie, you could use calcified seaweed aka Maerl (french name) to raise the pH of you soil. It adds lots of micronutrients at the same time. I always use it on my cabbage patch. Its not to be confused with seaweed meal, which is dried seaweed ground up. Calcified seaweed looks like quite coarse bits of lime, but it takes longer to break down. I use to use Seagold calcified seaweed , which was dredged up off Falmouth, but The EEC stopped them and now the only source is french. (OK to dredge up the Brittany Maerl beds)
Also, this year I gave the entire veg patch a good dressing of Sear Rock dust. (ordered by the tonne works out cheapest). I know its been a good year, but I have to say that in the 25 years I have been working this garden, this years veg have been the best ever. The sweet peas that I grow in the veg patch have also been magnificent. I have been giving away sweet peas and veg to friends, relatives, workmates, and neighbours. I intend using it again. Its not a fertiliser as such, it just puts back all the micronutrients that get washed out of the soil over the years. I've started to put a sprinkle every six inches or so in the big compost heap used for maturing. The worms work it in, so when I use it for top dressing, the benefit gets spread around the garden.
I will have to try some of that FB , not so sure about the quantity that you have to order though.
Thanks Diddydoit4u, Perhaps you could explain that to my Wife - I tried many years ago but I have not got the guts these days. At least we are down to just 2.
I made my 4 compost bins out of old palletts so I have room to recycle the horses production.