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Well rotted manure

NewallotmentboyNewallotmentboy Posts: 6
in Fruit & veg
I have just got an allotment that has been a little neglected over the past few years. I have dug the beds over but have a tonne of well rotted horse manure and would like some idea about how much to put on the soil and for which veg for planting in the spring. Any help would be much appreciated as I am very new to this.

Posts

  • sotongeoffsotongeoff Posts: 9,802

    It depends on what you want to grow-some crops do well on freshly manured soil -some don't like it

    However this time of year- unless you intend to sow/plant anything immediately- I would spread the whole lot over the area -lightly fork it in -and let the worms and the weather do the rest

    What are you fellow plot-holders doing?

  • NewallotmentboyNewallotmentboy Posts: 6
    Thank you. I read somewhere that you don't put it where you want to grow potatoes or carrots, parsnips etc but wasn't sure about timescale, whether you had to leave it a year or just over the winter.

    Thank you again for taking time to respond.
  • ItalophileItalophile Posts: 1,731

    Good advice from Geoff. Carrots and parsnips resent freshly-manured soil. Yours will be good for them both next season.

  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 23,974

    I spread manure over all my veg garden and rotovate it in in spring, or I leave it in piles and put antiweed fabric on the rest in autumn then spread the manure and rotovate in spring, but I don't grow carrots (soil not light enough and too stony, despite removing loads). It usually does pretty well and parsnips don't seem to mind the manure - but it is well rotted. Potatoes seem to be happy with the manure.

    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • NewallotmentboyNewallotmentboy Posts: 6
    Thank you for the responses they are very much appreciated. Think I'm going to cover all beds before the end of the month and dig it in. Is a covering of about an inch enough before digging in or does it need more. I have a pretty inexhaustible supply so amount isn't an issue.

    Thanks again for the help.
  • sotongeoffsotongeoff Posts: 9,802

    An inch doesn't sound like an awful lot to be honestimage-you don't have to be that preciseimage

    Just get barrow-loads spread it about and dig it in-you will soon get an idea of quantities

  • NewallotmentboyNewallotmentboy Posts: 6
    Great advice. Thank you.
  • Still learningStill learning Posts: 1

    Carrots and parsnips dont like manure ,it will cause them to fork.Received wisdom says they should only be planted in ground manured for a previous crop.You should not manure the section where you will be planting carrotrs and parsnips.almost everything else will be fine with manure that has been dug in,or spread over the plot the previous autumn.A covering 2 to3 inches deep is recomended.Some vegetables are happy in freshly manured ground,eg potatoes,peas,beans,brasicas.In order to avoid having to manure virtually your entire plot every year,it is usual practise to manure one third of a plot as part of rotational growing.This means the entire plot is manured every 3 years.Much easier on the back.  Good luck.   C.G.

  • NewallotmentboyNewallotmentboy Posts: 6
    Brilliant. Thank you
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