I`ve come a long way now just to simply stop & turn back
I know now that any fruit & veg will reap the benefits of a good soil
Geoff Hamilton said "What you grow will only be as good as the soil in which you grow it"
@Katherine W. Hello Horsey lady lol Monty said something similar a few weeks back "If you have a stables nearby ask them it`s a product they will have plenty of all the time they will be happy to give you some"
Geoff H said in his practical gardening course book "Horse manure needs to be stacked for at least a year to allow it to cool down otherwise the heat will burn/scorch young plants"
garden centres have treated HM so I might visit those soon.
I read that you can put down a good layer of straw over the ground & it will rot down over time " not sure how long that will take" & I think cover it with a black sheet & that will help the soil a lot
Happy Grower, what you say about "cooling down" horse manure is certainly true for what you collect in a stable, where it is mixed in with straw or other litter, and drenched in pee.
If the manure is collected from a pasture however you can use it pretty much directly because the very "burny" part (urine) is just not there (horses usually pee and poo in two separate operations). What you get is basically little balls of composted grass/hay
This kind of manure (which is what I have, since my ponies are in the pasture year round 24/7) is less rich in nitrogen, but less fussy to use.
I sometimes buy a bag of pony poo from the side of the road (50p a bag) which has been picked up from a meadow by the owner - I add it to the compost heap to give it a bit of ooomph - gets it working - goat or chicken poo is even better - guinea pig poo is gold standard!!!
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Be careful with horse manure. If the animals have fed on land where an amino-pyralid weedkiller has been used, the poison is persistent, even after passing through the animal. There have been a lot of cases where manure containing the weed killer has severely damaged crops on Allotments.
you said you wished you lived in the country, so I guess you're in a town / city. In your travels, see if you can see any tree lined streets , or roads with lots of trees in the gardens. I've driven down roads in Surrey with , literally, tons of leaves left out on the pavement for the councils to remove.
Yes, although it's illegal to sell or give away manure from land where they've been used, it does sometimes happen. We had a case on this forum earlier this year didn't we
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
In the field next to us, there is a mound of chicken manure, say 400 tons of it. We had it tested when we were fighting the farmer's plants to extend his chicken cruelty business. It has Listeria, Salmonella, Clostrydium (spelling?) and one or two other nasty bacteria living in it. I would not put that stuff on my land for anything. We were advised not to eat anything from our garden unless it was cooked.
Boiled lettuce anyone?
Not that I am trying to put anyone off manuring their land, just warning of the possible dangers, so that they think first.
Posts
yes I certainly will be STICKING
I`ve come a long way now just to simply stop & turn back
I know now that any fruit & veg will reap the benefits of a good soil
Geoff Hamilton said "What you grow will only be as good as the soil in which you grow it"
@Katherine W. Hello Horsey lady
Geoff H said in his practical gardening course book "Horse manure needs to be stacked for at least a year to allow it to cool down otherwise the heat will burn/scorch young plants"
garden centres have treated HM so I might visit those soon.
I read that you can put down a good layer of straw over the ground & it will rot down over time " not sure how long that will take" & I think cover it with a black sheet & that will help the soil a lot
it that a good idea?
And thanks Verdun
Happy Grower, what you say about "cooling down" horse manure is certainly true for what you collect in a stable, where it is mixed in with straw or other litter, and drenched in pee.
If the manure is collected from a pasture however you can use it pretty much directly because the very "burny" part (urine) is just not there (horses usually pee and poo in two separate operations). What you get is basically little balls of composted grass/hay
This kind of manure (which is what I have, since my ponies are in the pasture year round 24/7) is less rich in nitrogen, but less fussy to use.
Ahh right then I only read the part about collecting in a stable *note to self must read all the pages*
So either buy from a stable that`s been stacked for a year or from pasture which can be used more quickly?
thanks for that
certainly helps me talking to people like yourself that know what they are talking about.
You've got it THG
I sometimes buy a bag of pony poo from the side of the road (50p a bag) which has been picked up from a meadow by the owner - I add it to the compost heap to give it a bit of ooomph - gets it working - goat or chicken poo is even better - guinea pig poo is gold standard!!!
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Be careful with horse manure. If the animals have fed on land where an amino-pyralid weedkiller has been used, the poison is persistent, even after passing through the animal. There have been a lot of cases where manure containing the weed killer has severely damaged crops on Allotments.
you said you wished you lived in the country, so I guess you're in a town / city. In your travels, see if you can see any tree lined streets , or roads with lots of trees in the gardens. I've driven down roads in Surrey with , literally, tons of leaves left out on the pavement for the councils to remove.
Yes, although it's illegal to sell or give away manure from land where they've been used, it does sometimes happen. We had a case on this forum earlier this year didn't we
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I've also mentioned on other threads , after a phone call to a local tree surgeon, he now brings me all the "chippings" for which he has no buyer.
I'm lucky to have room for him to drive in and dump it and I store it in those " dumpy sacks " you get from builders' merchants.
In the field next to us, there is a mound of chicken manure, say 400 tons of it. We had it tested when we were fighting the farmer's plants to extend his chicken cruelty business. It has Listeria, Salmonella, Clostrydium (spelling?) and one or two other nasty bacteria living in it. I would not put that stuff on my land for anything. We were advised not to eat anything from our garden unless it was cooked.
Boiled lettuce anyone?
Not that I am trying to put anyone off manuring their land, just warning of the possible dangers, so that they think first.