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Monrovia,CA

Greetings Everyone!! I am the fortunate neighbor of horse owners and get about three trash can barrels a week of fresh manure (with no bedding) I've been piling this in the compost pile and putting a tarp over to prepare for next season. Is this as good as simply obtaining all of the season's manure at one time in the Spring? How much nitrogen will be lost? Is it better after composting? I only have the one AG patch so I can't spread it out and till it in right away. Which is the most desirable application?
Thankyou so much!
Michelle

8/26/2003 8:19:49 PM

Liverpool , England

Michelle,
There is more goodness in the bedding than in the poop itself.

Alun

8/26/2003 8:42:12 PM

New Brunswick

My pumpkin patch consists entirely of horse manure plus some shavings mixed in (bedding) . We have our own horses supplying this....Norwegian Fjords. We have a tractor come in each spring and scoop up and move the manure to our gardens and the pumpkin patch. This year the manure soil was two feet deep in my pumkin patch. So some of our manure is old and some is fresh. Hubby tills it in with the tiller and also harrows it. I add some lime and 10 10 10 fertilizer befor planting time. Then I dig holes and mix in peat moss and potting soil together with the manure and then set out my pumkin seedlings in the holes. The ground underneath is hard packed and rocky. The manure put on top of this works great.

8/26/2003 11:40:41 PM

Brillion Wisconsin

Michelle, I'm not sure if there is a most desirable application. I till some in with leaves for fall and put some in the first chance I get in spring. I use manure that has been sitting around a while, its usuallly over 1 year old. Dean

8/27/2003 8:51:02 AM

Montoursville, PA

I like to make fall applications in as much as possible. Finished compost I use anytime I have it.

8/27/2003 10:05:38 AM

Syracuse, NY

i think that your supply of manure, almost as much as you can get before the snow flies, tilled-in in the fall, is the best way to go...in this way the soil has what it is going to get in the manure department, meaning that if it is tilled-in, it is part of the soil now and whatever is going to happen with the pH, microbes, breaking-down into plant-useable nourishment, etc. will already have been done by late spring when you come along to add whatever else, like the 10-10-10, Osmocote and so on....year before last i thought it was a great idea to cover the patches with black, 6-mil plastic, to PRESERVE all those wonderful nutrients...to my suprise, the pH of each of my then 3 patches had risen an entire whole point because of my bright idea! (like, 7.0 was now 8.0) so there's something for me , anyway to stay away from! tilled-in, not covered,
perhaps put a cover crop on there if you can.
in the spring, Round-Up, till-in amendments, wait anxiously, plant. i will be calling the horse farms in my locale, as well as my 'manure guy'(cow) in the near future...good luck yerself! 'pal

8/27/2003 5:04:33 PM

Monrovia,CA

Interesting!!! It sounds like you apply it any way and time that you can get it!! I will of course continue to accept manure from the neighbors but I may just still have a load delivered come Spring time to boot.
Thankyou Everyone!!
Michelle

8/27/2003 8:43:20 PM

Syracuse, NY

okay, good, but as wonderful as fresh anything else is, manure should be left sitting around for at least through the winter in a big heap, in order for the little manure-critters to do their job of turning all the good stuff into REALLY good stuff for the plants...not sure how long the recommended time is to elapse from pooper to plant that is safe in the spring before you can plant without worry. 'pal so, if the supplier has some sitting there all winter, well, that's the stuff to use. hope i helped 'pal

8/28/2003 7:48:24 PM

Monrovia,CA

Yep! That helps alot...thanks 'Pal. I'm thinking I'll have the main load delivered in the fall after cleanout. Meanwhile the stuff from the neighbor's horses continues to cure in a pile covered with a tarp.

8/28/2003 8:56:22 PM