Using or composting horse manure in raised veggie beds

 Me again.......

Since I feel like I'm on a bit of a roll with this newsgroup at
present, here's another one for you. A neighbour has offered me some
horse manure. Quite a lot of it, as it happens. As we're building some
new raised vegetable beds, would it be OK to dump about a 4 - 6" deep
layer in the bottom, which would then be covered by a mixture of
topsoil and compost (about a further 10")

The beds are going to be 20" high on the outside, and whilst some of
the volume will be filled with the earth we removed to get the
surrounding area level, I'm going to need rather a lot of soil/compost
whatever to fill them. I'd be intending to cover these beds with a
further 3" manure each autumn, allowing the worms to do their stuff
over the winter (unless, of couse, we decide to overwinter veg in one
of the beds). If I need to rot down the manure first, how long should
I store it before using. I should probably mention that it doesn't
have a high straw content, unlike some of the 'stable sweepings' that
get passed off as horse manure these days.

Cheers

Tim

 

......you should get some good veg crops especially  runner beans
.............do add some to a compost bin or 2 though as its invaluable

 

: Me again.......
:
: Since I feel like I'm on a bit of a roll with this newsgroup at
: present, here's another one for you. A neighbour has offered me some
: horse manure. Quite a lot of it, as it happens. As we're building some
: new raised vegetable beds, would it be OK to dump about a 4 - 6" deep
: layer in the bottom, which would then be covered by a mixture of
: topsoil and compost (about a further 10")
:
: The beds are going to be 20" high on the outside, and whilst some of
: the volume will be filled with the earth we removed to get the
: surrounding area level, I'm going to need rather a lot of soil/compost
: whatever to fill them. I'd be intending to cover these beds with a
: further 3" manure each autumn, allowing the worms to do their stuff
: over the winter (unless, of couse, we decide to overwinter veg in one
: of the beds). If I need to rot down the manure first, how long should
: I store it before using. I should probably mention that it doesn't
: have a high straw content, unlike some of the 'stable sweepings' that
: get passed off as horse manure these days.
:
: Cheers
:
: Tim
Great yes pile it on, the thicker the better. In a few years time you can
miss a dose of manure and lime it instead and watch the crops amaze you then
:

 



  I wouldn't use manure in any beds where you plan to grow carrots or
parsnips this year.

  Janet

 A note of caution......I had a free and plentiful supply of horse manure
which I liberally used in my veg garden. Couple of months later I had an
amazing crop of chickweed and nettles. Perhaps I should have allowed it to
rot down or buried it in trenches!

David