unrotted manure - Page 4

 

cineman wrote:

Ah, brandlings! I like the fly, myself, but I won't let anybody get
away with pretending there's anything wrong with worming: just as
skilful. I'm still recovering from the jaw-dropping admiration I felt
as a boy when I saw somebody bring a fine cock salmon out of the Tay
with a worm on trout tackle. Right in the scissors, he had it. I
think that was a lobworm, though.

--
Mike.

 



   A big pile of freah manure (cubic yard plus) will get very hot for a
week or two. Also, it may contain viable seeds. Some people dislike the
smell. Those are some reasons why some people let it mature before using
it.

   If you want to do that, stack it, protected from rain to prevent rain
leaching it, and wait 6 months. It will cook the seeds then cool and
begin to decompose into a crumbly dark  odourless friable material.

However, if pushed, you can spread it neat on the soil during winter
months (avoiding contact with any plant stems),  and leave it for worms
to take down into the soil, which they will do very quickly. You may get
a few weeds germinating but IME it's a trivial problem. Or,  if you are
double digging, fork in large amounts of manure as you go. There won't
be a weed problem because they're buried too deep to germinate. I
usually use the 2nd or 3rd method, because I fetch manure in sacks
during winter,  and it's just more convenient and labour-saving  to
shift them only once.

   When I acquire it in small amounts..such as, dropped by horses
passing the garden gate.. I just add it to the compost heap as an
activator.

  Janet.

 

On 10/11/05 9:46, in article xFEcf.7150$mF5.3520@newsfe4-gui.ntli.net, "H


This is a useful site: http://www.primalseeds.org/compost.htm

But otherwise, do what stables do and pile it in a corner and leave it alone
for six months or so.  You can then either dig it into the soil or put it on
top  and let the worms do the work for you

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

 



That is exactly what I do, the only difference is that I pile it in a
sausage shape and then I can remember which is the old end and chuck it
on the garden to over winter.
kate

 

On 10/11/05 11:45, in article MPG.1ddd4318ad5e5fe29896af@news.plus.net,


I used to have a wonderful book called (IIRC) The Untidy Gardener.  The
female author said that she asked a young friend to clear out the stables
one day and he forked the manure straight onto her flower beds.  All she
could see were her precious plants waving feebly at her from below several
inches of horse dung.  She was absolutely certain they would all be 'burned'
and would die but all survived and came back as if on steroids!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)