Horseshit!

[General Schvantzkoph]

I've just found a source for free composted horse manure, there is a horse farm about 1/2 mile from me that gives it away. They have a big compost pile, you just have to drive up with some containers and take as much as you want.

I have a few questions about it's usage.

1) Is it good for everything or should I just put it on some crops? I grow strawberries, blueberries, tomatoes, carrots, parsnips, cucumbers, peas, broccoli, spinach and cord.

2) Should I work it into the soil as a soil conditioner?

3) Can I use it as a mulch?

4) How much is too much?

[Bill who putters]

Don't pass go . Get it. Spread around in you leisure .

Consider a visit to your local barber and see if all that ugly nasty cut hair can be taken. N2

Dead stuff once alive is gold. Passed thru a digestive tract platinum. You the same guy with seed info clueless on establishing life force? Seems weird that you do not know of life.

[Frank]

There was an organic farmer used to post here that cautioned using it on vegetables because of pesticide put on it to keep flies down.

[Billy]

Jeeze General, for tomatoes, peppers, and corn 28 lbs/100sq. ft. They need high nitrogen. The rest you are going to have to look up. Maybe buy or borrow "Vegetable Gardener' Bible" by Edward C. Smith.

common manures measure up

Manure Chicken Diary cow Horse Steer Rabbit Sheep N 1.1 .257 .70 .70 2.4 .70 P .80 .15 .30 .30 1.4 .30 K .50 .25 .60 .40 .60 .90

Sources: Rodale's All-New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening, An Illustrated Guide to Organic Gardening, by Sunset Publishing, and the Rodale Guide to Composting.

Note: Nutrient values of manures vary greatly, depending on the diet and age of the animals, and the nature and quantiy of bedding in the mix.

[David Hare-Scott]

Yes

Yes

Yes

Use liberally. It is hard to over do it especially if it is well composted, it does not burn in excess like poultry manure.

David

[Billy]

If crop established, side dress and cover it with mulch. If it is fresh, don't eat crops for at least 3 month. If crops not established, lasagna garden. Spread amendments. Spread manure. Cover with newspaper. Cover with mulch. Hose it down. Wait 2 weeks, and plant.

20 lbs/100 sq. ft., or when your plants die. Whichever comes first ;O)

[Billy]

Frank is referring to a problem in Britain the last few years with aminopyralid. Bad stuff, but not a problem, as far as I know, here in the colonies.

is a selective hormone-based herbicide manufactured by Dow AgroSciences for control of broadleaf weeds on grassland, such as docks, thistles and nettles. It was first registered for use in 2005, in the USA under the brand name "Milestone".[2] Aminopyralid is of concern to vegetable growers as it can enter the food chain via manure which contains long lasting residues of the herbicide. It affects potatoes, tomatoes and beans, causing deformed plants, and poor or non-existent yields. Problems with manure contaminated with Aminopyralid residue surfaced in the UK in June and July 2008, and at the end of July 2008 Dow AgroSciences implemented an immediate suspension of UK sales and use of herbicides containing Aminopyralid.

[General Schvantzkoph]

The horse farm where I'm getting this from isn't a commercial venture, they only have a couple of horses so I doubt they are using anything exotic.

[Tom J]

If there is a choice, fill your containers from the pile where it's been there the longest and is well composted. That is what we call Black Gold where I live. I cover my garden with 6 to 8 inches in the fall and till it. Besides being already composted, most of the weed seeds will have already sprouted and died. I just put it down every 2 years & I have loam soil about a foot deep where it use to be red clay that was like a brick when dry!! If it's not already composted, get it anyway and use as mulch and work into the soil after harvest. BTW, I don't think you can get too much if it's already composted!! Good soil will crumble in your hand like the potting soil you buy at the nursery at 3 or 4 bucks a bag!!

Tom J

[Frank]

Farmer was here in the US in Maryland and it may have been as long as over 10 years ago. I cannot recall what the insecticide was but I believe it was sprayed on manure in the stable.

[Billy]

Very helpful. Thank you, Frank.

[Una]

Good stuff there. Go for it.

For below ground crops, you'll want to use well cooked manure. Even an old manure pile might not be all that well cooked. Do you have room to do your own composting? Use your own composted manure for those crops, for best quality control.

Certainly, if the soil needs improvement and you want to do the work.

Yes. Especially if you put it on top of growing weeds. Smothers them. There may or may not be viable seeds in the manure.

In a vegetable garden there is no such thing as too much horse manure.

Some horse owners do spray problem spots with insecticide, but it is a limited application and done only when flies are a problem. So not in winter outside the tropics. During winter many horse owners also cut back on treatments for intestinal worms. And the horses tend to be fed more (only?) from hay bales or other processed feed, so seeds are at an absolute minimum. Winter manure is the best manure you can find, and it is most abundant in spring. How convenient!

Enjoy,

Una

[phorbin]

[David Hare-Scott]

I presume a 'below ground' crop is a root ot tuber and that 'well cooked' means well composted and degraded.. Why should the manure be well cooked in that particular case?

David

[General Schvantzkoph]

I've just ordered a composter, I think I'll cook some of it some more. This stuff is only partially composted,

[Una]

Yes.

There is some risk that the horse manure includes fecal matter from other animals, domestic and wild, and possibly even human feces (in some barns this is likely, because there is no toilet anywhere on the premises). You'll want to avoid bacteria from non-horse feces being in direct contact with any food you may consume raw. Also, plants will make better use of composted manure. Composting involves heavy bacterial growth, which briefly consumes available nitrogen. The nitrogen is released when the bacteria die off at the end of the composting cycle.

Solar radiation over time takes care of most above-ground contaminations.

Many manure piles are aged yet poorly composted, due to too much moisture and too little air. They are much improved by composting. Whereas fresh manure is "green" matter, high in nitrogen, aged manure is "brown" matter. I like to compost all manure before I apply it, if only to break down the balls.

Una

[Billy]

Ouch!

[Una]

Did anyone notice I used the word "bacteria" meaning two very different sets of bacteria? There are intestinal bacteria, some of which may make you sick; and soil bacteria, which do the marvelous work of composting. A good compost pile favors bacteria that build the soil, in the process consuming stray intestinal bacteria.

Una

[Billy]

Yeah, enteric bacteria seem to do better in guts, however they seem to be persistent enough to survive nearly 3 months on, or in the soil. That is why it is recommended that manure be at least 3 months old when used, and if used earlier, it should not come into contact with the edible portion of the plant, hence the injunction against splattering water from the manure, to the hereto fore mentioned edible portion of the plant. Hot composting will kill human pathogens (and wild seeds), and make the compost product more rapidly available to the garden flora and fauna, which in turn, support the garden plants.

You mean that?

[David Hare-Scott]

To put on my pedant hat, most of the microorganisms in compost are fungi but your point is still valid about it dealing with fecal coliforms.

A good compost pile favors bacteria that build

David