Horse Manure Question

[buckwheat]

spreading horse manure in my garden, should i till it into soil now?

[Fran Farmer]

No. Spread it and leave it. The worms will take care of it. If you are in the southern hemisphere, add a good mulch over the top since it will bake over the coming summer and you don't want that to happen.

[Brooklyn1]

Unless that manure was properly hot composted your garden will be inundated by an unbelieveable array of noxious weeds. Free manure is never a gift, it's a plague.

[Jeff Layman]

I hope that the source of the manure is reliable.

[Frank]

Years ago, organic farmer that posted here, said he did not like manure as it contained pesticides sprayed on it.

[Moe DeLoughan]

A lot of times stables use pesticides to keep the flies down, and that may end up in the manure. Medications taken by the horses may be present in manure as well. Some people care about this, others don't. If the manure is composted that will help break that stuff down.

If you live in the northern hemisphere (meaning cold temperatures are approaching), and the manure is not composted and you are determined to use it, till it in after spreading it. You want the nitrogen in the manure to be in the soil, not running off of the frozen ground over the winter/spring with the rain and snow.

[Frank]

There is a lot on the web about this.

Herbicides also mentioned here:

All these chemicals have finite lifetimes but they vary. I certainly would not put fresh manure in my vegetable garden. Now I'd worry about the garden for the rest of my property.