Free horse manure question.

Hello:

I finally was abe to find somebody in Mobile AL, that can give me some free horse manure.

My idea was to use it in my new raise bed, mixed with som straw, cofee grounds and some alfalpha.

I've been reading a lot about manures and I've discovered that horse manure tends to have a loot of weeds and some people suggest not to even use it.

At first I was thinking about placing it in my raise bed, making it very wet and placing some plastic on top so air does not escape to raise the temp of the manure and kill all the bad pathogens and weed seed. I was wondering if this would do it or not?

My second idea is to put it in my compost pile and to compost it with it and hopefully have a finished product in 5-6 months that I can use, but I am so new at this I just don't want to do anything stupid.

I was also hoping to be able to use the new raise bed to grow things by march, april time frame and I am not sure whether the manure would be dicompose fully by then.

I am just looking for an alternative method of filling my beds that is organic and also not expensive, my last 2 beds costed me about $60 to fill up and I really was hoping to not have to spend this kind of money again.

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar--you're just making the usual six month time recommended for the manure to age before planting in. Is it going to be really fresh? It may be piled up and partially aged already.
I have never had weed problems with horse manure- mostly it has been aged some..
I don't like the idea of very wet and plastic. It sound slimy and unhealthy. (LOL unhealthy manure...) A pile will surely heat well inside, and then you could turn with some care trying to get the top part to the inside.
But I'm open to other thoughts on this.

I keep a few large tubs of horse manure supplied by an equine loving friend. He tries to bring me stuff from the bottom of the barn piles. I mix 2 or 3 shovels full in every wheel barrow of planting dirt. Also into the mix go your same other ingredients, as well as some composted leaf mold, Mycorrhizza and a little Kelp. I am mindful to use the oldest tubs first.
There don't seem to be any more weeds around my newer plantings than any others. Something in the mix last fall contained some Hops seeds as I was pulling Hops vines up throughout the beds this spring. Can't say that it was the manure that carried the seed.
I would be careful what or where you store the manure. He brings it to me in empty feed bags. One year, I noticed strange things growing in the manure, all the same plant. It turned out to be Oat seeds that were left in the bag from the feed had sprouted in the manure. Now I dump the bags into plastic tubs and keep them tarped.

Thank you so much! I do have a composter that my DH made for me and that is where I am keeping the new stuff, grass clippings etc... I also have a Biostack composter but I am not adding anything to that one because I am letting it break down completely.

As far as the manure, I am not sure how it is, whether is fresh or has been sitting for a while, he did tell me that he tends to use the manure in his land and spread it around, but that he still had some left.

Actually the large tubs are not a bad idea either, I just need for the manure to reach high temps so it kills the bad bacteria and also the bad weeds.

By the way how can you tell when the manure is completely decomposed? Ready to place in the raise beds?

I would pile it in the area I want to use it in, making the piles large as I can to make the most heat. And turn/ move the piles to try and get all the outsides to be in at some time. I think this would get you the most decomp over winter. When its 'done' it won't look or smell much like .manure, but more like just very rich dirt, and won't be hot and steamy inside or after turning. I'd feel sure by March this way it would be fine.
Plan B would be get the large tubs, or trash cans, load it loosely in there and a cover would be OK- that would keep some heat in. I'd just avoid cutting off all the air because that would cut down on heat developing too. I'd prefer the tubs for manure that I know has been out of the horse for several months already.

carminator - the only horse manure I got when I lived in South Florida was "well aged" I was happy to get it, and the horse owner was glad to get rid of it. He delivered it each August during the first week, and it always looked just like regular black dirt.

It came in a huge dump truck for $25.00 (what a bargain!), then hubby and I spread it around, let it sit for a month or so then planted our vegetable seeds - we grew in the winter in zone 9.

There were no problems with weed seeds that I remember.

If the manure you get looks light in color, and still looks "lumpy" then it might be too young to use. It shouldn't smell "horsey" either. Better to wait too long than not long enough - fresh horse manure will kill your crops.

Wish I had a source here for horse manure - I did the first season, but that person's horse was real old and it died :(

I think I might just place it in my composter. The open pile sounds good as well, except that I have 2 dogs and 2 kids under the age of 5 so I would hate for them to get to the compost and start playing with it. I really need to keep it enclosed so this does not happen.

I have 2 composters one is a store bought biostak and the other is just a wire fenced one by hubby built for me, I think in between this 2 composters I should be fine.

I am hoping by march or April time frame that I can use this stuff to place into more raise beds.

I keep looking at all the seeds that I have and things I want to plant and I am running out of room so I really need to expand.

Thank you so much for all your help. Hopefully I'll be able to pick it up this weekend but unfortunately the forecast sais that is going to rain, so we will see.

carminator - composting your horse manure sounds the best bet. If you layer it with other stuff, especially leaves, it should turn into something "wonderful" by next spring.

Thank you Honeybee, yes that's my plan.

Sometimes I just don't want to wait and that's my problem. I have tons of vegetables I want to plant and really would like more raise beds but I much rather use my compost and straw and other things I have at hand that have to spend lots of $ for something that might not be as good.

Those who worry about getting more or less weed seed in one kind of manure or another leave me with just one question. Have you a garden with no weeds? Possibly even a second question. Have you ever gardened? I would suggest that those making big long speaches on this subject are just writing for the bucks or intentionally trying to confuse the issue as in the chemical companies associated interests.

Since time began one of the key elements of soil building has been the use of raw manures. Total healthy soil is difficult to achieve without the return of the biology content found only in raw manures. That biology comes from the intestines of living animals.

The only raw manures or composts I would exclude are the ones that are products made from raw human sewage plants. The difference here is all the other chemical elements that get mixed in before processing begins. Here the room for error and horrible mistakes is to great to overlook.

Docgipe, I agree.

I am a very new at gardening and doing a lot of research on the internet, so I don't tend to believe everything people say or post on the net either but as a new gardener I sometimes look for answers and ask the more seasoned gardeners here on Daves.

When I posted the question regarding weeds that are contained in the horse manure I was just merely making sure whether or not this was true or not.

I've always bought all my manures from the store so I have never used the fresh or uncomposed staff before.

A few weeds wont kill me, plus I think that the more I let the horse manure rest and compost the less weeds I will have to take out of the beds.

Actually I even have weeds and critters on my planters where all the compost was store bought so go figure, LOL.

I hope someday to be a more knowleable gardener but we all have to start somewhere.

carminator...I'd say you're doing very well as a new gardener. Keep up the good work. Oftentimes the learning stage of it all is the funnest!

As for manure and weeds, yep, we may have weeds in our gardens (either now or eventually) but bringing in manure or other soil amendments from offsite will often introduce weeds you didn't previously have. For example I never had cockleburr or thistles untill I brought in some cow manure from a local farm.

What I've learned is to look at the person's horse or cow pasture. If it is well-taken care of there will be less weeds in the manure, meaning a well-tended pasture. If the pasture is loaded with thistle, daisies, etc there will most likely be those weed seeds in the manure.

Heck, with horses you'll most likely even see corn in the manure! Corn goes thru horses like grease thru a goose! *grin

Lastly, as for putting the manure in your raised beds, mixing it, then covering with plastic that'll work just fine. In your area you'll have plenty of sunshine and warm days to heat it up, solarizing your soil, helping to kill some weed seeds. (And it'll be fun during the Winter to take a thermometer to your beds and measure the heat of the soil!) And yep, by Spring you should be ready to plant in it.

Wishing you fun in your garden!
Shoe

You are doing fine.............All you really need to know is the process. Raw manure, lots of leaves, compost and such tilled in the fall with a newly planted cover crop and possibly a bit of Ironite for the trace elements. Till again in the spring and add another light amount of Ironite. Locate and use an organic low number like 4-2-4 organic fertilizer. Sprinkle it about lightly when doing the spring tilling. BioTone is a good trace element product that contains micorrhizae. Add a pinch of this when you plant a tomato or any other seedling. Add a very small dusting in any row of seeded crops. If you can do this you will be working right along the lines of the top soil builders I know. After three years of this process being repeated you will have gained more knowlege of your soil and may indeed be making some self designed tweaking moves on your own. In time you might even consider no till gardening. What I have suggested is a dandy way to move into real healthy soil management the fastest way I know how.

O.K.

I finnally got my horse manure today YAY! The guy was great he is such a nice fella.

The manure is actually already composted he had it outside for months he said and it looks and smells like dirt so I am sure that I can even use it now if I wanted to but my plan is to wait until sping when I am ready to build more raise beds and just place the manure in my 2 compost bins to let it compost a little longer.

I am really glad I got some horse manure, this stuff is great.

If you could possibly build one or more of those beds now and apply the items and process I suggested you will have super good soil and a dandy cover crop to till under next spring.

Thank you so much docgipe, already looking into the Ironite and Biotone, any sugestions where I can get some of these?

I'm in Pennsylvania. All the big box garden center stores had those items this spring.

Thanks Docgipe, I'll have to check here and see.

Right now I have some Kelp, fish and blood meal, completely organic and also good amendments I can add to my raise beds as well.

Carminator, Doc is encouraging you to spread the manure now as it give the microbes in the manure a chance to grow and flourish over the winter and will greatly improve the quality of your soil. Biotone is sold anywhere that carries Espoma products. Loewes has it. HD & Lowes both sell Ironite very cheaply in 25lb. bags.

Stormyla:

I understand but I am not using my soil at all, I don't have a huge back yard so the only thing I can do is to do raise beds.

I am actually just placing cardboard in the bottom of my raise beds and not digging my existing lawn at all, I am just making my own compost and using horse manure to fill my raise beds.

I could probably start a new raise bed right now and place all the horse manure that I got but decided to let it sit for just a couple of months more in my 2 composters to let it cure a little bit longer just in case.

My DH is so busy right now building the shed that I don't even want to bug him until he is done with the shed.

I'll have to check Lowes like you mention for the Espoma products, thanks for the heads up.

Carminator, Good luck with all of your projects.

carminator - I would not add blood meal to your manure, you'll be adding more nitrogen than you will need. But if you could layer some leaves with your manure, by spring you'll have even more "dirt" to add to your beds.

I love "free dirt" - hubby and I collect as many leaves from around our neighborhood as we can each fall - the first year it was about 60+ last year it was over 100! Every single leaf has been used. We pile them between our raised beds and let the earthworms work their magic. After they have broken down, I add the "free dirt" to the raised beds.

Thank you honeybee for the heads up, I was not aware about the blood meal, I wont be adding any just like you are suggesting.

I'll have to see if I can get some free leaves to place in my raise bed, I've asked around and they don't seem to have a lawn trash day here in west mobile, in fact people tend to place their yard waste with the regular garbage just because of that, I also asked about recycling center here in mobile and I was told that the nearest one is downtown mobile a good 30 min drive from my house.

Yes I do love the freebies when I can get them. :)

Thank you stormyla I appreciate your help.

Carminator, In my township landscapers have to take their leaves to private mulching centers and have to pay to drop them there. I contacted two and was able to convince them to dump a few loads with me for free. You might see if that situation exists in your locale and if so, call a few landscapers.

Thank you stormyla I never thought of that, I'll definetely have to try that and see.

Before putting grass clippings in your compost, you may want to read this:

http://www.rachelcarsoncouncil.org/uploads/articles/AGardenerAlerttoKillerCompost11-5-08.pdf

I haven't used Ironite after reading this article http://www.dirtdoctor.com/organic/garden/view_question/id/120/

I use Ironite around certain shrubs that are prone to chlorosis in periods of excessive rain. At that amount of use, as opposed to covering an entire lawn, I don't think it is a problem But thank you for that info. I'll be sure not to treat the lawn with it.

Yes thank you Honeybee, I have not treated my lawn at all since I moved here to my new house but who knows what the fella before me did to the lawn. I am trying to treat all my plants organically now, nochemical or pesticides, so I'll do the same with the lawn if I need to treat it in the future.

Stormyla, I was having trouble with chlorosis on a few plants one year and even after using chelated iron (a liquid) they wouldn't green up. At one of my favorite nurseries, the owner suggested using liquid sulfur. It worked wonders on them.

Calalily, Thanks. I have some and might try it. I've also used a foliar iron spray and soil applications of green sand. I find that they all need to reapplied when we get more rainy periods. I know some people put iron spikes in the ground too.

O/T I planted my first ever Calalilies the other day. They were a large cold hardy variety and I'm anxious to see how they do.

Those are my favorites. I love the large white flowers.