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Can I use sheep poo for digging into vegetable plot

lucyc

By Lucyc

United States Us

have dug vegetable plot. have access to free sheep droppings




Answers

 

Any fresh manure shouldn't be used in ground you want to plant fairly soon - it needs to be composted for 2 years, usually mixed with straw

28 Sep, 2009

 

ooop Bamboo beat me
the poop is too strong in I think some sort of acid which burns the shrubs etc, compost it now and you will have fab stuff when its ready

lucky you

x x x

28 Sep, 2009

 

Sheep droppings available- that is unusual. Sheep manure will be fine for the gaden but should be allowed to rot a bit first as said by Bamboo. Where do they come from, the local auction mart? If so, remember that the floors will have been washed with strong disinfectant before the sheep are put in the pens and some of this is likely to be in the manure.This will get washed out by the rain if you allow it to mature for a couple of years.

28 Sep, 2009

 

put it in sacking and hang it in the water butt ,the best lquid manure there is and you can use it that way strate away,

28 Sep, 2009

 

ooh yees thats a good one, just dont get it on the plants aim for the ground

x x x

28 Sep, 2009

 

Having read this http://www.gardeningtipsnideas.com/2008/03/the_many_benefits_of_sheep_manure.html I'm going to stick my neck out and say I see no reason not to dig into a new vegetable plot, especially if you are going to them leave it overwinter. I had this vague memory that sheep dung was low in nitrogen, hence my search.

28 Sep, 2009

 

I agree with Moongrower, dug in now with some autumn leaves you will add to the humus giving worms etc. something to do in autumn and early spring. I will be digging in fresh horse manure with plenty of straw as our light sandy soil is so dry and needs a good reviving. I will not plant on that ground until spring.

28 Sep, 2009

 

I have to put up with horse muck this year. poor me!

28 Sep, 2009

 

Hopefully we can get some Cliffo for the new veggie garden horse dung that is... no chance of sheep dung around here - sigh!

28 Sep, 2009

 

Come over here with a few empty suitcases, Moon grower - we get loads from our neighbour all nicely rotted down and the veggies love it! You should see our leeks!

29 Sep, 2009

 

Oh my god... lol! Can you imagine the customs officers faces if I took suitcases of sheep dung through customs...

29 Sep, 2009

 

Am I to take it, then, that sheep dung is better than horse manure for growing veggies? And better for plants? Not being within a hundred miles of sheep all my life, I don't know.

29 Sep, 2009

 

Yes Bamboo I believe it is better but not so easy to acquire in the UK.

29 Sep, 2009

 

Any idea why its better?

29 Sep, 2009

 

There are a lot of parasites in horse dung and frequently they are given antibiotics for this, these can actually go right through the horse into the dung and, more of a pain it contains a lot of weed seeds as horses do not digest the seeds in the way that cows and sheep do. I would also imagine that its s,aller size allows it to break down better in the soil.

NPK of horse dung is .70 .30 .60
NPK of sheep dung is .70 .30 .90
info from Rodale's All-New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening

29 Sep, 2009

 

Better all round then, including the NPK. Now where can I get hold of some...

29 Sep, 2009

 

Bamboo, take yourself for a walk on the South Downs armed with a sack an a pair of plastic gloves. Sheep poo is there for picking up!
That, of course, is the difficulty of sheep manure. We tend to keep sheep on large fields an hillsides rather than barns from where we can collect the muck.

29 Sep, 2009

 

South Downs! Now that takes me back to my teenage years when I lived in South London, not too far - now its ages away, from here in West London. Not sure they'd let me get on the train/tube with sheep dung;-)

29 Sep, 2009

 

Bamboo' I have lived all my life in Wales ,enough said, but I only use sheep in the rainwater butt, and everything loves it,except for that and there not being meny rocking horses about I would plump for horse every time.

30 Sep, 2009

 

We have never had access to horse poo so I can't comment on the benefits, but I know I have no issue with sheep poo. Our leeks are fat and enormous and our tomatoes ...... one weighed in at 1lb 9ozs and took us 3 days to eat!

1 Oct, 2009

 

we have a fair few farms near us, wonder if I knock on doors would they let me scoop some up?

x x x

2 Oct, 2009

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