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menure on veggie patch?

4 comments


Hi
I have just dug a veggie patch and put raw horse menure on it. Now I am worried about how long before I can plant my vegetables. Is it safe? Can anyone advise? Please help as I also went out and bought loads of plants!

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all depends on how well-rotted it was lorrainer. There was a question on this recently which I found v useful for advice - 6 months old minimum seemed to be the general wisdom.
So if it's fresher than that, oo-er, not sure what you should do. Don't like to think of you having to dig it up again, but it could "burn" your plants if it's too new you see.

28 Feb, 2009

 

The only thing I can think of - as you obviously can't remove all the manure - is to back-fill each planting hole with ordinary compost as you plant. Time consuming, I realise, but otherwise, you'd have to wait a whole season!

1 Mar, 2009

 

Thank you both, I guess I will be planting my veg in the flower beds this year!

1 Mar, 2009

 

Leaving the manure to rot down for at least 6 months is a wise move. We are lucky enough to have space to store bags of manure (we buy from a friend in the village, it's in animal feed bags and so we can stack it for 12 months usually).
Have a look here for some concerns about manure - be sure you know where it's coming from:
http://www.pesticides.gov.uk/uploadedfiles/Web_Assets/PSD/Manure_Postcard.pdf
or here:
http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/organicgardening/herbicide_damage.php
That's not intended to frighten you off, manure's great stuff for feeding the growing beds and getting the worms going, essential for a good healthy soil.

Hope this helps.
(http://soggydaygardener.blogspot.com/)

26 May, 2009

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