Adding manure to my garden...

[Tank333]

So, I just moved and I've got a huge garden space in the back yard. Fenced off, 20'x35' (more like 40, but there's a big ass tree in one end). It's pretty bare, and I don't think there's ever really been a garden back there before. Just the space for one.

So I want to amend the soil this fall with manure so next spring it will be nice and packed full of good nutrients and worms. I was wondering what kind of manure and how much should I use? I have access to horse, chicken, cow, llama and alpaca poo these last two I have limited amounts of). I've never actually used compost or manure before, so I'd appreciate a few pointers before I go dumping three or four yards of poo into my back yard... lol.

Also, is there anything else I could/should add to the soil? I'm really kinda lost when it comes to soil! Haha

 

[Seamaiden]

Use ALL OF IT! And add minerals to it, too. Rock dusts, especially stuff like SRP (soft rock phosphate) because it takes a couple of years to become available to the plants. Volcanic rock dusts provide lots of micronutrients. If it's compacted you could plant mustard to help break it up naturally. Cover crops that are mowed down and left in situ to decompose can be done during this time as well. I love fenugreek as a cover crop because the greens are edible and the seeds are used in Indian cooking. Clovers can help fix N, as can any legume/beans.

Have you gotten a soil assay?

There's a LOT to say, to suggest, like biochar... oh man, yeah, a lot.

 

[Mogrow]

Tank /// you're in a good spot with all that space and animal manure, you can really make some good things happen. Find out which animal is feed the best, best being grass or alfalfa fed animals, use this first directly in your garden space. till it in now and you should be good to go next spring.
Once you have a good base, you can start using cover crops, compost, etc.
if you're into no till try reading One Straw Revolution .
Again, you're in a great position to have a bountiful garden, hope your base dirt is not full of rock and clay. some pics would be cool.
peace mogrow

 

[Seamaiden]

Aw, my dirt just got dissed (fulla rocks, in between which is clay).

 

[Tank333]

I haven't gotten a soil assessment. I'm not sure I could get a cover crop to grow this fall. We've already had several frosts, and everything is dead for the winter. I wanted to mention another use for fenugreek though: it helps with a mother's milk supply. Just the seeds, I think.

So, I'm not sure if I will want to add rock dusts to the soil. I'm trying to do this on a tight budget (all the manure I'm getting for free, I just have to pick it up). Besides that, I'm only going to be here one summer. There's not enough space here for my indoor garden, so we are just gonna complete the lease and move to a new place. We might stay an extra couple months if he let's us go month to month after the lease ends, but most likely not long enough to be here for a second summer.

The soil's not too compact, just a bit rocky. I'm gonna have to sift out the rocks when I start turning everything together...

 

[Tank333]

View from upstairs window:

View from SW corner looking NE:

View from NE corner looking SW. There's a line coming down into the middle of the garden from the power line :( I put the shovel against it so you could see it better:

Lastly, here's a pic of the soil. I used the shovel to turn over a bit to see what I'm working with. Seems pretty sandy but not so much it won't retain any water. And there's not quite as many rocks as I originally thought. Maybe there were just some large ones that got tossed into there that I was seeing...

 

[Seamaiden]

I'm not sure how much building can be done in a single season, but what can be done is done best/easiest with manure. If it's already composted a bit, even better. I'd put a thick layer of straw over the top of the manure after you lay it down. It will speed up decomposition, encourage more soil critters higher up into the soil profile, and after it decomposes you've got more soil.

 

[Tank333]

Adding straw's a good idea, but I'm a little worried it'll blow away. We get LOTS of wind around here, and I'm not sure if the straw would stay all winter long... lol

So how much of each type of manure should I use? I have friends with a chicken farm, friends with a dairy farm (cows), friends with horses, and my parents have a llama and a few alpacas (although dad is hella stingy with his manure)... I wish I knew someone who raises rabbits, because their manure is good to use straight without composting or aging... I was figuring on getting two yards of cow manure and then a yard or so of each chicken and horse. Will that be enough to cover that large of a space, or should I do more than that?

 

[chickenman]

dump manure till in.

 

[Seamaiden]

Adding straw's a good idea, but I'm a little worried it'll blow away. We get LOTS of wind around here, and I'm not sure if the straw would stay all winter long... lol

So how much of each type of manure should I use? I have friends with a chicken farm, friends with a dairy farm (cows), friends with horses, and my parents have a llama and a few alpacas (although dad is hella stingy with his manure)... I wish I knew someone who raises rabbits, because their manure is good to use straight without composting or aging... I was figuring on getting two yards of cow manure and then a yard or so of each chicken and horse. Will that be enough to cover that large of a space, or should I do more than that?

I haven't had a problem with straw blowing away. The problem I have is my chickens love to scratch through it. If you just flake it then you won't get any blowing away, but you will have to use more because you're keeping it in the compressed flakes.

I'd toss in as much manure as I can. It will break down, and if you cover it with the hay that should, like I said, speed up breakdown. Couple yards of each manure sounds like a great starting point to me. :D

 

[Tank333]

Mkay... anything I should have more or less of than another?

 

[Seamaiden]

I've only ever worked with horse and chicken poop, but I think the manure of any non-ruminant herbivore would be advantageous. I can't say anything about ratios, if I were in your position I'd just jump in. The base soil looks fairly decent to me, too, btw. Some shallow tilling or deep broad-forking would be helpful at some point, it looks like to me.

 

[Tank333]

"Non-ruminant herbivore"? Aren't cows ruminant herbivores?

 

[Seamaiden]

Yes, and their poop must be composted/decomposed for a while before adding, whereas horses aren't such a problem. I'm also paying attention to the fact that this appears to be your backyard, which appears to be backed up right against the house. I thought you might wanna sleep at night.

 

[urbanfog]

cow, chicken or rabbit seem to be the most recommended I have seen. Good luck. Maybe since your planning for next year, start a worm bin too so you have lots of castings for next year also. ;)

 

[Tank333]

Well, this is in my back yard, but there's a good 50'+ of yard between the fenced off garden and the house. I personally don't mind the smell of manure. I grew up in the country. Lol.

So, if I get aged I'll be good to just mix it straight into the soil? What if I don't get aged poo? Won't it age over the winter and decompose before spring or will I need to do something with it first? And is "aged" manure the same as composted/decomposed manure?

 

[Funkstarfish]

horse alpaca and rabbit are your not so hot manures there. they can be added right away. If you want to grow here... best practice is to amend, plant cover crop, chop and drop cover crop, plant desired crop.

Cow i would not bother with, but thats just me. Chicken shit on straw can be composted a couple months and then is very good as top dressing, mulch.

Use straw, not hay, for mulch. hay has seeds, seeds are bad for gardens. This is an important detail.

Til minimally, you have time, so don't til too much. this will actually end up killing more bennies than you want.

Look into the Eliot Coleman organic gardening books to see how to deal with your, or something like food not lawns. or teaming with microbes, the soil book.

these should get ya pointed in the proper direction.

 

[neverbreak]

sea is on the money as usual.

if yer gonna compost, just make sure ya get the ratios of nitrogen and carbon rich materials.
manure def speeds things up as it's alreay half broken down. chicken shit is very high in n so be careful with it.

neverbreak

 

[Seamaiden]

Well, this is in my back yard, but there's a good 50'+ of yard between the fenced off garden and the house. I personally don't mind the smell of manure. I grew up in the country. Lol.

Ok, I get ya. I made a horrid mistake of trying to foliar feed some fish emulsion on some girls I had growing on our back deck, right outside our bedroom and for a week straight I couldn't sleep cuzza the funk! But I love the smell of horse shit.

So, if I get aged I'll be good to just mix it straight into the soil? What if I don't get aged poo? Won't it age over the winter and decompose before spring or will I need to do something with it first? And is "aged" manure the same as composted/decomposed manure?

I think overwintering under cover should work, especially if you help speed up the process by inoculating with microbes via whatever source you prefer.

Aged manure, to *me* just means that it's not fresh, not that it's decomposed. For example, when I was breeding, raising and showing horses I had a LOT of stalls to clean. That manure was put in a single pile that would dry up and lose the ammonia smell, it would age, but it never decomposed as we kept it, in other words, it never became unrecognizable as horse shit. Does that make sense?

Funkstarfish, I LOVE the Eliot Coleman book I have on organic gardening, good call, as well as the others. I think the Coleman book would actually be far more useful here.

Btw, the straw from my source sprouts. It's wheat.

 

[Thoth]

Isn't it strange how good some animal shit can smell? Why is that? You'd think instinctively, we would not like it. Maybe something to do with them being prey animals?