Hi! How long should Horse manure, Cow manure, Sheep manure, and Chicken manure sit before I can put it on my garden? Thanks! Also if you have any ideas on a compost box, then please share!
We market garden, driven by manure fertilizers. However, follow the common safe practices used by most every State Ag University in cooperation with the County Extension. There is a TON of these pamphlets on line, but this one is particularly easy to read and understand. Very concise. http://umaine.edu/publications/2510e/
Just letting horse manure sit isn't going to do anything. It's not "hot" enough to damage your plants if you apply it fresh, but it needs to be heat composted to get rid of the gazillion seeds it carries. I applied manure to my garden one fall, let it set then tilled in the spring, planted my beautiful garden, and literally LOST plants in the weeds come late July/August. I'm serious, I couldn't keep up with the weeds and was reduced to following the drip system to try to find my tomatoes and peppers....and completely lost a patch of eggplant! It was horrible--the weeds were taller than I am--no kidding. I don't have a good enough place to compost all the manure, so we just till it and use black plastic mulch the last 2 years--much better. I do miss the dirt under my toes, though To compost smaller amounts, I use pallets. Kinda hard to explain, but I stand them up on end to make a three-sided box. I just tie them together with baling twine, use whatever floats your boat. The twine does let me move them easier, though. I fill the box, then when I need to turn it I simply take the right side of the box and swing it around to make another box to the left of the pile, and pitchfork the pile into the new box. Does that make sense? I'm never sure if I'm explaining things like this good enough.....
You need a manure heap, we all have them. When the heap is about a year old you will find the underneath has rotted down to a fine tilth then you can use it. A manure heap must be managed properly. The top must be flattened out enough to wheel your barrow up on it to empty the next load. Two heaps are even better. The current one and last years.
