My "first post", have a question Re: Manure
I am pleased to find this site and join you folks here. My wife Ursula and I are building on to our raised garden beds this year. In past years I have been able to find top soil nearby and at a good price. I am unable to do so this year but have taken advantage of offers to get appx 200 gallons of manure which is cow and rabbit with hay. It does not appear to be too "hot" at this time and I am trying to mix in some soil from sod to avoid any issues with having it burn up any plants or seed that I put in. How much black soil will I need to add? Also, I am guessing that it will be rich in nitrogin and that I should confine my planting to those such as chard or spinach which have no "fruit", thanks for any advice
I don't think I'd have more than 25% manure of any kind starting a raised bed, even that might be a bit much.
How old is the manure? You might benefit from checking around with local nurseries/landscaping companies and seeing if they have a potting/topsoil mix you can purchase by the truckload.
We drop a huge load of manure on our garden every spring and work it in but to have mainly manure might not work out very well. Out on the farm even the weeds and grass wouldn't start growing on the horse manure until it had been sitting at least a year or two.
How old is the manure? You might benefit from checking around with local nurseries/landscaping companies and seeing if they have a potting/topsoil mix you can purchase by the truckload.
We drop a huge load of manure on our garden every spring and work it in but to have mainly manure might not work out very well. Out on the farm even the weeds and grass wouldn't start growing on the horse manure until it had been sitting at least a year or two.
We got some manure from our neighbor - it's old horse manure (prob over a year old). My husband put it all over where our garden is and tilled it into the soil. I noticed our beans are verly scarce and not growing as good as last year and several of them came up with what looks like bean seed fly damage. Could this be from the manure? Is it be too much?