Gardeners - Horse Manure??

A co-worker has offered us loads of free horse manure...she has 10 horses and pretty much has an unlimited supply of the stuff and told us to take what we want. She also has some in several stages: some piles are fairly old, some not so old, and some fairly fresh. She said it would help her get rid of some of it, too. She won't accept money, so I thought I'd give her some baked goods or something throughout the summer as she has two little girls and not a lot of time time to bake. We could also give her some produce to help pay her back.

We can use the manure in our veggie garden, right? We're thinking about bringing in a couple loads, then tilling it well with the soil before planting this spring. That's one option.

Second option: We're also thinking about letting it go for the summer, but right after we're done harvesting in the fall, we could dig up the plants, throw the manure down, till it under, then plant a good crop of rye grass for the garden to winter over. Then in the spring, till under the rye grass.

We used several good truckloads of horse manure about twenty years ago on our veggie garden and it worked out well.

Which would work better? Any ideas?

IMO would depend on how big your garden is. I would not use too much.

Baked goods in exchange for horse droppings . The fresher the better, but since the loads get piled on top of each other they start to compost anyway and stay pretty moist. We have gardeners coming to the barn all the time looking for horse poop. Works great for all types of gardens.

AS I have ponies I have an unlimited supply of the stuff and I use it in both ways. I put older rotted manure into the garden in spring and rake it in before planting, and then fresher stuff in autumn and dig it under. I just cover the veg garden to a depth of about three inches with it. I have wonderful veggies! But it is also Ok in the flower garden, though I do not use the same quantities - about a bagful per couple of square yards. I do not put it under azaleas or similar plants as it is too rich and the wrong ph balance.

Good luck with thegarden

We throw it on top of the compost (it's a huge one) in the Fall and let it do its magic until the Spring. It really helps break down the clippings and food into rich black compost. Fresh manure will burn plants so use old stuff if you are putting it directly in your garden beds.

I still like the coffee grounds more, they smell way better!

As long as it isn't fresh going into a veggie garden, well rotted is best. Careful if the horses are bedded on shavings though as pine shavings (most are) will make the soil acidic; if you see wood bits, try another heap.

I like using the older stuff if you need to incorporate into the soil this spring. Use the fresher stuff in the fall as topcoat to the garden so it can break down over the winter.

If it isn't at least a year old and has been worked in with soil and other nutrients, forget using it. All it will do is burn roots and grow weeds. The fresh stuff has mircrobes and pathogens in it and I can imagine she is anxious to get rid of it all! I had two horses and I couldn't get it carted away fast enough. The good stuff after is has cooked and composted at least a year is rich black and cakey looking- the other stuff- forget using it.

Thanks guys! I think we're going to grab a load of the well-rotted stuff to use now. And a load of fresher stuff for our compost pile. Then in the fall, we'll get the third load to till under.

And thanks for the tip, sk_pacer. I will ask her about the shavings when she comes into work this morning.

I wish I could use enough coffee grounds for the garden, but even I don't drink that much coffee. I am going to put some coffee grounds in my potato containers though.

Originally Posted by Feralvr

Baked goods in exchange for horse droppings.

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I know! But she really did seem to like the idea of getting some baked goods for her poop!