small garden around the house ?

[tncattle]

Is it too late or to early or just the right time to mix in some cow manure for fertilizer on a small area I'm going to use for a garden?

 

[Bigfoot]

Use biosolids. Just kidding. If the manure hadn't been left in a pile to compost, I wouldn't use.

 

[M5farm]

Is it too late or to early or just the right time to mix in some cow manure for fertilizer on a small area I'm going to use for a garden?

not to late. I have an area that my cows lounge that I can get firm manure. I have had great success buy spreading it but my favorite is to plow the garden spot and let it get a couple of rains then disc it. I then take my cultivator and put opening shovels on it to lay off the rows then I fill the furrow with manure and cover it back level then I plant on top of the manure. I got my potatoes and onion sets done this weekend. We have pecan trees starting to bud so spring is close.

 

[MudHog]

Make sure the manure is composted and not fresh or it will burn young plants.

 

[jerry27150]

I have always mixed fresh manure in with the soil for my garden

 

[regolith]

I'd say never too late, but my climate is warm most of the year.
It's definitely better composted for a while before spreading - less icky to handle if nothing else. Again, I can stack a heap in my part of the world and spread it out two or three months later - that would be April - May which sounds ideal in the other hemisphere.

 

[tncattle]

I have always mixed fresh manure in with the soil for my garden

Do you have any problem with it buring the plants?

I got me some today and was going to spread it in the garden now. We want be planting anything for at least a month.

 

[cow pollinater]

A lot of it depends on what they're eating.

 

[tncattle]

they've been eating hay and grazing on stockpiled grass

 

[jerry27150]

no, I just throw it on & disc it in, never had a problem. too much chicken manure would burn plants

 

[djinwa]

Here is my understanding - the experts can correct me.

Cow manure doesn't have enough nitrogen to burn plants. And what nitrogen it does have is tied up and unavailable if it is fresh and decomposing. Why? Because the nitrogen is used to make the microbes that do the decomposing. After it is done composting, the microbes die and release the nitrogen.

If you are adding nitrogen anyway, perhaps it doesn't matter.

 

[MudHog]

I'm no expert, but fresh cow manure is high in nitrogen and also high in ammonia which can burn plant roots. Also, fresh cow manure is full of seeds, be it weed or grass seeds. In a garden, seeds from weeds or grasses are undesirable. Afterall, if you wanted to grow weeds or grasses, you wouln't be planting a garden in that area.

There have been discussions about disease being transferred from cows to humans via fresh cow manure. Granted that would be in a unhealthy herd and would also be mostly in root crops of leafy vegetables.


Now if you wanted to use fresh manure in the garden, I would suggest applying the manure in the fall and letting the garden "rest" until the spring. A good cultivation after spreading the manure and let it rot through the winter.


Overall, manure makes a great soil conditioner.

 

[JWBrahman]

I'm no expert, but fresh cow manure is high in nitrogen and also high in ammonia which can burn plant roots. Also, fresh cow manure is full of seeds, be it weed or grass seeds. In a garden, seeds from weeds or grasses are undesirable. Afterall, if you wanted to grow weeds or grasses, you wouln't be planting a garden in that area.

There have been discussions about disease being transferred from cows to humans via fresh cow manure. Granted that would be in a unhealthy herd and would also be mostly in root crops of leafy vegetables.


Now if you wanted to use fresh manure in the garden, I would suggest applying the manure in the fall and letting the garden "rest" until the spring. A good cultivation after spreading the manure and let it rot through the winter.


Overall, manure makes a great soil conditioner.

Cow manure does not have enough nitrogen to burn plants and roots, but the Food Safety and Modernization Act says you cannot harvest any food crops unless the manure was applied 90 days before harvest. Watermelon seeds can be planted directly in a pile of fresh manure.

Mudhog, you are right about the seeds and undesirables coming up in your garden. You can compost a lot of that away if you pile it up over the winter. There is a lot of talk about farms and disease from e. coli but when is the last time you heard of somebody around here getting sick from eating a pecan that fell near cattle manure? Most of these food borne illnesses are because the immigrant labor picking them have poo fingers because they don't have toilet paper, bathrooms, or any way to wash their hands.

 

[regolith]

I've never burned a plant with cow manure... I have smothered them though.

btw, my reply above was presuming using it more as a mulch than incorporating. For incorporating I don't think it matters too much whether it's fresh or composted, xcept I think if fresh it's still best to either bury it deep or wait two months after so that it's mostly broken down before planting seeds.

 

[fitz]

Is it too late or to early or just the right time to mix in some cow manure for fertilizer on a small area I'm going to use for a garden?

I'm still debating on a garden this year. Seems like when it needs the most attention I'm busy with hay.
This time of year if it's dry enough would fine for me. I've cleaned out barns in the spring, covered the garden spot with the old spreader and then run the disc over it heavy. Always had good results.

fitz

 

[aprille218]

If you have rusted out or broken water troughs or lick tub containers they make great container gardens if you fill them 3/4 way full with older manure.