Manure prepping for next year

[Lowlander]

We recieved a pickup truck load of llama manure from a farm down the road. The garden is 25'x80' so it is far from coating every square inch of the soil.

besides adding this and letting it over-winter, what else can we do to build better soil for next spring?? can we or should be add lime now instead of in the spring??

any other suggestions to build better soil over the winter?? I already place all the leaves from the yard in the garden and till them in every fall.

[guruofgardens]

Sounds like your plan is a good one so far. You might want another load of llama manure if it's possible. Don't add lime until you have a soil test that says you're lacking in it.

Save some bags of leaves for next year's garden's mulch to suppress weeds.

Maybe spread a thin layer of the manure, top with shredded leaves, shovel some garden dirt on that, and top with some bags of leaves. The worms with appreciate the effort.

[Lowlander]

We plan on another truck of the llama manure, or 2 if we have time. I also add the fireplace ash to the garden over the winter. I would assume this adds some nutrients as well??

thx

[Moshou]

Originally Posted by Lowlander

also add the fireplace ash to the garden over the winter. I would assume this adds some nutrients as well??

The fireplace ash in great, but, in my opinion, you should store it and use in summer as an additional nutrient. I use the ash every two weeks like that: 1 cup of ash into 3 gallons of water. I keep it 3-4 days, mixing (stirring) often. It is enough for 10 tomato plants

[COMPOSTER]

Originally Posted by Lowlander

We plan on another truck of the llama manure, or 2 if we have time. I also add the fireplace ash to the garden over the winter. I would assume this adds some nutrients as well??

thx

If possible I would use the manure as a base for making compost before I would add it to the garden. 3 reasons. First, I would not want to add too much nitrogen to my soil at 1 time and I think you will create a much more balanced soil ammendment through the composting process. 2nd, I would want to test the composted manure for herbicide residue by growing a bean plant from seed in a 50/50 compost/soil mix for 5 weeks before I introduced the manure to the garden. 3rd, composting the manure with other materials will substantially increase the diversity of microbes and give the manure compost the ability to cover a much larger area.

As far as the ashes go. I would be careful not to add too much at one time as they will increase the PH of your soil quicker than lime will. If you do not need to reduce acid in your soil you may want to hold off on the ashes or at least use them very sparingly.

Glenn

[Ms. Jitomate]

I also acquired some dairy manure with a trade. This manure looks dry and has a dirt-like texture. It looks so much like the kind in a purchased steer manure bag. Should I compost it too? Won't it lose some of the nitrogen manure are known to add to the soil when I compost it?

Composter, when I do the bean test, what should I be looking for with the sprouting bean?

[COMPOSTER]

Originally Posted by Ms. Jitomate

I also acquired some dairy manure with a trade. This manure looks dry and has a dirt-like texture. It looks so much like the kind in a purchased steer manure bag. Should I compost it too? Won't it lose some of the nitrogen manure are known to add to the soil when I compost it?

Composter, when I do the bean test, what should I be looking for with the sprouting bean?

You need to make sure the bean plant grows as a normal healthy plant should. If you notice that it is slow to germinate, has curling leaves, becomes deformed and generaly does not look like a healthy plant, these should be warning signs that there may be something toxic (herbacide) in the manure. In all liklyhood the herbacide would have been introduced from feeding hay or bedding straw. From the reading I have done on the subject of herbacide contaminated compost and manure you need to let the plant grow for 5-6 weeks to make sure you do not detect any irregularities. If you pass the test HOORAY! You have a very valuable soil ammendment/fertilizer.

[guruofgardens]

If you know your alpaca manure supplier and their practices, spreading the manure from truck to garden is a normal practice for us.

We're lucky since the farm turns the piles for everyone who comes and requests their manure. Since the Botanic Gardens are also one of their 'clients', we have no worries.

If you're not sure about the pesticides your supplier does or does not use, just ask. They're always friendly, especially if you're interested in their 'babies'!

[Lowlander]

These llamas are a free range deal, they just wander around a great big farm and eat whatever is growing. I doubt any herbicide is used, but I will ask the next time we get a load. The manure we are getting is the dry stuff from inside the barn, it is quite dry and clumpy for the most part,..obviously not "new" manure.

can the fireplace ash be distributed around the base of the plants and watered in with the drip hose and natural rains??

Thanks

[Lowlander]

EDIT to add,..this manure is almost scentless,...so I assume that confirms it's age,..correct??

[guruofgardens]

Your manure sounds quite safe, especially since it's almost scentless. It was probably already composted by the owner.

The wood ashes are something I'd be more careful about. Here's an article about safe usage:

http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/lawn_g...+Your+Soil.htm

I'd hate to have to counteract the pH by having to add sulfur when you're trying hard to build good soil.

[nnjjohn]

no doubt about it guru, i made the mistake of thinking one can never add too much lime and wood ash and found out my ph is too high no matter how well my soil looks. Still waiting for new ph probes to monitor my beds through the winter.. want to see if I do have to add acidifier to lower the ph before planting in the spring.

[Lowlander]

so I guess running a ph test prior to adding the ashes this year, is in order. The neighbor has a ph tester, so I will use that prior to adding any ash.

thx

[meadowyck]

Years ago to improve my clay soil from up north, I use this combo, good top soil, which I then added horse manure, and shredded leaves to, and many in the spring my plants rewarded me with incredible growth and production.

I use the KISS method with amending bad soil.

[nnjjohn]

I ordered three inexpensive soil tester probes to check ph levels for next growing season. As of today, still waiting for them but no rush.. my beds are all topped with stable mix horse manure and on top of that mulched fall leaves and grass clippings. Next spring I will know for sure if any other additional amendments will be needed to get my PH down a point. I won't know until early spring if this compost will be enough to do the trick. But yes , get a soil tester (probe will likely read the # more accurate than the chemical capsule color PH tester.The problem I always had with the color was that my sample never really matched the test label and it therefor was a broad spread if you will.