Yeahhhhh, for me, I got a free truckload of Composted Manure

[desertlzbn]

All I can say is Craigslist is a gardeners best friend. I just a got a pick up load of composted dairy manure for FREE!
I am going to see if I can go get some more.
I am so excited.
Ha that is so funny, if someone would have told me 10 years ago that I would be excited over some cow crap, I would not have believed them!
So maybe I will have a good tomato season this year. I sure hope so.
I did not get any tomatoes for the past two years due to reasons unknown.
I think my soil is pretty much depleted. So this sure will help.

I don't know what was going on, but I sure hope amending the heck out of my beds will help.

[OtterJon]

Congrats on the poo score!

[augiedog55]

congrats on the score

[Hastings]

That's one good thing about living in Nebraska, always enough cow poo to go around...

[brokenbar]

if someone would have told me 10 years ago that I would be excited over some cow crap, I would not have believed them!

You know...that is either really sad (that we get so enthusiastic about poo) or it is an indication that we have learned what is important in our life and what is not.

POO RULES!

[darwinslair]

I am loving that we have chickens. Have been happily spreading chicken litter on the gardens every time I clean out the "porch" of the coop. <laughing> I do understand being excited about crap.

Tom

[rxkeith]

neighbors with horses are a gardeners best friend too, especially when they load it in the back of your truck with their tractor attached front end loader. i got two loads this fall, and could prolly use 5 more this coming spring. charge? heck no, theres no charge.
works for me too.



keith

[brokenbar]

Almost every livestock producer is always looking for a way to get rid of the rapidly growing piles of Poo that accumulate. They are DELIGHTED to have someone take it and almost all livestock people have a tractor with a bucket (or a Bobcat or something) to load it for you. If they live close to other houses, the city/county will also rag their azz about getting rid of it.

All should remember that cow and chicken poo is VERY HOT and should be well composted or aged before using as it will fry your little Darlin's to death. Goat, sheep, rabbit, horse, donkey or llama will NOT burn and are not considered "hot" fertilizers.

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by desertlzbn

I did not get any tomatoes for the past two years due to reasons unknown.
I think my soil is pretty much depleted. So this sure will help.
I don't know what was going on, but I sure hope amending the heck out of my beds will help.

I would try a soil test to find out if there is something present in the soil which is causing problems.

• Are the plants growing ok, just no fruit?
• Do the plants show any sign of disease?
• Are the tomatoes getting blossoms?
• What date are you planting your seedlings?
• Do you start the seedlings yourself or buy plants?
• What kind/brand/numbers of fertilizers are you using and in what quantity?

[SEAMSFASTER]

Originally Posted by rxkeith

neighbors with horses are a gardeners best friend too, especially when they load it in the back of your truck with their tractor attached front end loader. i got two loads this fall, and could prolly use 5 more this coming spring. charge? heck no, theres no charge.
works for me too.



keith

Ditto! My two loads of horse manure were VERY fresh. I had real concern about salt levels (can be 5-10% by dry weight, if I interpret what I read correctly), so I've flushed heavily with water (very stinky...), added lots of dry leaves, and have two separate piles composting with latest temps at 110 and 138°. Hopefully they will be ready for Spring!

Instead of tilling the composted manure (etc.) into the entire garden, I just dig holes or trenches where my tomato plants will go and don't amend where the walking paths will be. Saves on $ but not on exercise or time...

As we've discussed in a related thread, In a dry climate like southern Arizona, there is a good chance that even composted manure could still be high in salts. It might be worth getting it tested.

[mysidx]

Don't forget to test for residual effects of Herbicides being sprayed on hay. The owners of the farm may have no clue that this can happen.


Rob

[desertlzbn]

This guy is organic feeding his cows, and the stuff I picked up was already composted for a year or more.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[BigBrownDogHouse]

If dog poop ever comes in demand, I will be very popular!

[Skaggydog]

Originally Posted by brokenbar

...
All should remember that cow and chicken poo is VERY HOT and should be well composted or aged before using as it will fry your little Darlin's to death. Goat, sheep, rabbit, horse, donkey or llama will NOT burn and are not considered "hot" fertilizers.

Mabe you could check those anamal names again and see if you put them in the right spot?

[tuk50]

http://www.northernushomestead.com/h...er-npk-levels/
Good article on manure composting.
I've always had trouble with this, as there is many variables. And some are passionate about their manures.
We have a chicken coup and a couple dozen chickens and two horses fed mostly hay and some alfalfa. In the chicken coup we use wood chips and the horse lot has a lot of hay trampled into the manure, so this helps them break down fast in a pile and have used them on trees, shrubs and flowers right out of the source with no problem in 1in layers or less, but only compost them for garden use for a minimum of 3 months while measuring internal temps and mixing with tractor about once a month and this has proven to be very satisfactory. Hope this helps some.