The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Techniques and skills => Topic started by: chickens on January 26, 2008, 11:57:09 am
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Any ideas please - we have loads of pig manure but have been advised not to put too much fresh manure on the soil directly as it will change the balance in the soil. Are we better to put it with old straw and to allow it to decompose more naturally before using it?
Any thoughts gratefully received.
Cheers
Chickens
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John Seymour says; (not verbatim) "compost it for a couple of months with straw,after a couple of months dig the heap out and stack carefully out of doors (who would compost indoors???). More air gets to it and makes it rot down further. The,after a few more months,you can cart it out and spread it on the land."
Depending on how much of it you have,a stack of old car tyres,4 or 5 high is great for doing this temporarily.The black tyres attract the heat and speed up the reaction.Keep an eye on just how hot it gets,have seen one spontaneously combust....... Ree
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hello Chickens,
it is one of those things that it just depends what you are going to do with the soil ? But whatever you are going to do, it is best to compost it for a while first. If you are going to put it on grass then mix in as much straw as possible ,up to a point !, leave it stand in a heap for as long as possible then when it has changed from pig muck and straw to a more even 'compost' looking material , it is ready to spread over the fields. Some do spread it over much sooner, but it will be all the better if left. It is pretty much the same for your veg bed really to !. Mix with straw and any other waste organic stuff, stack and if you want it sooner rather than later, turn it a few times . All depends how much muck you have and how fit you are ? But the principle is , turn it, let it heat up ,then just as it starts to cool a touch , turn it all again. The outside to the middle and so on. After 3-4 or 5 turns you will have good crumbly compost and very strong arms !!!! If time and space isn't a problem you can just mix in the straw and whatever else you have and leave it till next year ,or after the growing season. Let nature do all the work . It will rot slowly over time and be like moist peat when you apply it to your desired spot . Making Compost can be as much or as little work, as you either want or are prepared to put into it. Just work out what suits you and your situation best . The thing to remember is to apply manure/compost to stuff that grows above ground not to root veg. Grow root veg on that bit the following year.
Sorry if thats all a bit muddled , but my head is a bit muddled today ...well everyday
really.....hope it helps a bit anyway....
cheers
Russ
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hey, you are better to leave it to compost for 2-3yrs and add straw and other organic materails
Gav