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A load of manure advice for gardening
Nancy O’Donnell | Albany Times Union
Posted May 20, 2007
Manure often is dubbed black gold by gardeners for the wealth of organic nutrients and microbes it provides the soil. There are numerous types of manures — cow, horse, poultry, pig, goat, sheep and alpaca. Then there’s dehydrated, composted and off-the-farm “hot.” If you purchase manure bagged (most is cow manure), it will come either composted or dehydrated and, for the most part, de-fragranced. Bagged manure that is composted has moisture added.
When comparing prices, you quickly will notice that a 40-pound bag of composted manure is much cheaper than its dehydrated counterpart, basically because you are getting less of the “cow byproduct” by weight and more water. Dehydrated is the opposite; almost all moisture has been removed, so the 40 pounds you are buying is pure.
If you use a lot of manure, it’s good to buy it in bulk. Before buying, you will need to inquire as to whether the manure is “aged” or fresh from the stall. Aged manure is like a bottle of wine — the older the better. A minimum of six months is considered nearing perfection. When fresh, manure contains high levels of soluble nitrogen and ammonia, which can “burn” a plant’s stems, foliage and roots, hence the warning never to apply fresh manure around your plants because it is “hot.”
Matured manure has lost a good share of these elements. Aged manure also offers fewer weed seeds; remember the animal it comes from grazes for food, and the protective weed seed coats remain intact through the digestive system. As manure ages, the seed coats disintegrate due to the high nitrogen levels. Heat produced by the tiny microbes begin the decay process and the seed dies.
It’s recommended that when adding manure to your garden you add a good three inches and work it in. Manure is excellent for improving soil texture and adding trace nutrients such as boron, iron, sulfur, copper and magnesium, which are often not available in bagged fertilizers.
Unfortunately, manures aren’t considered complete fertilizers, meaning they cannot be relied on to provide enough of the big three: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Side dressing during the growing season with a complete fertilizer will be important for optimum growth.
For health reasons: never use manure from humans or any animals that consume meat. Never apply to your garden within two months of anticipated harvesting. And always wash thoroughly after working with any manure. Keep in mind the roots are the benefactors for the nutrients, so work the manure into the soil down to the root zone. Lastly, manures affect soil pH. Most will make the soil more acidic (lowering pH), horse manure tends to sweeten or raise it. When using manures, check your soil pH annually.
