2025 gardens

[roony]

I might plant some lettuce soon.

[glenn57]

I might plant some lettuce soon.

you get the seeds from  boar?,

[roony]

No devil's lettuce in my garden Glenn.

[Dotch]

I don't understand...

[glenn57]

No devil's lettuce in my garden Glenn.

yea Dotch said you really dont need any!!!!!!

[roony]

True Fact. I'm high on life.

[Dotch]

Same here. Organic matter in thawing soil is starting to emanate nitrous oxide. Wheeeeee!!! 

All 6 daffodil clumps are emerging as are several spring bulb assortments. Nothing seen poking thru on the rhubarb as it was still under the tree leaves yet.   

[Rookie]

 Dotch.....you use that sheep poop in your gardens???

[Dotch]

I do occasionally but not as much since I soil tested. The vegetable garden area was old cattle pasture or feed lot. The small garden gets the wife's planters dumped on it in the fall. They're loaded with leftover fertilizer. I need to pile the manure so it breaks up better going through the spreader for the vegetable garden. Our sheep manure pack tends to come out in slabs otherwise. More potential issues too when using fresh manure straight out of the barn for veggies as far as listeria, e. coli, salmonella, & other pathogens. Best applied in the fall with fresh manure & worked in. I have some small piles that have been sitting for years. I give that to friends looking for a 5 gallon bucket or two. I use it for flower beds & around the rhubarb. Most of our fresh stuff gets spread on the neighbor's field.   

https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/safely-using-manure-garden/

[glenn57]

I do occasionally but not as much since I soil tested. The vegetable garden area was old cattle pasture or feed lot. The small garden gets the wife's planters dumped on it in the fall. They're loaded with leftover fertilizer. I need to pile the manure so it breaks up better going through the spreader for the vegetable garden. Our sheep manure pack tends to come out in slabs otherwise. More potential issues too when using fresh manure straight out of the barn for veggies as far as listeria, e. coli, salmonella, & other pathogens. Best applied in the fall with fresh manure & worked in. I have some small piles that have been sitting for years. I give that to friends looking for a 5 gallon bucket or two. I use it for flower beds & around the rhubarb. Most of our fresh stuff gets spread on the neighbor's field.   

https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/safely-using-manure-garden/

you sure know your poop!!!!!!!

seriously though that was a great article!!!!!!!!!

[Rookie]

To bad I don't live close enough to get a few pails full.

[LPS]

Same with horse manure Dotch?  An old guy used to come and get horse manure from me every year.  Doesn't it have more weed seed that is still good in it?  Cattle having more stomachs I thought ruined the seeds of weeds.  ????   

[roony]

To bad I don't live close enough to get a few pails full.

You need to get on Dotch's mailing list.

[glenn57]

To bad I don't live close enough to get a few pails full.

You need to get on Dotch's mailing list.

and you don't even need to request it 

[Dotch]

Same with horse manure Dotch?  An old guy used to come and get horse manure from me every year.  Doesn't it have more weed seed that is still good in it?  Cattle having more stomachs I thought ruined the seeds of weeds.  ????

Sorry I didn't get back to this sooner Barry. Just got back from making another mailing to glenn!   

Guessing you're wondering if the fresh horse poop follows the same rules as far as pathogens and yes, it does. Composted properly, it should be fine. It usually is looked upon as one of the lower octane manures as there's usually more bedding in it and horses diets don't typically contain the amount of protein and high energy grains that some of the other other types of livestock do. On a pound per ton basis from one of the manure charts I refer to, common horse manure analysis contains roughly 14#N, 4# P₂O₅ & 14# K₂ O. For comparison, my sheep manure tested 7 - 14 -23.

A lot of the weed seeds pass right on through the digestive tracts of most livestock including ruminants. Many of the weed seeds especially things like lambsquarters and pigweed family weeds are small with hard seed coats that keep them from being digested easily. Plus, there is commonly some weed seed in the bedding or waste hay. With any of the manure, if you compost it, the heating is theoretically supposed to take care of the weed seeds. That depends a lot on how religious one is about mixing & turning it as well as maintaining the moisture levels so the heating process can continue. The bad thing about composting other than it's a lot of dicking around when done on a large scale is there is some loss of both nitrogen and sulfur gassing off into the atmosphere. Proponents often become offended and evasive about how much when you question them about it. Applying manure fresh from the source and incorporating it into the soil ASAP after application gives the biggest bang for the buck in the nutrient department when growing crops. If someone is in the compost will save the planet camp, more power to them but don't expect me to buy it based on testimonials w/o quality data to back it up.

With rain in the forecast, thought about planting some radishes & greens. After looking at the soil surface last nite, thought better of it. Pretty tacky on top yet after the snow and the frost wasn't out entirely where I was thinking about it.  I did discover however that I had plenty of seed from last year. When we ran into the April thru June monsoon, the spring radishes never got planted.     

[LPS]

Thanks Dotch.  LOL  I figured you would know.  SO it is just fine to break up some horse turds and add to the garden then. Best to do it right before planting and mix it in some it sounds like.   

[Dotch]

From a health standpoint, working it in the fall before is probably the best idea so it allows the soil microorganisms to break it down and doesn't infect the plants. If you follow the link & read the U of Wisconsin article, in the spring there are only some vegetables you could feel comfortable with planting into fresh applied non-composted manure including stuff like sweet corn and fall harvested vegetables such as squash. If there's any opportunity for water splashing up from the soil onto spring or summer vegetables, I wouldn't advise it. Spring planted radishes or greens I'd be particularly careful with unless it's been properly composted. Splash dissemination is how a lot of this stuff that causes widespread outbreaks occurs.   

[tangle tooth]

      Thanks again, Dotch. You made me start thinking about chicken manure but our hens only free range on fresh green grass and weeds when it's nice out. They free range a good part of the time even today. The rest of the time they get their regular layer feed.
      What would be the best way to maximize chicken crap/litter from their coop? I'm only concerned about vegetable gardens.

[LPS]

Great info Dotch.  I will incorporate some this fall when I am done with the garden.  Thank you.

[HD]

I got tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers up growing in the green house boxes 👍