Who's starting their garden early?

[Dace]

Dace ---I am not sure where you new home is but check Craig's list for free horse manure in your area. Find out if its been composted already. I filled the majority of my new beds with composted horse poop with just a bit of bagged mulch on top. It looks amazing already. You know if I remember correctly on the Path to Freedom web site, he just started dumping his compost on native soil. Piling it up where ever he intended to plant. Maybe you could do the same.

That is a good tip on the horse poop, but I recall reading that the wormer used on the horse would kill the worms in the soil. Do you think it is fine if it is composted? Also how do you really know it is composted...a clean smell? Also, I do not have a truck, so it gets tricky.

I am pretty sure you are right about the Dervaes' family...they just put up beds and keep adding.

 

[lupinfarm]

Dace ---I am not sure where you new home is but check Craig's list for free horse manure in your area. Find out if its been composted already. I filled the majority of my new beds with composted horse poop with just a bit of bagged mulch on top. It looks amazing already. You know if I remember correctly on the Path to Freedom web site, he just started dumping his compost on native soil. Piling it up where ever he intended to plant. Maybe you could do the same.

That is a good tip on the horse poop, but I recall reading that the wormer used on the horse would kill the worms in the soil. Do you think it is fine if it is composted? Also how do you really know it is composted...a clean smell? Also, I do not have a truck, so it gets tricky.

I am pretty sure you are right about the Dervaes' family...they just put up beds and keep adding.

Use feed bags, and bag it. It shouldn't smell too much of amonia, and it looks like soil. It's CALLED sweet soil when composted, it's dark, sweet, and crumbly in texture.

You might want to put it with leafmold, and soil, and then layer it in your beds. The wormer won't do anything to the worms in the ground, first its targeted towards specific guttural worms, and it loses it's effectiveness after a while.

 

[TanksHill]

Lupin--- great advice on the layering.

Dace- up here in No. County there are so many people looking to unload manure they will deliver it for a small fee. I think with all the horse boarding facilities the chance you could get some inexpensively would be pretty high.

 

[hoosier]

I really do not think it is fair that you all get to start your gardens so early. OK..........I want a pity party, who's with me?

poor Michigander

 

[lupinfarm]

Haha, that's okay, I'm with Roosmom. I can't actually plant in the ground until mid MAY.

Gotta plan em though!

 

[Dace]

Thank for clarifying the horse wormer question...it did seem odd to me, but I wondered if it was true!

We do have a few stables reasonably close....gonna have to look into getting some poo!

 

[enjoy the ride]

I know the horse wormer thing has been mentioned but I thought I'd throw in that if I stick a shovel into my composting horse poop pile, it is just alive with worms.
If you can, try to get both horse poop with saw dust or shavings and poop without. The without poop is great for top dressing shrubs and stuff -the wood shavings take a little longer to compost and tie up nitrogen for a bit but makes lovely, humusy soil. The ones with straw take even longer to decompose.
If you get the non-shavings poop, then you can add it to the shavings poop to get it going sooner.
And I hate to say it because I think feeding straight alfalfa is not generally good for horses, horses fed alfalfa have less weed seed in the manure pile. Some hay enevitably gets mixed in with the manure piles and can spread weeds to your place. My first place had the same mix of weeds my horse at that time loved to eat.

I have goat poop piles and horse poop piles and the horse definitely decomposes faster.

That's one of the things I think about with an all vegitarian world- how would they ever come up with enough non-human stuff to grow enough plants to feed everyone? I don't think it could be done without the byproduct of farm animals.

Poop makes the world go round.

 

[Beekissed]

Some people use human poop! They call it humanure. If the people were vegetarians, I don't know why people would find this thought so repugnant. Poop is poop is poop. It all smells bad when it comes out and it all enriches the soil when composted. Do you realize the nitrogen content of urine? It has to be diluted quite a bit to even use it because the nitrogen content is so high.

And why do people say to not put dog manure on the garden? Because of the worms? Are they aware that horses, cows, goats, sheep...all of em' have worms that we can pick up and host?

I've often wondered about these things.....

 

[justusnak]

Hmmmm, Im not sure if this falls in the same catagory as.."starting the garden" but, I DID get my Gurney's catalog today...with a $25.00 coupon, when you order $50.00 So...I have my order ready to go out. I am getting some very pretty beets.....they have white rings in them! I just LOVE beets!They are called Chioggi Guardsmark. I like the "different" veggies. It says they are great for pickling, and canning...soooo.. I ordered mine. I also ordered Yukon Gold potato starts. LOVE them, and I can never find them here. I got a few more veggie seed pack, had to make it up to $50, so half is free LOL Oh, and I ordered a Peach tree. Got 2 more coming from another place. Soooo, I guess I am, sorta started!??

 

[hoosier]

Hmmmm, Im not sure if this falls in the same catagory as.."starting the garden" but, I DID get my Gurney's catalog today...with a $25.00 coupon, when you order $50.00

I heard they went out of business! I used to order a lot from them.