There's a lot of talk here about manure mut be composted before using. Untill just before WW II manure was the only source of fertilizer farmers had. Most of it was not composted or at least not in our area as the stable was cleaned daily and hauled to the field weekly. It then was plowed down and corn, wheat, all types of vegetable crops were planted and they done great. Why must manure now be composted before placing on the garden?

Same question.....

I thought horse manure was not good.

Love my bunny, Wasrabbity.

Mo Gardener, 220 years!! All that exercise and healthy food has been good to you!!

I like all of the above plus urine added to compost or diluted in compost tea with something acidic thrown in like coffee grounds. (never used full strength)

Instead of guessing, I decided to do a little research. First I looked in my garden encyclopedia from the early 1900's which said fresh manure should be used as a top dressing, but not touching the plants. It laments its recent high price due to the replacement of horses by automobiles in thickly settled communities, although not in rural areas.

Next I turned to the Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening, copyright 1959 (renewed 1999). It compares fresh and rotted manures. Rotted manure is richer in nutrients, the nitrogen has been fixed, and the phosphorus and potash have greater solubility. This solubility can be a problem if leaching from the pile is not prevented.

For fresh manure they recommend immedeately discing it into the soil, from which I gather that you would need to use it as a side dressing and scratch it in.

I did not find a mention of manure "burning" plants, except for poultry manure. However the older book mentioned that depending on what type of bedding it was mixed with, it might pull nitrogen away from plants while breaking down (especially if mixed with sawdust).

Sweetpea,
Sorry for the typo. Its 20 years. I posted that comment because some believe compost is all what is needed for a healthy garden and that adding anything other than compost without a soil test can be very detrimental. I just disagree on that point. For example, if soils in a particular area are deficient in say copper or iodine, any compost made in that locale will still be deficient.
This is a point made in Steve Solomons book that I agree with.


As for the questions above about not adding raw manure to the garden, not only can it burn plants, but it also can add nasty organisms like ecoli to the soil. Composting takes care of these issues.

I put down a quickie lasagna bed the last week in May and planted transplants the first week of June. I hadn't started enriching the soil or getting my compost pile in order yet, so I thought some enrichment would be necessary for a good crop.

I have been using Neptune's Harvest hydrolized fish and kelp fertilizer as a foliar spray on both my garden bed and some houseplants that are spending the summer on the front porch.

They are all taking off like gangbusters. I have already gotten squash and basil from the garden.

I divided and repotted asparagus ferns (sprengeri) for the front porch hanging baskets. These were extremely rootbound plants that managed to survive the winter with few leaf/needles intact. I sawed them in two and sawed off half the bottoms and all around the sides. They ended up with 1/4 of their original roots intact. Some of them were growing new stems so fast that they were literally rolling up in balls instead of cascading down. I couldn't believe my eyes! I helped them untangle so they could grow on down.

Needless to say I am pleased with the Neptune's Harvest results.

With that said, I do think that a good soil foundation is the basis for a good garden. I just haven't had the time to build one yet, but I'm working on it.

Thank you for doing the research Abigail. That fits well with what I "know" about manure.

I'm going to continue to apply fresh manure generously in the fall, turn it under and let it cook under a layer of mulch all winter. During the rest of the year, I'll continue to add it to the compost pile whenever I get any.

I now have two good sources for horse manure, free for the taking as long as I am willing to shovel it out of the corrals. Happily, the horses are "neat" in that they deposit it in the same area. All I have to do is back up the truck and shovel until the bed is full.

At the moment, it's still free to me, and my horsey friends have to pay if they want it hauled off.

But I'm betting that as more people return to organic gardening, it may not be free in the future.

Then the question is: Will it be necessary to pay for manure, or can I maintain soil fertility just using compost?

Before World War II people died from all kinds of diseases that have not been seen since the 1960's because of vaccines and because we leraned some stuff about personal hygeine. But some of these diseases are reappearing because people have forgotten the lessons learned. Why are food srevice people required, by law, to wash their hands after using the toilet facilties?
Of the many things that were learned about handling manure is that it has disease pathogens that can be transferred to the foods we eat if not properly used and that means not spreading manure on soil that will grow foods, for human consumption, to close to the time to plant those foods. Many people point out that the chinese have used human waste to fertilize their fields, but they fail to point out that diseases related to that practice were, or are, rampant in China.
If someone wants to, unecessarily, expose themselves and their family to potential diseases they can do that, but you should not suggest to others that your practices are that acceptable.

I completely aggree with Kimm1.
BTW, chinese don't eat fresh greens, only boiled because of their fertilizer.
I was born in small city and my parents and other people in the city had domestic animals but they never applied fresh manure to the garden. They always told that manure has to be composted through the winter and then in spring go to the garden.
Also, manure from animals that were treated with antibiotics or some other drugs is not good as well.
Horse manure: this is only good (composted) if horse were feeding right. It can be a source of bad weeds in your garden.

Kimm and all others, thank you. I would use and have dug into the soil "composted" manure. Fresh manure is out of the question for me (no animals) anyway. But common sense tells us that "fresh" manures carry pathogens and spread disease. I remember in China years ago, they had a real problem because they used human fresh manure in agriculture. Common sense tells us fresh manure should be aged and composted and dug under soil a good year prior to planting. The reason I am looking for good all around organic fertilizer is because I have limited amount of good compost. Thanks to all.

I use the "recipe" from Steve Solomon and make my own. Works great and is economical.

In response to MO Gardener: I like your response very much. Very sensible and helpful. I would not be seeking a good organic fertilizer if I had great soil, although I do believe as Mo Gardner says, composted soil most certainly will need trace minerals missing. In my case, my soil is far from great and it takes years before it is really good. On the Cape the soil is sandy with little organic matter. And at my age, it's hard to do the hard work necessary to really improve the soil. Shoveling, picking up matter, etc. is hard on us oldsters, to say the least. Thank you all.

P.S. I'm buying Steve Solomon's book a/s/a/p.

I wouldn't apply any of the other animal manures directly because of the things addressed above. THinks like E. Coli, Salmonella, etc. Usually my rabbit pellets are a thin layer that gets cooked in the sun and breaks down into the soil rather quickly. They are rabbits I keep in the house (but I know that poo has germs). I apply it liberally when things are young, green and growing big enough to set on fruit. I lay off on putting the manure around any place that fruit may come in contact once things start setting on.

Rabbit manure is a "whole different animal" from a lot of the other manures available. That is my personal experience. But do what you feel it right for you. That is all any of us can do.

I haven't used fish emulsion in a number of years.. do they pasturize that stuff so it won't have bacteria in it? IT sure smells bad enough!