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Re: Horse Manure - advice needed

We have a 20 stall barn - full - thus lots of this product, taken off of a
sawdust base.  It is a good soil conditioner.  It's contribution to
fertility will depend on its age and how much leaching has occurred.  Its
quality will also depend on the type of bedding that us used.  Mushroom
growers use straw based horse manure but won't accept manure with any other
type of bedding in it.  If shavings or sawdust are used as bedding, the
type of wood that yielded the sawdust can contribute to the character of
the manure and its acidity.   All of these things can be accessed by having
the pile tested if you are really interested in the details.  

We sell our stuff to folks for their gardens and flower beds, primarily as
a tilth builder.  
As far as weeds go, they should be no problem in properly composted horse
manure.  The temperatures reached in composted horse manure are among the
highest attained in any manure pile and most seeds are effectively killed. 
Chickens are great for fly control around manure piles because they eat the
fly larva as they hatch - unfortunately my wife won't allow chickens in
with her horses so we spray with pyrethrins.

If you contact your  local Cooperative Agriculture Extension Agent, you can
probably get a good deal of information regarding the management and
potential uses of horse manure.  


Shadow <shadow@mistgiga.net.au> wrote in article
<3383CB7D.3E79@mistgiga.net.au>...
> Warren wrote:
> > I have a large and growing pile of horse manure. ...<snip>... 
> > What I would like to know is, firstly, is this stuff any good 
> > as mulch as I am about to plant a lot of trees and an orchard. 
> > Secondly, what are some other uses I can put this stuff to, what 
> > is horse manure suited for? Any advive much appreciated. 
>
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