There have been a lot of comments about the weather leaching nutrients out of manure.
I've been offered use of a pile of manure from a stable that has been sat rotting for 2-3 years. It appears to be in lovely condition, dark & crumbly.
However it was in an uncovered pile around 4 feet high at the side of a field. Is it likely to be of less use now becuase of nutrient loss, or is it still useful as a source of humus?
Colin
When best to manure
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oldherbaceous
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Dear Colin, it sounds as if it,s ideal, the nutrient level may be a little lower due to the rain, but being more decomposed will more than make up for this.
I would get as much of it as you can.
Kind regards Old Herbaceous.
Theres no fool like an old fool.
I would get as much of it as you can.
Kind regards Old Herbaceous.
Theres no fool like an old fool.
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Primrose
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Colin - Lucky you ! I'd grab as much as you can get. I was once offered a free trailerload of old stable manure similar to yours. It grew the most fantastic crops the following year and really improved the soil. There was only one problem with it. It was delivered at 7 a.m. on a Sunday morning in the middle of a heatwave and before I could rush out and stop them, they'd dumped the whole load in the middle of our driveway, blocking the car in the garage. My husband was confined to bed at the time with a bad back so I had to spend the whole of Sunday in my bikini and wellington boots shovelling it into a wheelbarrow and carting it through to the back garden. You can imagine what I looked and smelled like by the time I'd finished. (All my most humiliating moments seem to have been connected with gardening in one way or another!).
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oldherbaceous
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My dear Primrose, 
I can't even start to imagine the scene.
I bet your husband was up at the window having a good laugh.
But congratulations to you, for getting stuck in and doing the job.
Kind regards Old Herbaceous.
Theres no fool like an old fool.
I can't even start to imagine the scene.
I bet your husband was up at the window having a good laugh.
But congratulations to you, for getting stuck in and doing the job.
Kind regards Old Herbaceous.
Theres no fool like an old fool.
Primrose wrote:Colin - Lucky you ! I'd grab as much as you can get.
Thanks for the advice - I will!. Luckily no bikini will be required (just a few trips with a wheelbarrow, negotiating some narrow gates & lumpy paths).
Colin