Kitchen Garden Forum

When's the best time to add manure? I'm planning on getting a few trailer loads of muck (hopefully rotted and with straw) from a local farm. My raised beds not only need raising but some goodness needs to be put back into the soil. Is it best to dig it in or leave on the surface. Also when I come to plant in the Spring, are their certain crops which are best not planted in the previously-manured ground?

Comments appreciated.

Thanks
Helen

In the past I've always manured in the autumn when as many growing vegetables as possible have been cleared but having had two very wet winters I've been concerned that a great deal of the nutrients from any manure would have been washed away over the winter so this year I'll probably do it around the end of January.
They say root vegetables such as parsnips etc don't like soil that has been freshly manured (even with well rotted manure) as it makes them them fork. To be honest, I've grown parsnips in soil which has been lightly manured and they've been fine. I'm sure in my case it is stoney soil which is making my parsnips fork. If you can cover your manured soil with polythene there's probably no reason why you can't start manuring as soon as the beds are clear. Lucky you to have access to plenty of the real stuff.!

Contrary to Primrose, I would put the manure on as soon as you can, so that it gets fully incorporated by the worms by next spring. I have tried covering manured beds with polythene over winter, but I find that it stays less absorbed than when they are kept open, perhaps it's the exposure to the elements that does it.
Onions are another crop which don't like freshly manured ground. If you are going to divide you patch into three or four (to ensure a three or four year rotation), I would put most of the manure onto the potato patch but not other roots.

Please make sure that you know of the contaminated manure issue before you buy any manure see this thread http://www.kitchengarden.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5688 and our blog http://glallotments.blogspot.com/2008/10/thinking-of-obtaining-manure.html
Our website page gives lots more information http://glallotments.co.uk/ACManure.aspx
I wish people on our site had had this information before spreading manure last year. Just spread the word as well as the manure (if you can make sure it is safe!)

Thanks for your valued comments. Glallotments - thanks for the reminder about contaminated manure.

I clicked on the links and after looking at some of the pictures of distorted veg plants, its only just occurred to me why my runner beans have, for the first time in years, been extremely poor with such a weird and unusual growth!! The young plants were greenhouse raised and very healthy when planted out. They certainly didn't progress as usual and in fact I lost about 7 plants and I put that down to wind. Of the remainder about 15 of them grew leathery, distorted and thin leaves excatly like the runner beans featured on GLA website. At the time I wondered whether it was some sort of virus but it probably now all points to the fact that some time prior to planting, I dug in several bags of composted stable manure purchased from a local garden centre.

I'm certainly going to be vigilent and make sure what I'm getting.

Thanks very much. You might just have saved my crops for next year!!

Helen