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Decatur, IL

I just made a second planting of buckwheat. After i cut this and till it in, should I add some fresh or slightly aged cattle manure and plant some winter rye (too hot for the rye?) or should I just settle on planting the rye? I tilled in horse manure and leaves this last spring. I guess I'm hung up on adding as much organic matter as I can. Thanks, Charlie

8/28/2006 4:54:30 PM

Montoursville, PA

For best results load it up in the fall. Rye it over the winter and till rye in the spring with other hopefully minor additives. Completely finished compost may go on or into the patch anytime.

8/28/2006 5:02:30 PM

Roselle, IL [email protected]

Charlie, with the disease problems you have had I would not risk the chance of bringing something nasty back by adding manure. Till the cover crop in and get an early soil test next year. Hope to see you at the scale in 2007

8/28/2006 7:41:11 PM

Somers, CT

I added horse manure and did not till it in this spring and was rid of my disease problems for some reason. I lost everything to bacterial wilt last year and stumbled for the past three. I have a stream a few feet from the patch so maybe the new altitude helped. The horse manure in wood chips made much less weeds and was a dream to deal with. NOTE: this worked for me this year pretty well.

8/28/2006 8:56:10 PM

Nashville, TN

Last winter I had the Hubby lay down a 2" layer of fresh paddock waste (old hay and fresh horse manure) in the rather 'patchy' front yard lawn... He wasn't quite convinced it would work. But I seeded winter rye, clover and fescue on top of it...

He's been cussing me ever since - has had to mow it twice a week since early March! But we've got a better lawn than my 'golf course yard' Father!!

I've found that our grasses LOVE fresh manure. Haven't had any problems with N burn.. Cannas also THRIVE in the stuff. The Gourds/squash/commercial 'kins are also thriving...

8/29/2006 7:32:31 AM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

I guess different strokes for different folks. I was advised to stay away from manures with wood chips in them because as the manure and chips decay further, the wood chips rob your soil of the nitrogen.

This proved fatal for me last year and now I avoid manure with wood chips like the plague. Takes along time for the wood to fully break down.

Also, I now avoid the community compost as it is mostly made of ground up wood waste and yard/garden waste. It too has alot of wood bits and fibres that still take a further year or 2 to break down. I've now found a composting company that makes compost from restaurant waste, food packing waste and the likes. Other than alot of food stickers from bananas and apples, it is great stuff!!

8/29/2006 4:06:34 PM

Nashville, TN

The Paddock waste has no wood in it. And after it's piled and turned for 60 days - it's a rather nice consitant Black color. Wonderful to use, mixed with potting soil - in my pots!

Now the Barn waste - contains sawdust. It's quite common to see 'ash' in the center of the composting piles when it's turned. It heats up to such a high Temp that it 'burns' inside. Takes about 80-90 days for it to finish composting.

In previous years, I've received up to 20 loads of fresh woodchips from the companies that clean off the Gas Line/Powerlines (I've got several area that I allow them to 'dump' on).. Even when you add manure - and turn these piles - it can take 2-3 YEARS before they are fully composted! This product is much more suited to layer on the top of my flower/herb gardens in the fall/winter, Where the soils are so rich and deep in degraded compost, that it's more like a 'forest soil' - than to use for a 'quik soil improver' in the 'annual gardens'

Although I routinely grow gourds right on top of huge piles of composting manure with no problems. I doubt that the GPs could handle it - due to being prone to rot.

8/31/2006 7:31:07 AM