it is usualy a good idea to let fresh manure set for a few months to a year before planting anything that young and tender into it. if you are talking about a truckload of manure I would put it into another bed thats fallow for a while, or compost it first. if you are talking about a small amount maybe 50 pounds or so, I wouls compost the majority of it. Then make some primo manure tea.

just my two cents others will be along to give you better advice and explanations as to why :)

Well this weekend I spent part of it laying down another layer of cardboard, and lots of bags of leaves. I have plans on Wednesday to make several trips to the horse farm with my husbands truck and one trip with son following me in his little truck. This should cover my garden with a nice layer of horse stall cleanings. I will let this sit till planting time, mid to late April. At that point I will kind of give it a stir and plant away. I do have some leaves left but don't think I have enough to make a full covering. I do also have some straw which I will spread out over everything in the spring. Oh will put down another layer of cardboard in the walkways to help with any weed seeds that come around and decide this would be a great place to grow. Then the straw/leaves. Done this for years, never had an issue with any of it. Worms are fat and healthy in the garden. I hope to have another great year. I have done this for years, my parents did it for as long as I could remember and my Moms parents used cow manure from their cattle farm. Again no problems.
Sandy

If you get enough vegetable waste mixed with that manure in southern California you should have enough time for that to compost properly between now and then. The several months to a year usually applies to the colder areas of the world where digestion stops, or slows, because of the colder temperatures.

Definitely put the manure in its own pile and let it mature for at least a year.
The grass clippings too....lay them out to dry before using ontop fo the cardboard........or compost the clippings first.

You are making a lasagna bed and hope to use such composting of the material in an attempt to improve the soil.
Better to use some topsoil or a finished compost on top of the cardboard/newspaper (10 pages thick), then dampen it down.

A compost pile can be just a pile on the ground somewhere.
But do consider you have to add to it, keep it damp, and keep rodents and other pests from making nests in it.
You might find a tarpaulin or heavy guage plastic sheet to throw over it and be held down by bricks etc.
The sun can only help it....many compost piles get along without so much of it.

Oh no my poor garden/soil I just laid out about 7 yards of horse stall cleanings in my veggie garden. This was on top of some leaves and cardboard. I guess I am doomed to have a bad garden this year putting all of that uncomposted things on my soil. Will try to remember to take photos of my bad gardens growth, production so you can learn what to do. LOL
Ok I don't belive that for a minute, and neither should any of you. I did lay out 7 yards over my veggie garden. It is going to stay there till planting time, will compost down and some of the wonderful fertilizer will leach into the soil to feed it. I will take photos for proof of what it will do. I would say over all it is anywhere from an inch or better all over the garden.
Like I have said before I have done this before, will do it again, and will enjoy the fruits of my labors. Won't enjoy how my body feels right now-ouch need to work out more. LOL
Sandy

Well Brd.....an opinion expressed in a 180 degree alternative is giving two sides to a suggestion.
You have your opinion.....I have mine.

Might I suggest before anyone reading this thinks to put down fresh manure into a garden....or a manure that has not been given sufficient time to compost down and lose some of its "heat"....I suggest reading on the subject.

The words "about using manure"....put into a browser window...follow the yellow brick road....then a more precise opinion of those "in the know" would be something to think about.

Manure Matters writting by Marion Owen, Fearless Weeder for PlanTea, Inc. and
Co-author of Chicken Soup for the Gardener's Soul

University of Maine Cooperative Extension

Carl Rosen, University of Minnesota Extension Soil Scientist. Article from the University of Minnesota's Yard & Garden Line News, Volume 1 Number 4, June 1, 1999.

I am sure there is tons more out there. Seems like I found a few links from great places that say yes you can use fresh manure in your garden.
Oh and what I used is not just dropped out of a horse, it is stall cleanings, out of a hot pile that has sat there for who knows how long. However there are still nuggets in it, but again I am not worried.
Yes it is my opion however I have backed mine up, Jea how about you back yours up. I want links this time, good ones, not broken ones like you did last time.
Sandy

hey Serg,

I'm in southern california, too, in Ventura county.

I always *try* to let the manure compost first, but never manage more than a few months before I just *have* to use it.

I've never had a problem using manure that's been sitting for only a couple months. My gardens are pretty nice. I made some tomato sauce tonight from home-grown, garden-fresh Brandywines, fresh off the vine, yum.

You'll be fine. Go for it.

"Definitely put the manure in its own pile and let it mature for at least a year"

Again, this statement is being made. Last time it was in reference to letting it sit at least a year before even putting it into a compost pile. Still no supporting research backing this claim. I wish people would not make these outlandish statements without providing some research from "those in the know".

Kristi

I'm with ixnod on this one, I would hot compost prior to vegetable garden use. The question in the original post was very specific about using fresh horse manure but with no definition of fresh so I am assuming real fresh. Sergio doesn't specify vegetable or other type of planting. This might also make a difference on what one would do.

Sandy
I went to the first link you provided and read this at the end:

Quote
How to use manure

No matter what kind of manure you use, use it as a soil amendment, not a mulch. In other words, don't put raw manure directly on garden soils. Raw manure generally releases nitrogen compounds and ammonia which can burn plant roots, young plants and interfere with seed germination. In fact, it's recommended that all animal manure should be aged for at least 6 months. Many gardeners spread fresh manure in the fall and turn it in to the top 6 inches of soil a month before spring planting.

A better treatment is to hot-compost manure before applying it to the garden. Hot composting, where the pile reaches at least 150 degrees F) helps to reduce the probability of passing dangerous pathogens on to people who handle the manure or eat food grown with manure compost. (For more information about compost, read my Compost Happens! article.)

While the chance of contamination is slim, severe sickness and even death may occur if contaminated produce is eaten. To be safe, either compost your manure or apply it in the fall after harvest. Wash up after handling manure and don't forget to rinse the vegetables and fruit well before you eat them--always a good idea whether your use manure or not.
Unquote.

I am confused in that you appear to be a proponent of fresh manure yet your link seems to recommend against it.

Myself, if for a vegetable garden, I would rather err on the side of safety and hot compost it for a few weeks or let it sit longer than the 75 days or so Sergio originally asked about. Sergio also asked how long to "rot well" so that also slants my opinion.

Lloyd

Disclaimer: I ain't a gardener.

Hello Lloyd. Ok as it states:
Quote:
"No matter what kind of manure you use, use it as a soil amendment, not a mulch. In other words, don't put raw manure directly on garden soils. Raw manure generally releases nitrogen compounds and ammonia which can burn plant roots, young plants and interfere with seed germination."
And I am doing just that, using it as a soil amendment, there are no plants in my veggie garden right now. Something about freezing temps keeps tomatoes from growing well. Today we are getting a very nice slow rain to help moisten the garden well and to draw the nitrogen into the soil, ok it leaches it into the soil, but isn't that where we want the nitrogen? And like I have said before I will be working it into the soil. I have used it around growing plants before without issues either. However in that way I do a very light dusting. Think of it this way, if you put a small sprinkle of 10-10-10 on the lawn the lawn loves it. Put out enough to make the ground look white the lawn dies. Same thing with using fresh stall waste. This time of the year when you are not growing anything, ok I am not don't know about you, I can lay it ont thick. Knowing I won't be planting for another couple months I know I am safe. Put to much of anything anywhere at the wrong time it won't help the plants, put out a thick layer of grass clippings and it will also burn plants. Put out a nice sprinkling of grass clippings and it will not only feed the soil/plants, but it will act like a mulch and help keep the moisture in the soil. Mulch is great not only for the soil but for the plants applied in the right way.
Yes I always will recommend adding things to the soil that I know that will feed it.
Also how fresh is fresh? If you go to the horse farm you are more than likely to get something out of a pile that has sat around for a while. It should be on its way to being composted already.
I will make sure to post photos next summer, including photos of the soil,worms, and at planting time. Then photos as things grow.
Sandy

Hi Sandy

I guess I focused on the "In fact, it's recommended that all animal manure should be aged for at least 6 months." and "To be safe, either compost your manure or apply it in the fall after harvest" from that link. Although what exactly is fall?

Lloyd

"Something about freezing temps keeps tomatoes from growing well."

Sarcasm wasn't really necessary but what the heck, take your shot, it sems the thing to do on the forum.

Lloyd

Lloyd, around here we are starting to wonder what or where winter is. Seems like winter gets later and later, or warmer each year. I walked out to the garden after work today, in the nice slow rain we had all day today. I wanted to see how much the garden still smelled. There was no smell and it was soaking in the rain really nice. I know that it will leach out lots of the nitrogen into the soil below but I am always happy to have some nitrogen in my soil.
If you are not comfortable with it don't do it. I know people use human manures, I am not comfortable with that. I have used human urine, have one son who is now 17 that doesn't have a problem watering the pile of leaves. I know some people seem to not be comfortable with that practice. I have one guy at work that won't eat my veggies because he knows that my son uses the compost pile. I did show him one product at work and asked him if he would use it on his gardens and he said yes. I then read to him the ingredients, urine is one of them.
I do want to try to make manure tea this summer. I am in the process of trying to gather as much information on that as I can before starting.
Sandy

Yeah, there is some sarcasm here, but I think it is not intended to be hurtful. I dunno - I know it can be hard to feel at home on a new forum, but on the plus side we are all crazy about dirt so we must have *some* things going for us.

Anyway, I picked up my first bag of UCG in about 4 months today, and I can't wait to spread it on the beds and in the bin. I also turned a couple beds that had been lasagna'd with cow manure and coffee grounds last September, as was satisfied with the number of worms. I don't know if I'll have the opportunity to pick up cow manure this weekend, though I hope so.

As far as the original post again: If you have access to other manures, some are less "hot" than horse. In particular, bunny poo can be used directly, and cow manure is sort of intermediate. Chicken is hot.

Don't some people here set up fresh lasagna beds and then make a little pocket of soil for each plant? Couldn't you do that this year?

See... I told you others would be along. I was homing in on the part of the original post when they said that they wanted to know if it would rot well ( hopefully meaning composting naturally with time) a rule of thumb for me is that if it has a strong smell and can burn your eyes its going to burn the plants roots.

and when you wrote that you were going to sow in mid march I was thinking seeds or seedlings. sorry for any misunderstanding.