Tidewaterlilly,

I have a neighbor who has a very large herd of cows. All the spoiled hay that is left by the cows is piled up and burned throughout the year. I have been securing this burned hay/manure for the last year to use in my compost piles. The mixture makes for some very hot compost when I get the blend near to correct. However, during the curing process after the compost is finished there are weed seeds sprouting in the compost. Please keep in mind that not all the manures I use are burned, just the cow manure I get from him, and thus the weed seeds could come from anywhere.

IMO, there are going to be weeds in our gardens regardless of what we do, they just come with the territory. You may find that the added carbon from the burning process adds to your compost effectiveness (IMO, it does), however the added smoke it will produce should be taken into consideration if you live in an urban area. A low temperature fire will char the ingredients, which is the goal in Terra Preta gardening/farming; I say this to let you know a lot of people are doing what you are asking. I speak from experience, therefore YMMVÂ

Blutranes

i've used cow manure from the yards directly into the garden (feel this is the best way for maximum nutrient gain) and never had a weed problem, never solarized a garden in my gardening lifetime all i do is mulch heavily.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: len's garden page

It is never a good idea to burn any organic material since the fines produced by that combustion process are what cause major lung disease in people. Hot composting is all that is needed to control any "weed" seeds that might be in that manure.

What animal provides the manure? I've not had weed issues with Llama, sheep, cattle, or goat manure, however un-composted, fresh horse manure can contain some grass seed.

There is a horse training facility down the road, and over the years they had used a front loader to pile up an impressive heap of manure, unfortunately it was difficult to access for anybody without a front loader. Huge pile of stuff, and last summer they burned it. It took about 10 days for the entire pile to smolder away.

I have a compost pile that is about 80% horse manure. I add small amount of wood shavings, leaves, coffee grinds-eggshells-fruit rinds, and a little hay to keep pile aerated. I've been told that horse manure contains more viable seeds than cow manure because of the different digestive systems of the two animals, but seeds can be killed by cooking. I let the pile get to 150F-160F for 4-6 days, then turn it. Haven't had a weed problem yet in the areas covered by the compost.