Oh, I'm soooooo jealous about the aged cow manure! Sadly, I don't know any farmers who give their s**t away. LOL.

Pam
Lake of the Ozarks

Your stuff is always so neat and you have a plan. Pam sometimes you have to buy the s''t. My friend gave me some manure, but usually I buy it.

william....
Do you ever have a problem with rodents using your beds for a cozy winter home?
A raised bed would probably deter voles, but rats and mice would have no qualms about climbing aboard!
Rb

William, you are way ahead of me in the cleanup department. I still haven't cleaned off the vegetable garden.

The raised beds look like a wonderful way to garden...building the beds would be the hindrance for me.

I like your raised beds. It would be easy to mow around them. I have never used cow manure, and I plan to use some this year when I add the chopped up leaves, so how much do I put down?

Pam- I saw cow manure at Lowes. That is were I plan to buy mine.

rb- we have no problem with rodents so far. my biggest problem here are armadillos and moles. a mole can do a lot of damage.

bunny- sometimes the quality of bagged manure is not too gooda! i would say a minimum of 2 inches and 4 would probably be better if it is going through the winter. this is a SWAG!

william

Well this will tell you how much of a "city girl" I really am. First of all....didn't know you could buy the real stuff....in stores. I see the "stuff" out in the fields and that's what I thought William was refering to. I guess by the time it goes to market they break it all up and put it in nice neat bags. Do they add any fillers? I can tell you I will be looking (and buying) next time I'm at the box stores. Thanks Helen.

Pam

I go to garden centers and get one scoop in my little pickup. Mushroom compost is good. No weed seeds come up in it. I got aged horse manure delivered a dump truck load. It has wood chips in it from the bedding. I am not sure that is good. At this very moment my pickup has top soil in it - not the best. They don't sell really good top soil around here. I will mix peat moss with it to make it better.