Grow Your Own Magazine

Just taken over an allotment that needs a lot of work doing (dont they all)the allotment is 38m x 12m and at the very end of the site. Most of the allotment holders have manure delivered by the trailer full at a reasonable cost, however due to the narrow track the nearest he can get to my allotment is about 180m away, my querie is woud organic chicken manure pellets be a good substitute for fresh manure?. Pellets are easy to transport and costs £8.00 per 20kg bag, does anyone have any advice please

If you dont mind a bit of hard work using a wheel barrow I would be inclined to get the manure.

Cheers Chris

Hi Spitfire, i had to move thirteen large bags of well rotted manure with my car. Then wheelbarrowed them up two at a time, hundred meters to my plot, boy was i kn---red. I agree with crichmond, its worth the effort. Maybe you could get one of the lottie holders to help you then treat him to a couple of pints at the pub to quench your thirsts. Good luck.

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good Diggin, Chuffa.

Vescere bracis meis.

It's about 150m from my plot to the manure drop-off point. I moved one trailer load in 2006 and will do another load at the end of this year. It's hard work, but well worth the effort and very good for you

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Resistance is fertile

Hi Spitfire.

Our plot is 100yds away from the manure pile but it's surprising how quickly you can move it to your plot once you get going. I think I must have barrowed tonnes of the stuff onto the plot in this last year.

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I've had my weetabix...

One of the allotment holders on our site got some muck delivered when he wasn't there and because the guy opposite couldn't get in his gate, he climbed over the top and shovelled it away..........onto his own plot!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

I was going to say that's taking the p1ss, but it's even worse than that!

sorry.

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Resistance is fertile

Thanks guys
Looks like I'll have to roll my sleaves up and get on with it, but not this weekend. weather going to be .......Manure! Spitfire

Horse manure and chicken manure are useful in different ways, IMHO.

Chicken manure is best used like any general-purpose fertilizer, i.e. in relatively small amounts, as it's quite strong. I scattered some (from my own hens) over my raised salad beds in the winter, and my over-wintered parsley and self-seeded coriander are going great guns!

Horse manure is much better for mulching large beds, to cut down weeds, improve soil texture, etc, and can be used in much greater quantities. Well worth the effort of carting it to your plot

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Small Plot? No Problem! - my blog about growing organic veg

Remember- you've also got the 'bulk' in the manure as a soil improver which you wouldn't have with pellets.

I actually find the act of transferring the muck from the heap into the barrow the hardest part- just don't overfill your barrow and you shouldn't get too knackered.

As a seedling , I used to help out at a stables and we used to compete as to who could fill the barrow the most. Bashed down and piled high!!! ....stagger...stagger...
Remember there are no 'brownie points' for the fullest/heaviest barrow loads folks!!!

PS...nice Avatar Eyren!!

Hi Spitfire, welcome to the vine, looks like you've got a busy weeekend coming up! Can you rope in any volunteers to help?

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Imagination is everything, it is a preview of what is to become.

That's what I was trying to say, but you put it better. I'm aiming for the no-dig system on my plot - one good double-dig initially to get rid of most of the perennial weeds, then just cover the bed with manure and/or homemade compost every so often and leave the worms to do their job

Thanks! I made it for the poultry-keeping forums I belong to, but decided it would be appropriate here as well.

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Small Plot? No Problem! - my blog about growing organic veg

I can vouch for that system as that's what I did with my beds last year. It gets a damm site easier the second year as well!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

I,m using this method too, my Grandad just smiles knowingly and shakes his head!

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Imagination is everything, it is a preview of what is to become.

I know, Snadger! I only managed to get two beds done properly last year, but this year the soil in them is so soft and loose it feels like, if I trod on it, I'd sink up to my waist in seconds!

I'm too old to have grandads any more, but the old boy on the next plot occasionally looks at me askance, and when I asked about the previous tenants (the plot had been abandoned for several months), he told me some details then added "It was well-cultivated - he knew what he was doing" - implying I don't!!

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Small Plot? No Problem! - my blog about growing organic veg

My soil is heavy clay, the initial dig was very hard work but very necessary.
I am amazed by the improvement this spring from what I added in the autumn. No dig is deffo the method for me.

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Imagination is everything, it is a preview of what is to become.

And the last thing you want on heavy clay is to be walking all over it, which you would have to do in order to dig it. Mine is clayey loam, and it really sticks to your wellies when it's wet (and goes rock hard in summer), but the no-dig beds are just fab - really good-sized carrots last year with zero effort!

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Small Plot? No Problem! - my blog about growing organic veg

We're also using the "no-dig-smother-everything-in-horse-manure-and-straw-method" on our plot and I think the other plot holders are quite bemused. One guy a few plots away thinks we're like the Goodes off The Good Life!

Hopefully we'll prove them all wrong Lainey Lou & Eyren!

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I've had my weetabix...

From what I've seen so far, couch grass does not like to be smothered in horse $#!^ - which is good news for me! No brambles or horsetail on my plot thankfully, but it's a constant battle to keep the grass under control. Luckily I now have a (literal) windfall of 40-odd fence planks, some of which I'm going to sink into the soil to stop the runners from spreading...

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Small Plot? No Problem! - my blog about growing organic veg

We have couch grass, bind weed, nettles, dandelions, buttercups and DOCK LEAVES. Last year was our 1st year & in a couple of places horse tail came up. I immediately dug any traces of it up but does this mean it's on its way or just that it was some random bits?

The plot at the other end of the row to me has loads of it (9 plots away) and he is always digging it out & burning the bits with a blow torch, but nobody in between seems to have any.

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I've had my weetabix...