can you use too much horse manure?

[Snadger]

I think you're agreeing with me

I've never said don't use it, I say you don't need to use it

You sneaky divvel........your nitt picking stuff out of context.

I think you DO need to use some kind of organic matter, but it doesn't have to come out of a horses backside. It can be a cows backside,a sheeps,a pigs, in fact any type of herbivore manure.
It can be a mulch such as sraw which rots down and adds organic matter,green manure, cardboard,paper, home made compost, leaf mould or all the other miriad of organic materials that can be added to soil.

Why pick on poor horses! I think that by saying you don't need to use hoss muck you are giving folk the impression you don't need to add any organic matter. You can get away for a few years with artificials, but eventually they will bite you in the bum and your crops, worms and soil bacteria will all suffer.

[Feral007]

If I remember rightly Twosheds doesn't add anything from elsewhere. But chops and drops everything into the garden so very little goes out of the soil and therefore doesnt need replacing - including the weeds

I have 3 horses, 5 last year. Found that manure was a pain. If you have to go out and shovel it into the ute, then shovel it out of the ute, then shovel it into the garden. And then the dogs pop into the garden for a piece of poo anytime they feel like it.

I do make manure tea. And comfrey tea, and hopefully nettle tea now I've found where some is growing. Mostly I leave the horse muck in the paddock to improve the soil out there.

We mulch hugely with hay (no seed) and I don't see the need for much manure. I don't add any bought fertilisers, just use the teas if I feel like it. Seems to be working.

Can you add too much? I think if you add too much of anything it can affect the balance of the soil you're adding it too. Then again, it depends what has been taken out of the soil.

[pigletwillie]

I certainly don't think you need manure of any sort, organic matter yes indeed but manure is not essential. I compost as much as I can be it paper and card, weeds, off cuts the lot and every autumn top dress with the finished product. Manure after all is just partially digested grass with most of the sugars and starch removed. You get a much better product composting at home and as a bonus you don't have to wheel barrow it from A to B to C as its at home or on the plot already.

[ugley_matt]

Thanks for all the advice, very much appreciated. I am going to get some more well rotted stuff to use on the beds and also mix some in with our compost heap to give that a good start.