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  • improving soil

    i am in the process of covering my overgrown allotment with cardboard then manure. i have covered about 1/3 so far. i have an unlimited supply of horse manure my question is would pony poo from the field or mucked out stable material be better for my plot
    my plot march 2013http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvzqRS0_hbQ

    hindsight is a wonderful thing but foresight is a whole lot better

  • #2
    It depends what the stables use for bedding material? If straw, I would say this would be better than pure poo..............if woodshavings, I would opt for the pure poo as the woodshavings take forever to rot down.

    You have to remember that poo is poo only, but manure is poo/urine and an absorbant materia, which will add bulkl!
    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)

    Diversify & prosper


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    • #3
      If you use Poo from a field you will grow nettles unless composted for a good while !
      You have to loose sight of the shore sometimes to cross new oceans

      I would be a perfectionist, but I dont have the time

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      • #4
        the stable material is straw which has been piled up for ages.
        my plot march 2013http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvzqRS0_hbQ

        hindsight is a wonderful thing but foresight is a whole lot better

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        • #5
          Gold dust, hawthorns! Use it.
          Whooops - now what are the dogs getting up to?

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          • #6
            Originally posted by hawthorns View Post
            the stable material is straw which has been piled up for ages.
            Whereabouts in wiltshire? Can I have some for one of my schools?

            [kidding, the soil there is very sandy so get it on your plot ASAP!!!].

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            • #7
              Hi all....
              My soil is pants!!! It bears an uncanny resemblence being bogged down in cement dust! It is actually grey. It feels like soil - as opposed to building waste - and the neighbour believes it's 'chalk bound'. That doesn't read well. I mean. It doesn't feel like sand or clay. I turned in about a ton of manure in the winter and I've composted every time I plant.

              That sounding sensible/stoopid to anyone?

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Elise View Post
                Hi all....
                My soil is pants!!! It bears an uncanny resemblence being bogged down in cement dust! It is actually grey. It feels like soil - as opposed to building waste - and the neighbour believes it's 'chalk bound'. That doesn't read well. I mean. It doesn't feel like sand or clay. I turned in about a ton of manure in the winter and I've composted every time I plant.

                That sounding sensible/stoopid to anyone?
                There is another type of soil that is neither sandy or clay, silty soil. Silty soil is very dirty stuff to work with and when the soil is rubbed between the fingers it causes discolouration. I garden on a silty soil and grow reasonable results. The soil 'caps' very easily after rain but this in itself creates a dust mulch which holds water where the plant roots are.
                If yours is erring towards lime, (Alkaline) a soil test will soon highlight this. If your brassicas grow well and your tatties have scab could be another clue?

                PS I don't know where Crowmarsh is but by the sound of it, it would have originally been marshland which would tie in with the silty soil scenario!
                Last edited by Snadger; 16-05-2010, 11:54 AM. Reason: Noticed place name!
                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)

                Diversify & prosper


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                • #9
                  Hmm. All very plausible. It does seem to hold the water well while the surface layer dries out. The cabbages are doing reasonably well (Brassica, right?), but the 'tatties' are in compost and bagged. So I need a soil test? It is dirty, but no more dirty than I expected. Not that I've done much gardening, mind.
                  p.s.Crowmarsh is just outside Wallingford, Oxfordshire.

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