A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum Pooh..what kind

Our soil is clay with whatever else I can turn into it over the years.
It 's not to bad now as the clay is getting broke down .

I was going to stop by a farm and ask for some pooh to turn in before planting. What would be better, horse pooh or cow pooh ?

Or.. should I just buy some at the garden center?
I don't need much since it's small , maybe something like 3-4 5gal buckets or so.
Just wondering if the fresh stuff would be better.

I've turned a bunch of leaves in as soon as the weather broke and started a compost pile of kitchen goodies and grass clippings but it's not going to be ready for a while yet.

Right now I have taters in containers with a mix of top soil,potting soil and peat mix. That will go into the garden area after harvest to help it also.

Im really leaning towards the fresh stuff .... it would be nice to get a sense of the country life here in the city....ahhh fresh air..country air

snow

If you can get older manure from your farm then go for it. Fresh will tend to burn your plants and their roots. It is better if well rotted. Either cow or horse manure work but cows actually have less weed involved in their droppings (those multiple stomachs at work). Get a couple of spare buckets of the stuff to add to your leaves and kitchen scrap compost heap. It will do you wonders in time to come.

Yup I have cows and horses, cow manure has less weeds but still has weeds. And if you use it fresh it kills everything....definitely.

Thank you ladies.

Here's one...what about elk pooh?, I know rabbit pooh is good. The deer family are grazers too, even produce pellet pooh like the bunny ....Does that mean it would be a time released pooh being pellet form ?

Reason I ask is there's elk farm just down the road from me...just wondering what their pooh would effect on the garden.

Guessing it would be the same ...older stuff vs fresh.

snow

Actually, bunny pooh can be used fresh without any damage.
I haven't a clue about elk. Ask the farmer?

As a farm gal myself, I agree with the above posts about fresh pooh burning stuff. You should also offer the farmer some $$ for it. It is, after all, a product that was created on his farm, and people should just not assume it should be given away for free. You will score points with him/her if you do. Besides, if you go to the garden store and buy it in a bag, you have paid for it anyway.

My 2 cents.
Carol

No clue on the elk pooh..

I'm still amazed that people would pay for farming manure, here we give away a bucket or two, not too many people ask for it...maybe because they know we spread it on our own hay fields..

Our dairies here would give it away for free, you shovel. They used to be happy to share it by the bucketful or the truckload. They had to pay to have it hauled away. I am not as sure about how it works these days with everyone getting 'greener'.