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new allotment - struggling for rotted manure

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Comments

  • Hi

    Have you asked around the site to see wher others are getting thiers from? We asked around, went down to the plot one day and one of the old boys had dumbed a big load on our plot for us. (got to love the old boys at the allotments).

    Also post on your local freecycle as someone may be able to point you in the right direction.

    If you can't get any when we lived in london we used the chicken peelets you can buy in most gardern centres and they done the job.

    Enjoy your plot.
  • Zazen999
    Zazen999 Posts: 6,183 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Poultry pellets support battery farming, just in case you wanted to avoid this.

    Anyhow - what you will need to do is to decide how much of your plot you are going to use in year 1, whether to have beds or rows, and what you are going to do with the soil that you aren't using. Some might need covering up once rotavated to stop the seeds from germinating and taking over the plot. I use weed fabric for my paths and cardboard and plant through the card directly.

    If you can't get hold of well rotted manure, you can leave it until next year -and just put compost into the holes that you dig and put the veg in. Or just the compost that it originally grows in. Your soil will have a fair amount of goodness in the soil already from not being used for a couple of years.

    The main thing is to look at what fertilisers you can use this year; I use a range for the types of crops that I am growing. All of them are organic [comfrey, nettles, home made compost, coffee grounds etc etc], so you might want to do some research, or just go for it this year and use the manure next year, once it has rotted down.

    I wouldn't let the lack of manure worry you in year 1 though...just get it in for next year.
  • Lotus-eater
    Lotus-eater Posts: 10,789 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I think zazen is pretty spot on tbh.
    Your patch won't be that bad if it has been worked before. The crops that will need heavy manuring, you can use poultry pellets, the rest should be ok, but you could make up some nettle stinky brew and use that as a liquid manure/tea for this year.
    Cover up the manure and use it next year. Get a good few comfrey plants in now if you can, ask at the alloments if any one has any and ask for a few root offcuts.

    You can make manure tea as well by using fresh manure, stick it in a pair of tights and hang it in a bucket of water, smelly but perfect liquid manure. You can read about it online.
    Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.
  • Thanks all for your responses

    Im in Yorkshire near wakefield so if anyone has any spare ;)

    Well the council are rotavating before i officially get it

    My plan is to maybe use half this year (initally anyhow) and just cover the rest for weed control.

    Im planning on trying onions, potatoes (a few diff ones), carrots, cabbage, sprouts, turnips, peas, i think though that i will also try some plug plants this year - then im more likely to actually get some veg for my hard work!!! If anyone knows anywhere decent pls let me know - looked on Ebay but with delivery dont sem too great
  • Spirit_2
    Spirit_2 Posts: 5,546 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    You cannot get much further south than us without getting your feet wet, so I think Yorkshire is too far for transport. Best of luck, lots of horsey folk would be glad to get rid of their heap.
  • Ilona
    Ilona Posts: 2,449 Forumite
    Just look out for horses on your travels and knock on doors, surely someone has a pile of stinking rotting hoss muck that they want to get rid of. If you don't ask,,,,,,Failing that, start collecting mole hills. BTW did you know you can use your own urine as an accelerator to rot stuff down? Pee on your pile. Ilona
    I love skip diving.
    :D
  • Lotus-eater
    Lotus-eater Posts: 10,789 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    You can use urine as a fertilizer as well. Dilute it by about half. Cheap and great for the plants.
    Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.
  • Just put horse stables in wakefield into google and there is a few riding and schools and liverys around you. If you haven't tries already it may be worth giving them a call.
  • susank
    susank Posts: 809 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts
    advertise on freecycle for horse manure or chicken compost
    Saving in my terramundi pot £2, £1 and 50p just for me! :j
  • Nice_Username
    Nice_Username Posts: 3,735 Forumite
    If anyoene hasn't manured yet, Morrisons are currently doing big 10k tubs of organic chicken manure pellets for only £6. That's eve cheaper than Wilko (£5 for 7.5k).

    Just as good as horse manure, but much less risky (if your horse manure isn't properly rotted it can burn the roots).
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