Where can I get 2 tons of farmyard manure?

RHYSDAD

spend_thrift wrote: »

I'm part of a community allotment start up on my estate. After a slow start we're finally at the stage where we're building raised beds (using reclaimed scaffolding boards) and filling them up with soil ready to plant. :j

So far we have filled one bed with topsoil. It took a whole builder's bag (about 1 ton?) to fill to a depth of about 10cms. I read today that this still isn't fertile enough to grow in and we need to mix in manure to get a decent crop. The website I was reading (Seed to Plate) suggests 150L manure for every 32 square feet of bed. That makes 2025L in all for our space, which is about 2 tons! :eek:

Where will we get 2 tons of poo? We're in Dulwich (SE22) and would need to get it delivered - preferably at the weekend and preferably as cheaply as possible. Southwark Council has nothing on its website about manure.

Any ideas?

See post on Allotment.org.uk here

Not too far from you. Although an old post from 2008, you'll see on page 2 that she advertised again in March this year. Good Luck!

Kay_Peel

Sometimes you can find good sources of manure on Ebay - collection only of course and the starting bid is usually something like 0.5p (but the blurb tells you to ring a number and just help yourself).

The other sources include:

Horse Riding Stables. In fact, I've been known to follow a horse and rider down the road, asking them where they come from and have they got a manure heap? I got a good result from that one!

Donkey/Goat Sanctuaries. There's one near me. You can fill as many of your bags as you want and you are just asked for a donation to their charity.

Good luck!

realfood

In 2008 and 2009, there have been many reports from allotments all over the UK of manure having been contaminated by residues of a herbicide called “aminopyralid”. This has caused major damage or even failure, to crops of potatoes, tomatoes, peas, beans, carrots, lettuce and similar crops, where the manure has been used as a fertiliser.
As a result, farmers and stables are no longer allowed to sell any manure where the grass or silage that is fed to cattle or horses has been treated with aminopyralid.
Many horse stables will have no information on whether their horse feed has been treated with aminopyralid.

Mids_Costcutter

This aminopyralid herbicide sounds like bad news, especially the amount of time needed for it to break down. Perhaps the safe solution may be to find an organic farm, though organic manure may be in demand!

Try the Soil Association's web site to find a directory of organic farmers in your area:

http://www.soilassociation.org/

SallyForth_2

Kay_Peel wrote: »

Sometimes you can find good sources of manure on Ebay - collection only of course and the starting bid is usually something like 0.5p (but the blurb tells you to ring a number and just help yourself).

The other sources include:

Horse Riding Stables. In fact, I've been known to follow a horse and rider down the road, asking them where they come from and have they got a manure heap? I got a good result from that one!

Donkey/Goat Sanctuaries. There's one near me. You can fill as many of your bags as you want and you are just asked for a donation to their charity.

Good luck!

And Zoos - I've hear Elephant dung is rather good too - lol

Orange_King

SallyForth wrote: »

And Zoos - I've hear Elephant dung is rather good too - lol

Yes, but only for tree trunks.........

lostinrates

realfood wrote: »

In 2008 and 2009, there have been many reports from allotments all over the UK of manure having been contaminated by residues of a herbicide called “aminopyralid”. This has caused major damage or even failure, to crops of potatoes, tomatoes, peas, beans, carrots, lettuce and similar crops, where the manure has been used as a fertiliser.
As a result, farmers and stables are no longer allowed to sell any manure where the grass or silage that is fed to cattle or horses has been treated with aminopyralid.
Many horse stables will have no information on whether their horse feed has been treated with aminopyralid.

This is true. I know our hay, haylage and grass has not been, but I will write to our feed suppliers and see what they can tell me about fibre sources in hard feeds. Thanks for the reminder, its worth checking.

blushingbride_3

i'd ring farmers/ find someone witha horse, i know that my friend has to pay someone to take a trailer away of muck from her horse.

lostinrates

lostinrates wrote: »

This is true. I know our hay, haylage and grass has not been, but I will write to our feed suppliers and see what they can tell me about fibre sources in hard feeds. Thanks for the reminder, its worth checking.

I did indeed writie feed provides and have been assures this is not a problem. as I'm in the process of buying new land I have been told that this is not an issue on the land, but I am going to ask them to reconfirm.

If the feed companies told me they'll tell other owners, so follow a horse and if they want to giv you their manure ask hem to double check with hay/feed providers