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Manure
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by Diana Roberts |
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Category:
Organic
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| Of all the ingredients you can add to your compost, manure, the urine and dung from animals, has got to be one of the most beneficial. Manure is not one of those "hot new products". It's been recognized and used for centuries as a fertilizer and soil amendment. |
Worms
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| If you compost using earthworms, you will find that manure is an almost essential ingredient. Manure will help with the quick decomposing of your compost because of it's high nitrogen and high bacteria content. When you top-dress your lawn with manure, you will soon find that earthworms have moved into your lawn. This is a good thing! They will keep your soil aerated and therefore healthy. |
Greenhouse
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| When I had a greenhouse, I always used fresh manure in the lower part of my bins to create heat, which the tomatoes and cucumbers love. Every two years, as the manure decomposed and cooled down, I added fresh manure to the bottom, while the old stuff was added to the upper soil, to continue the richness all greenhouse soil demands. |
Cattle
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| When we think of manure, the first animal that comes to mind is usually cattle. There is, of course, many animals which give us manure for our composts. These are horses, pigs, chickens, sheep, goats, buffalo, rabbits and exotic animals. The manure highest in nitrogen, phosphate, and potash is rabbit. It is also fairly high in organic matter. Next, in order of nitrogen content, comes chicken, sheep and horse, cattle, then pig manure. |
Composted
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| Manure is much more useful, as far as nutrients go, if it is piled up to compost, and not left in a thin layer on the ground. Animal bedding should be composted when it is fresh, in order to get the most benefit from it. The bedding will have large amounts of animal urine soaked into it, but as it sits around, without being composted, the nutrients are lost. Animals which are fed grain, along with hay, will have a higher amount of minerals in their manure. It is best to cover your compost pile with black plastic to prevent rain and snow from leaching out the nutrients. As manure composts, it's bulk is reduced by about a quarter, due to the loss of carbon, in the form of carbon dioxide and hydrogen, in the form of water, which escape into the air. |
Chemical
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Too often, manure, (which is produced by animals who eat from the land), is not replaced onto the fields where it came from. Instead, chemical fertilizers are added because of the ease of spreading them.
If composted manure is spread back on the land, not only will it add much needed nutrients, but also organic matter, which is not found in chemicals. If only more people would start to recognize the huge benefits that manure has for our soil. Do you know that there are also some places that burn manure to produce electricity! |
Pollute
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When we hear of how too much manure is polluting our waterways, many people get the mistaken impression that manure is harmful. That is only the case when there are extreme amounts in one area and the runoff washes it into creeks and lakes. If it were managed properly, this manure would be composted (away from bad runoff areas), then used to fertilize fields.
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Using manure
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Many farmers are more than willing to let you have manure for free, if you are willing to haul it away. Once you have the manure, I suggest that you compost it with your leaves, garden and household vegetable scraps. It's a good idea to cover it with black plastic where it will stay moist, but not too wet and it will also heat up and create compost faster. The reason that you add other garden scraps to it, is that manure is not a complete fertilizer by itself, as there may be too much of one thing and not enough of another. The more variety you put in your compost, the better the finished product will be. If you can get your pile up to a high temperature, you will get the added benefit of having the weed seeds killed. The black plastic, will of course keep the nutrients from being leached out. Within a year, you can use your compost in your gardens or to top-dress your lawn.
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Mature animals
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Another interesting fact about animal manure, is that mature animals have a richer manure than young animals. This is because young animals need lots of nutrients to grow, so less will come out in their urine and manure. Sick animals also will not produce as rich a manure as healthy ones, and it is often better to avoid using manure from sick animals. You should never use manure from cats or dogs, because they may carry diseases that are harmful to young children.
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Rabbits
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If you own rabbits, you can start a compost pile under the rabbit cage. It keeps you from having to clean up after the animals and you will get good rich compost within a few months. It's a very good idea to introduce earthworms into the pile, as they will help by turning the manure into composted castings. Remember, when composting manure and vegetable scraps, it will decompose quicker if you be sure to get air into the pile. You must also be sure that the pile is neither too wet, nor too dry.
Don't look at manure as being something very distasteful, look at it as being a main ingredient to a very lush, green garden and lawn!
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