Community › Community › General Gardening › Sowing and Growing › Horse Manure › Reply To: Horse Manure
Paul, so sorry to learn that you have encountered this problem. I know it is soul destroying. The problem is that yes the farmers no doubt have all the right paperwork but they continue to use AP because they don’t think anyone will ever know. Indeed I doubt that I would have ever known what I was up against if it hadn’t been for you Charles. Even if you ask the horse owners they dont have a clue what goes on with the hay they buy in, which is what happened to me on the third disaster. As Charles says the AP appears to be fairly mild but from what I have read the effects can last for years and the recommendation is to rotovate to mix with soil organisms to break it down. The problem with that is that once the manure has been rotovated there is no way to remove it if the effects do remain apparent. I think if I was in your position Paul I would remove the manure from at least some of your beds for next year. On a positive note the shovelling is great excercise! I will never use horse manure again but I have had good results with green compost so I cant see any point in risking the work and disappointment for manure. So if you can find a supply from your local authority that may be the way to go. You should report this to Dow chemicals.