Vegie beds need to be prepared for coming seasons and one way to give back to the soil is through manure.

The nutrient value of manure varies greatly depending on what the animals are fed. Cows, sheep, horse, and chooks are all herbivores but while cows and sheep will graze on grass and hay, chooks and horses are often feed greater nutrient rich food thus it generally means their manure has a higher nutrient value.

One point of caution with horse manure is that horses do not process their food as finely as for example a cow they tend to have a lot more grain and so forth which is undigested which can lead to weeds popping up all over your vegie patch.

I have heard that rabbit manure is excellent for the soil, however obtaining a lot of rabbit manure can be difficult. One option I have heard is if you have a rabbit or know somebody with a rabbit take their droppings and make a watery manure juice. This could be done by placing the droppings in a hessian type bag or thin clothe and then placed in some water and allowed to dissolve and break down. This will be explored in a later post as I have access to rabbit droppings and we will see how good it is.

Sourcing Manure

It is always best to know what diet the animal has had when you buy their manure. It is great if you have your own animals or know the person you get the manure from this way you can have an idea of the amount of nutrients you are getting and what the animal has digested.

If you do not have direct access to manure some nurseries, have in stock different types of manure. The other option is to take a country drive, an expensive exercise with petrol prices now, I know, but you can usually find some type of manure for sale on the side of the road.

I am however cautious about using manures of animals I do not know what they have been fed. Whatever the animal eats ends up in the manure and as such, any medication given to animals will end up in the final product. I personally do not want any medication given to animals and passed through to their manure on my organic vegie garden.

Using Manure

Make sure the manure you buy is somewhat rotted if you wish to use it straight away as it will burn your plants if you place fresh manure directly on them. If manure is rotted, it should not smell foul and any hay or grass should not be recognisable, as it should be becoming part of the manure.

Once you get the manure home and pour it onto the vegie patch make, sure you work the manure into the soil and not let it sit on top of the existing soil, as nitrogen will be lost. Once the manure is worked into the soil, I usually leave it for a couple of months before I plant any vegies in the bed.

Manure can also be mixed with hay and allowed to decompose or added to the compost bin

Manure can be great for any vegie patch and provides plenty of nutrients for the soil.