Unfortunately we cannot find any hay/straw that’s organic and the horses eat the hay. However I got from someone who uses it in their garden with no issues. Organic 10/10/10 fertilizer is stupidly expensive. And i can get the manure free. I use straw for mulch. Gotta use what you can get.
We do spoiled hay, shavings, and tree/garden waste (through a chipper), and minimal kitchen scraps with our horse manure. Consistent turning 2-3x per week and I can get temps upwards of 150 with no weeds…. I can make a lumpy; well composted product in about 45-90 days depending on rain.
Thats great! We've been conditioned as consumers to want super finely screened material because that's what the national brands sell. But, lumpy compost is awesome. The larger particle size will help create tilth in soils.
I have 2 donkeys on a mini-farm. The longest I can "compost" their manure is about 3 months, before I have to spread it in the pasture or use it on something. I add some waste hay, some lime, and turn it some but not terribly effectively. It never heats up! Today I spread some that was 3 months old and had melted down to about 1/4 its original bulk, on some shrubs, sunflowers, and perennials. It was the consistency of dense black mud (and FULL of tiny red wigglers!) Now I'm worrying about burning my plants. My hay is pesticide free. My local ag office hasn't been terribly helpful. Any suggestions? And should I scrape this stuff off my flame azaleas??
I haven't run any windrows with manure yet but I'd like to try it out as an experiment. Right now we're focused on food waste and that seems to be the "low hanging fruit" for now.
We have only composted manure in ASP systems, but have had really good results in the past. We haven't handled it for the last 10 years due to the herbicide risk - but we might open a site to handle horse manure and food waste in the future. The mixture of food waste and horse manure/bedding does make some great compost when done well
Can someone explain the “carbon stealing nutrients from my soil” statement? I was always taught the larger the carbon pool the better plants can fight off pests, pathogens, and stress. Would love to learn more about this.
Large amounts of carbon, such as uncomposted wood chips, in compost will require nitrogen from the soil you add it to to break down, and the microbes will take the nitrogen from the soil to do this, which will make it unavailable for your plants. This is why much compost is screened to a smaller size before use, so big chunks of unprocessed/unbroken-down wood aren't in it. Really woody compost is fine as a topdressing/mulch, but not as a garden bed filler/soil blend.
Grazon is a tough one, that stinks! The top of the label says "Hay from grass treated with GrazonNext HL within the preceding 18 months can only be used on the farm or ranch where the product is applied unless allowed by supplemental labeling" but some farmers go ahead and sell their hay at auction or on Facebook Marketplace, etc to unsuspecting buyers. So, we try to source manure from farms where they grow their own hay and know 100% that no persistent herbicides were used.
@@veterancompost You did a great job of fully covering the topic. I warned a friend 3x about the compost he was making for his garden, but the info just didn't sink in. His garden is going to suck next season. He uses hay for his chickens. I know the fields where he gets his hay. The field is perfect, no weeds. You know it was sprayed just by looking @ the field.
what a useless video no information what so ever except be careful if buy it and do not ise it raw! No dos or do not to tell you how to compost it yourself.
Glad it worked out for you! Wasn't trying to scare anyone into buying other compost - just want to make sure folks know some of the issues. When things go right with horse manure composting - it does make some good stuff.
Great info!!🪱🪱🪱
Great video, Justin! - Cory from Greener Bay Compost
Hey, thanks!
Unfortunately we cannot find any hay/straw that’s organic and the horses eat the hay. However I got from someone who uses it in their garden with no issues. Organic 10/10/10 fertilizer is stupidly expensive. And i can get the manure free.
I use straw for mulch.
Gotta use what you can get.
We do spoiled hay, shavings, and tree/garden waste (through a chipper), and minimal kitchen scraps with our horse manure. Consistent turning 2-3x per week and I can get temps upwards of 150 with no weeds…. I can make a lumpy; well composted product in about 45-90 days depending on rain.
Thats great! We've been conditioned as consumers to want super finely screened material because that's what the national brands sell. But, lumpy compost is awesome. The larger particle size will help create tilth in soils.
I have 2 donkeys on a mini-farm. The longest I can "compost" their manure is about 3 months, before I have to spread it in the pasture or use it on something. I add some waste hay, some lime, and turn it some but not terribly effectively. It never heats up! Today I spread some that was 3 months old and had melted down to about 1/4 its original bulk, on some shrubs, sunflowers, and perennials. It was the consistency of dense black mud (and FULL of tiny red wigglers!) Now I'm worrying about burning my plants. My hay is pesticide free.
My local ag office hasn't been terribly helpful. Any suggestions? And should I scrape this stuff off my flame azaleas??
I haven't run any windrows with manure yet but I'd like to try it out as an experiment. Right now we're focused on food waste and that seems to be the "low hanging fruit" for now.
We have only composted manure in ASP systems, but have had really good results in the past. We haven't handled it for the last 10 years due to the herbicide risk - but we might open a site to handle horse manure and food waste in the future. The mixture of food waste and horse manure/bedding does make some great compost when done well
I use it n the compost pile and also in a bucket of water to make a liquid fertilizer.
You make manure tea? How do you use it after you make it? Like a soil drench or something else?
Can someone explain the “carbon stealing nutrients from my soil” statement? I was always taught the larger the carbon pool the better plants can fight off pests, pathogens, and stress. Would love to learn more about this.
Large amounts of carbon, such as uncomposted wood chips, in compost will require nitrogen from the soil you add it to to break down, and the microbes will take the nitrogen from the soil to do this, which will make it unavailable for your plants. This is why much compost is screened to a smaller size before use, so big chunks of unprocessed/unbroken-down wood aren't in it. Really woody compost is fine as a topdressing/mulch, but not as a garden bed filler/soil blend.
The biggest issue is to watch out for is grazon. It will ruin your garden for @ least one season. It happened to me 5 years ago.
Grazon is a tough one, that stinks! The top of the label says "Hay from grass treated with GrazonNext HL within the preceding 18 months can only be used on the farm or ranch where the product is applied unless allowed by supplemental labeling" but some farmers go ahead and sell their hay at auction or on Facebook Marketplace, etc to unsuspecting buyers. So, we try to source manure from farms where they grow their own hay and know 100% that no persistent herbicides were used.
@@veterancompost You did a great job of fully covering the topic.
I warned a friend 3x about the compost he was making for his garden, but the info just didn't sink in. His garden is going to suck next season. He uses hay for his chickens. I know the fields where he gets his hay. The field is perfect, no weeds. You know it was sprayed just by looking @ the field.
what a useless video no information what so ever except be careful if buy it and do not ise it raw! No dos or do not to tell you how to compost it yourself.
Never had a problem with horse manure, seems like a scare campaign to buy commercial compost.
Glad it worked out for you! Wasn't trying to scare anyone into buying other compost - just want to make sure folks know some of the issues. When things go right with horse manure composting - it does make some good stuff.