by Kimberley A. Willis

Created on: February 10, 2010

Manure is a wonderful organic amendment to garden soil but there are some important things to remember when using manure in a vegetable garden.   All manure is the waste of some animal, but all manure isn’t created equally.  What kind of animal produced the manure, what the animal was fed and how the manure was stored all factor into how good that manure will be for the garden.

Manure can also be the cause of food poisoning, E.coli infection is often caused by manure contaminated food.  It’s important not to apply manure to the vegetable garden within a few weeks from when a crop is harvested.   This is especially true if it is applied to crops in the ground, such as beets and carrots, or to leafy greens growing close to soil level.  Melons, cucumbers and even tomatoes may rest on the ground and could become contaminated.  Therefore it’s best to apply manure to vegetable gardens in the fall after crops have been harvested.  Some nutrients will be lost over the winter, but the manure is still a good organic amendment for the soil. 

 You could apply manure early in the spring where crops like sweet corn will be planted.  It will be several months before it is harvested and the part we eat generally isn’t in contact with the ground.  Manure can also be applied to tree fruit crops in the spring.  

 Some fresh manure may actually “burn” plants.  It’s usually best to age manure for some time before applying it to gardens where plants are actively growing.  Chicken, beef and hog manure should age the longest amounts of time, 6 months is a good goal.  Horse manure is generally safe to use within a few weeks.  Rabbit, goat and sheep manure won’t burn plants when fresh if they are applied in small amounts at a time.  Make sure any spring applied manure has  aged for a few months so it won’t burn plants.  And you won’t have to worry about manure burning the crop if it is fall applied; it can be put on the garden when still fresh.

 Manure from farm animals is frequently mixed with bedding.  When composted, this mix of bedding and manure makes an excellent soil amendment.  But when this mixture of bedding and manure is put directly in the garden nitrogen may be pulled from the soil to decompose the dry material, causing a temporary nitrogen shortage for plants.

 When farmers apply

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