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Fri, Sep 14, 12 at 8:41
| I have a treasure trove of aged horse manure available about 2 miles from my house. I have very poor, sandy soil that needs serious amending. But, I don't have a truck, and I do have tendonitis in my elbow already--and the leaves haven't even started to fall. I have a few reluctant teenagers at my disposal, and I just need to dump the stuff right off at the edge of the road. The toughest part is going to be digging out the aged part of the pile, since it's at the back. I'm thinking of taking a bunch of the big, brown paper leaf bags and filling them part way so they can be closed and won't spill into what ever vehicle I use. I could probably afford to rent a truck of some sort for a few hours. It's even possible that the horse place has a front loader that they might use to help load, but I would be nervous about damaging someone else's truck in the process.
Has anyone else done this or have any suggestions on how it could be managed most efficiently? Any ideas are welcome. I'm day-dreaming about this gorgeous black compost and the happy plants I could grow if I had some. Martha |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Get those teen busy crack that whip on em (so to speak). I have no proublems asking my teens to help with manual labor if I can do it so can they. Just get bags of it and load them into your trunk.If its only 2 miles away go down every weekend and get some and take those teens put em to work. |
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| If using my car's trunk I would use heavy duty large plastic garbage bags. I have some contractor bags from HD that I have used for years. You don't want those paper leaf bags tearing or getting moist and leaving that aroma in your car. |
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| Martha,Me and a good friend of mine bagged horse manure for hrs we used empty feed sacks her sister had been saving.we,loaded her truck full and then had a flat tire.We were covered with manure,had to move bags to get to the spare and either the guy was so nice or just wanted our stinky self's gone,he fixed it in a hurry and sent us on our way,lol lord,I wish I had some horse manure now. but get it any way you can works wonders for your garden. moonphase |
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| Well, I made several runs to the horse farm this weekend. I had my kids take turns with me. I was able to get my car back to the area of the pile that was older and well-composted. It's been so long since we've had rain that everything was quite dry. That meant it was much lighter to carry, and I was able to use the paper leaf bags without the concern that anything would soak through. I think I made 5 trips all told and got a great start. On my last trip, one of the workers from the barns came up and offered to use their front loader to help me, if I had a trailer or truck. I think next weekend I'll rent an open trailer and make a few trips. With the help of a machine, I could be way ahead of the game before the autumn leaves fall. I can't wait for next spring and planting time! Martha |
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| Martha, wouldn't you need a trailer hitch on your car to rent a trailer? Do you know how to back a trailer? It's not like backing a car..Best to rent a small p/u truck or ask a friend that has one and pay them to get the manure..or ask how much the horse farm will charge to deliver a load of aged manure? It might solve a lot of your problems and lower your expense if they do it. |
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| I've done this the last few years with llama manure. I use five-gallon buckets. I don't mind the work, so much; it's the time that it takes that prohibits me from getting LOTS more manure! I can fit about 6, maybe 7 buckets in the trunk of my Honda. So I drive the 7 miles or so to the farm, trudge up the hill about 200 feet to the pile, dig and fill the buckets, trudge up and down, 2 buckets at a time, and load the Honda, drive home, and it never seems as much manure when I get it home as it did at the farm! It takes about an hour for one trip/6 buckets. I need *hundreds* of buckets, lol, so I just don't have the time to get all I need. I try to rotate - some beds one fall, maybe some in the spring if I can get there, different beds the next fall, and so on. I've considered renting a truck as well. My problem is the pile is not really accessible - I would still have to shovel it into some sort of containers/wheelbarrow, get it down the hill, load it into the truck and then unload it at home. I guess I can't really complain, though, as it is free... Good luck to you - lucky you that you have the use of a loader! :) |
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| We rented a trailer and hitched to the back of our van. The workers at the horse farm were angels and we were able to get about 7 trailers full of beautifully composted manure dumped onto the future garden bed. We had so much fun, that my husband said we could do it again this weekend. We ran out of time, and he thinks we need a thicker layer in spots and wants to cover a bit more lawn. Isn't he the greatest? So, now I'm trying to decide what I'll plant. Probably lots of annuals the first year and get some perennials started so they can start to fill in. I'll definitely be looking for recommendations for low growing stuff that stays neat. Next step is to get the leaves to fall and shred them up to use as mulch to keep the moisture in and the weeds down. Thanks so much for letting me share my excitement. I'll definitely need to take before, during and after pictures. Martha |
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| Martha, I'm so glad you were able to work out some way to get the manure. Those 5 gal. buckets from HD or even if you know of a professional painter or drywall person that will share their 5 gal. buckets with you, it would be wise to keep a few on hand at all times. I put my potting mix in one that I bought at HD..they're pretty inexpensive with lids there. It is easier for me to lug the bucket around the house to the back flowerbeds than push the wheelbarrow around, through a swale and tree roots..You must have a large amount of property to get that many trailer loads..do you have a roto-tiller to work it all in or do you have to resort to the old fashion shovel method? |
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| Pippi21, I don't have a roto-tiller, but I've used the lasagna method many times, and the worms do a great job of softening up the soil. Especially if they have a good part of fall and winter plus springtime to do their work. Luckily, since the horse manure is already well composted, it has a ready-made community of worms living within it. Once I put a thick layer of shredded leaves on top, the moisture will be stabilized and the worms can do their thing. I'll wintersow most of the plants and plant hunks of sprouts when they're big enough to fend for themselves. I'm absolutely tickled at how everything is working. Thanks for letting me blather on. Martha |
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