Cow manure can be bad for garden if it has this in it.

[Pappy]

Cow manure is quite possibly the best fertilizer one can get for their garden but it can also be the worst.

Herbicides like Grazon are no joke, and they can be in your hay and manure.

If a field was sprayed with this herbicide and then hay was made off this field or cows grazed on it then you have a recipe for disaster in your garden if you use the manure from these cows. Your garden will just die off.

If you use cow manure make sure that the hay, etc was not sprayed with Grazon before you use it.

Just a little tip for those that may have had gardens but everything always died off. This could be your problem.

I have been using Black Kow manure in my garden along with mushroom compost.  I would like to find someone with cow manure they would like to get rid of to help my garden. I am finally going to try composting and I would like to add cow manure to it and let it all turn into black gold for my garden.

If you happen to know anyone who has to much cow manure and they don't know what to do with it well I can help them out.

 

[lavender]

9 hours ago, Gator11 said:

Cow manure is quite possibly the best fertilizer one can get for their garden but it can also be the worst.

Herbicides like Grazon are no joke, and they can be in your hay and manure.

If a field was sprayed with this herbicide and then hay was made off this field or cows grazed on it then you have a recipe for disaster in your garden if you use the manure from these cows. Your garden will just die off.

If you use cow manure make sure that the hay, etc was not sprayed with Grazon before you use it.

Just a little tip for those that may have had gardens but everything always died off. This could be your problem.

I have been using Black Kow manure in my garden along with mushroom compost.  I would like to find someone with cow manure they would like to get rid of to help my garden. I am finally going to try composting and I would like to add cow manure to it and let it all turn into black gold for my garden.

If you happen to know anyone who has to much cow manure and they don't know what to do with it well I can help them out.

 

That is certainly interesting. Thank you. We use chicken manure mostly for the compost pile. I have learned that with the shutting down of the coal powered plants there is less acid rain and you can over-lime your garden. 

Maybe you could contact 4-H  and find someone who keeps a cow or two for a project. I think most of the farmers aren't going to give it away. You can usually get horse manure easier. I've been told that it is full of weed seeds though as horses don't digest them. We've used it without any new kinds of weeds at least. Proper composting on a large scale isn't easy. It's heavy work.  Good luck! 

[Pappy]

6 hours ago, lavender said:

That is certainly interesting. Thank you. We use chicken manure mostly for the compost pile. I have learned that with the shutting down of the coal powered plants there is less acid rain and you can over-lime your garden. 

Maybe you could contact 4-H  and find someone who keeps a cow or two for a project. I think most of the farmers aren't going to give it away. You can usually get horse manure easier. I've been told that it is full of weed seeds though as horses don't digest them. We've used it without any new kinds of weeds at least. Proper composting on a large scale isn't easy. It's heavy work.  Good luck! 

Do not use chicken manure on potatoes if you plant them. I have used horse manure in the past and have not had problems I may try and find someone with to much of that also.

I do not believe the 4h kids are raising anything this year because of the cost of feed. I read an article somewhere about that but was not sure if that was in our area.

[Petee]

Find a goat farm and ask for 5 gallon buckets of it.  Rabbit manure is also better.  Any animal that produces pelletized manure is a better bet than a larger animal for the home garden.

Wise Use of Manure in Home Vegetable Gardens (psu.edu)

[lavender]

2 hours ago, Gator11 said:

Do not use chicken manure on potatoes if you plant them. I have used horse manure in the past and have not had problems I may try and find someone with to much of that also.

I do not believe the 4h kids are raising anything this year because of the cost of feed. I read an article somewhere about that but was not sure if that was in our area.

Our soil is too heavy to grow potatoes or any other root crop. We used to be able to grow beets because they form so near the surface but they haven't been good for the last 3 years. 

[Pappy]

On 5/3/2022 at 8:16 PM, lavender said:

Our soil is too heavy to grow potatoes or any other root crop. We used to be able to grow beets because they form so near the surface but they haven't been good for the last 3 years. 

Here is something I am going to do this year as I bought to many seed potatoes.

Just lay them on the ground and cover them up with compost, soil or even hay or straw or a combination. This would probably work best with determinate potatoes like Yukon gold where the potatoes only grow on the bottom and not up along the plant like indeterminate ones do. So you would not have to heal the plants meaning to keep adding soil as the plant grows.

I am also planting in buckets this year. You could try this also as long as you obtain food grade buckets. I have a couple of raised beds where I planted last year and got a nice crop nothing spectacular but nice.

[lavender]

I planted potatoes in a barrel one year. I wish I could remember what I planted them in. Whatever it was it didn't work. I know it wasn't soil. There are two huge piles of composted mulch in the one garden. Think that would work with the potatoes if I spread it? 

We have been having the worst time getting seeds to germinate. I think something is eating them. I've got some lettuce coming up in a raised bed so nothing got those seeds.  I'm hoping that the ones that go into the ground are going to do better this year. It is frustrating. I've planted some peas along a fence. Whatever is eating them didn't find them there last year. I'm hiding my seeds from the critters!   I'm starting even squash and cucumbers indoors and have been for several years. It's a nuisance. 

[Pappy]

8 hours ago, lavender said:

I planted potatoes in a barrel one year. I wish I could remember what I planted them in. Whatever it was it didn't work. I know it wasn't soil. There are two huge piles of composted mulch in the one garden. Think that would work with the potatoes if I spread it? 

We have been having the worst time getting seeds to germinate. I think something is eating them. I've got some lettuce coming up in a raised bed so nothing got those seeds.  I'm hoping that the ones that go into the ground are going to do better this year. It is frustrating. I've planted some peas along a fence. Whatever is eating them didn't find them there last year. I'm hiding my seeds from the critters!   I'm starting even squash and cucumbers indoors and have been for several years. It's a nuisance. 

I am sure it would.  As long as you can keep at least 4 inches or more on top of the potatoes. Spread the potatoes out about 8 inches apart also to get a better and bigger yield. I know wayland farm supply has seed potatoes in stock as I got some from there this year. I should have had mine planted already they should all be planted by this weekend. I may go out and plant some today. You do not have to cut them if you do not want to. If you do cut them to split up the eyes let them sit for a few days to let the open area heal over. If not they will just rot in the ground. I am doing both whole potatoes and cutting them in half to see what yields I get.