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Manure or legumes

 
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Jb



Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 7761
Location: 91� N
PostPosted: Sun Mar 22, 20 1:22 am    Post subject: Manure or legumes Reply with quote
    

If you have a plot that you want to use next year but were expecting to leave fallow for a year would you choose to manure it or plant a nitrogen fixing crop?

I have just such a bed in the garden which I was going to plant with legumes but now Maggie (the better half) has just been donated a quarter tonne of chicken shit.

So poop or peas?

tahir



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45389
Location: Essex
PostPosted: Sun Mar 22, 20 7:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

so if you manure then is the plan to plant it this year?

Shan



Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 9075
Location: South Wales
PostPosted: Sun Mar 22, 20 8:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I'd do the legumes and let the poop mature a bit. Once the legumes are done, manure the bed.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45372
Location: yes
PostPosted: Tue Mar 24, 20 1:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

250kg is a fair bit to pop in a tub to ferment

i would keep it damp for the year but put a tarp over it to avoid excess leaching when it rains if you plan on not using it now.

rather than fallow and a N fixer how about double spit trench, use raw chook muck* at the base , refill, plant broad beans ( n fixers and leave the roots in as the nodules continue to fix)and use the leftover backfill to earth up when they are a foot tall.

best of both worlds, bugs n worms will do most of the work+ you get an ace soil from that and beans.
+the cultivation will suppress weed growth, green manures and fallow can be a good excuse for neglect and "things" become established

pure, ferment it in water for a couple of months minimum and dilute it as feed.
*(if it has bedding etc , pure needs maturing or mixing with straw to use in the fresh state as mentioned)

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Tue Mar 24, 20 8:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

As you have mentioned bean nodules, I have unearthed a few from last years beans, They are hard and dry, so are they worth leaving in the ground to rot or best put on the compost heap?

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45372
Location: yes
PostPosted: Tue Mar 24, 20 1:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

i leave them in, so long as you plant something else after them there is no probs with pests and diseases and they will rot down over a year or so releasing the n they have fixed in situ.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Wed Mar 25, 20 8:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Thanks. I will be putting potatoes in that bed this year.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45372
Location: yes
PostPosted: Wed Mar 25, 20 11:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

ideal

gil
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 18409

PostPosted: Fri Mar 27, 20 8:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Legumes are lazy, and will only fix as much N as the soil needs. So I'd save the chicken shit for another time, and let the legumes work for their keep.

(interesting fact I never knew before I did that Org Ag degree)

tahir



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45389
Location: Essex
PostPosted: Sat Mar 28, 20 7:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I never knew that, makes sense

Slim



Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6533
Location: New England (In the US of A)
PostPosted: Sat Mar 28, 20 8:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I'd rephrase that to say that legumes are smart and don't bother feeding nitrogen fixing bacteria if there's enough available nitrogen in the soil

tahir



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45389
Location: Essex
PostPosted: Sat Mar 28, 20 8:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

peas are better at fertilising the soil than us!

gil
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 18409

PostPosted: Sat Mar 28, 20 12:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

slim - that's a much better way of explaining it.

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