Eeeek ! Ive just moved house and its got 4 acres so I came here for help!!!!

[wizzbang]

Hi, let me introduce myself.
I'm Lynne. Hiya
I've just moved from Lancashire to Shropshire. The house has four acres split into a few different garden areas. An Orchard, a kitchen garden which is a massive square divided into four big triangular pie slices, a composting areas at the bottom of a field comprising of 4 different piles of compost, an area where I would like to grow flowers to cut for the house, a 30ft polytunnel, two greenhouses, a potting shed with a well !! gosh!, lawns, an acre paddock, a sunken alpine rockery and all sorts of other nooks and crannies.
So ladies and gentlemen I am sincerely hoping that you will be able to help me in the mammoth task I have ahead of me.
I have gardened before but only in a normal suburban garden.
So once again, hello and HELP
My first question is about slimy horse manure in the composting area...... its disgusting and its like slimy melted tar. The previous owners had horses and they have just piled the stuff up in one area and its gone yukky. What to do??????
Lynne

[Feral007]

Manure should be 12 months old before you use it. And I find if it's mixed with wood shavings or straw then it's much better. Having said that..........I've got 90 something acres so I just leave it in the paddock to self fertilise

That sounds like a fabulous set of gardens, but a bit overwhelming to start with I bet.

Someone will come along and help you soon I'm sure. From me, I'd say work out what needs to be done when (which things need to be pruned and fed, etc, and what needs to be dug over, etc) so that you have a yearly calendar. Otherwise it's going to be too big to deal with. I'd pay a man with a ride on mower to to the big areas.

[Bigmallly]

Welcome to the vine wizzbang, I envy you on one hand as it sounds wonderful but I don't envy all the hard work that's needed to keep up to it. With regards to your manure, black is good. It sounds wet that's all, can you get anything to cover it & as Feral says, try mixing some brown material in i.e cardboard, newspaper, leaves.........Enjoy your new garden.

[KittyColdNose]

Hi Lynne, welcome.

Oh my, what I wouldn't give for an allotment, never mind 4 acres! It sounds like hard work but very rewarding. I am new myself so don't know too much about manure other than mixing it into my compost last year.

[veggiechicken]

Hi Lynne and welcome to the Grapevine. What a fantastic "problem" to have. I hope there's more than one of you to play in it! Decide on your priorities and concentrate on those. Borrow a pony to graze the paddock. Cover the parts of the veg garden that are not in use yet with cardboard to control the weeds.
..........and, since we're such a nosey bunch, we'd love to see some photos

[Jardiniere]

I cant help you ...i am too jealous! Sounds like total heaven...I want it.....all of it ..can you move it here please?

[alldigging]

Welcome! And I am completely envious!

[PyreneesPlot]

Hello and welcome.

Sounds like heaven - assuming you are always tired with dirt under your fingernails and an achy back in heaven

Have fun and if it overwhelms you just ignore some of it - didn't do Heligan any harm!

[Darwin.]

Hi Lynne, I'm afraid I'll be of absolutely no help, I only signed up here a few days ago because I'm clueless when it comes to gardening and I want to pick peoples brains.

I moved out to the country 3 years ago but only have an acre to play with and everything has to be done from scratch. I would've absolutely loved to have found a place like yours, it sounds absolutely perfect but I'd never be in the house if I had all that.

Hopefully the wise folk on here give you plenty of advice, good luck with getting everything sorted.

[Glutton4...]

Hello, and welcome to the Madhouse!

Jealous!? MOi!? You bet!!!!!!!

My advice - set a week or two aside, get a comfy chair, and read your way through this site. If you can fathom out the 'search' system, all well and good. You'll probably be able to find anything you need on these 'pages' I should think.

As for your hoss-poo pile - if it's black and tarry that's perfect! Use it as a mulch over the areas you want to cultivate. It'll keep the weeds down, and the worms will mix it in for you to save you doing any hard work.

Good luck!

Oh, and remember, we're a right nosey bunch, so we'll neeeeeeeeeed loads of pictures...

[Aberdeenplotter]

Hard work? That's what put the great in Great Britain!! I'm so bloomin jealous. your horse muck is an asset not a liability. If it's in the way move it but don't throw it out. It is like gold in terms of growing vegetables. My own inclination would be to use as much as you can in the bottom of your trenches when planting your spuds. They will love it. Also dig as much as you can in to the beds you will be growing brassicas in and likewise with onions. Brassicas and onions are gross feeders and they will also love it. Did I say I'm jealous. Yups very.

p.s. if you have horse muck left over. Make a series of 3 compost bins using old pallets or similar. Layer straw or similar with your horse muck and also add in layers of grass and annual weedsduring the season.(leave the other two bins empty. They will be for next year and the year after). You will end up with super compost which is great in the veggie plot.

[out in the cold]

Welcome to the forum Lynne.

I have learned loads here in only a short time.

For my part (only dealing with 28 ft x 10 ft, so my economy of scale is different) I would advise sitting down and working out short term, mid term and long term goals.

Plan what sort of veggies you will actually use and go for those firstly.

It sounds fantastic, but don't try to do everything at once

[rabbit]

Hello! Congratulations, little and often seems to be the key. We've got by so far with a lot of help from siblings, dads and uncles who are up for some hard graft!

[marchogaeth]

1. Decide how much time you have to spend on your garden. I don't know about anyone else but this sounds like a serious enterprise. I assume this is a house you expect to be in long term. You may have to consider options for getting help if your time is limited.
2. Don't rush to do anything in areas that are "permanant" keep on top of weeds and carefully record what appears where over the next 12 months. If it's an established garden there will be things in the ground that you don't know about yet. At the end of 12 months you can start to make decisions about where you want to go with these areas.
3. Get an expert in to advise you about your orchard, pruning, management etc - I think this would be money well spent.
3.Repair anything that needs repairing in the glass houses and polytunnel. Even if you make limited use of them this year they will be in good repair for the future.
4. Cardboard/black plastic on un planted areas to control weeds until you are ready to use the plots (as VC says)
5. A one acre paddock's not really big enough to do much with. You could borrow a pony to graze it while there was grass but horses like it short not long so you will need to have it short to begin with and agree an on off system with the owner.

If it was me, I would convert it to a wild flower meadow. If you are patient you can do this with minimal expense. Even a sown sward will revert over time. Basically, let it grow as long as it likes until the middle of July to end of August. Then cut it and cart the grass off (essential but also the hard bit unless you can get a local farmer to do you a favour.). Apply no manure/fertilizer. Keep doing this for at least five years. About year 3 panic. Year 7 feel really good about all the vetches, yellow rattle, yarrow, rare butterflies, swooping swallows feeding on insects and possibly even skylarks that appear in your paddock. (There are other things you can do and if you go down this root at any point you can pm me. We converted the whole farm to organic including 15 acres or so of hay meadow.)

[Two_Sheds]

I'd pay a man with a ride on mower to to the big areas.

I love driving a ride-on, but the novelty would soon wear off. I'd think I'd rather keep tethered goats, or geese as lawnmowers (in my tiny suburban garden I use guineapigs)