Novice Again

[Hans Mum]

Hi all,
thanks for your words of advice from last week, managed to get some onion & garlic in this weekend so feel like a proper lottie holder now
Weather been very kind 'up north' & its half term here with a week off work am trying to clear the other beds before a tonne of horse manure is delivered early next month - can somebody tell me.... do I just cover all the beds Ive cleared and turned over with it and leave it over the winter and if i put it on now should it be covered with anything (and if so what?) or do i keep it till spring and then put it on?
Also been given some strawberry plants - do these go in now & if so what do they like and if not how do i keep them over winter? Sorry if ive asked too many questions...said i should have listened to my dad
Thanks all

[nick the grief]

A tonne of Horse Muck !!! thats some horse

depends on the age of the muck & how soon you are going to plant. If it's fresh then I wouldn't use it on any of the beds that you are going to plant in now. You can however ladle it on about 3" or 4" thick & cover it with some black plastic. that will stop any wintre rain leaching the goodness from the soil & hte worms will do the business for you. The rest I would try and get hold of some pallets & make asort of Bin affair & stack the rest in there & cover it & use it either in the spring or this time next year. You could add some to the bottom of your bean trench & if your going to grow Courgettes or Marrows dig a bigg hole & fill this with muck then put the earth back on top. so you get a mound.

Think that answered them all

[rustylady]

Strawberry plants can go in now, specially as it's still quite warm. They'll then get a good root system ready for next year.

As for horse poo, if you're not actually using your beds spread a layer over the top and leave the worms to drag it down into the soil.

If you stack it youre only making yourself twice the work as you'll have to spread it around later. The main rule is don't use any fresh manure round growing plants as the high nitrogen content will burn them.

I wish I had a horse manure supply nearby. Mind you, the guinea pigs are doing their bit.