Manure...well rotted?

[di]

We got a delivery of manure yesterday.The farmer assured me on the phone that it was rotted enough to use straight away(he's the chap our site always use so fairly trustworthy).When he turned up with it,it looked nice and black,however as soon as it was tipped all the paler brown bits made themselves visible....isn't brown a sign that it's too fresh?He said it's been sitting since before December.
A couple of older boys at the lottie have said it looks OK to them and to spread it,leave it to dry out a bit and then dig in.(but we're having a pumpkin competition...so are they trying to get rid of competition

We really were relying on it for where our Squash are going,should it be OK to use?The quality of the soil has become really bad,just like fine sand,so really would benefit from it...if it were rotted more

[RedThorn]

If it smells, then it's not rotted enough.

In that case stick it in a bucket of water for a week or 2, then pour off the water and use the remains.

Small bit's of unrotted manure should not be a problem, I sometimes put fresh chicken manure on my bed's with no detriment

[lez]

Hi, I would chuck it on the ground and get it moving before it's to late. squashes are heavy feeders so by the time they are ready to go in it will be just right. try not to let the roots come into direct contact with it it may burn but if it's been sitting since december it will be fine. I am quite jealous of you as the delivery I had was terrible. I have left it a year and it still has bits in it but it's on the soil now. while spreading it I found bits of plastic, knives, forks, spoons, the string you find around meat when it's reday to cook, tomato sauce sashes, a babies dummy and though I have spred it around I am still finding bits. I don't mind the baler twine but this was silly. the bloke who delivered it asked if I wanted more and said they sometimes collect rubbish from party sites, barbies etc and it must of got mixed up, when I asked about the lumps of concrete and shale in it he said it must of mixed in by error. I asked for some money back and got abuse and then he asked again if I or anyone else on site wanted more. He got told to poke it where the sun don't shine and I have warned all on site only to find a few had been there before me and got the same. notice is up on the board now and one person said after reading it they cancelled thier delivery and apparently there are a few more done the same. anyway good luck to all and I would spread that manure no problem.

[Snadger]

I use unrotted manure on my beds as a mulch. Having said that I don't grow for exhibition so its not critical.

If certain parts of it are rotted and other parts aren't, I would pick out the rotted part for your pumpkin patch. Theoretically you only need a 1 foot square hole filled with muck then mounded with earth so you should be able to be piccy and get enough for this one hole?

[Jeanied]

So how can you tell if it is well rotted? I have two compost bins which I filled with fresh stable manure last autumn, and it has been standing since then.

The level in the bins has gone down by about half, but there is still some straw visible. Will it be ok to use like that or will it be too 'hot' for the plants still?

There is no actual heat coming off the bins now, but there was quite a bit when I first started them and covered them with my compost duvets.

[di]

It does smell rather,but doesn't it always?We got a four tonne load,so don't think it'll fit in a bucket,but I'll probably put some in a bucket and use for a liquid feed.
We only really grow to fill our bellies(just the one pumpkin for size and weight).We had such a poor year with squash last year...lots and lots of male flowers but no female to produce fruit.As they're what I use for the base of a lot of cooking I really missed them so don't want to risk getting it wrong again this year.
So,,,would I be best to dig it in(what I was going to do)or leave it on the top.

[klf_1956]

I've used manure as a mulch and iworked really well, but come springtime some seeds in the manure germinated, they were a bit of a nuisance but not harmful. I'll keep it under black plastic for a few months in the future, hopefully that should do the trick. If I needed to use it straight away I would do so.

[Glutton4...]

So how can you tell if it is well rotted? I have two compost bins which I filled with fresh stable manure last autumn, and it has been standing since then.

The level in the bins has gone down by about half, but there is still some straw visible. Will it be ok to use like that or will it be too 'hot' for the plants still?

There is no actual heat coming off the bins now, but there was quite a bit when I first started them and covered them with my compost duvets.

Should be fine by now Jeanie.

[Rixy]

Posh friend of mine ordered a load of manure, was adament about it being good stuff with no shee1t in it