compost looks good. Horse manure? There is a stable near me that gives me all the manure I can use, been thinking of doing a 'hot bed' to plant some early spinach. Always good to have those first warm days and gets me thinking GARDEN!
Horse and cow manure. Some folks who used to live close by had horses and cows, and they asked if I wanted the manure. Yes please! If you get manure, just remember that it needs to age for at least a year before you can use it.
@@NuweBlareHomestead When I get horse manure it is literally steaming...straight from the horse...so I pile it up and put a trap over it so it will heat up and breakdown into compost. Sometimes I add grass clippings or wood chips. One year I dug a 3 x 12 foot bed 15" deep, I removed all the dirt and then added two tons of fresh horse manure, then put 8" of soil back on top and topped that with 4" of bagged potting mix. I planted spinach, swiss chard and radish on top, then put old glass sliding doors on top of the raised bed. It was 0 degrees outside and that bed was 70 degrees day and night. We grew a batch of greens thru that winter that turned out great...but what a lot of work!
I don't measure it, but basically I fill the beds up to the to, my guess is about 2 to 4 inches, depending on the bed. They'll compress naturally, so that by the time I get to planting there's enough space for an inch or two of mulch.
I was initially going to use raised beds, but then I spoke to a friend who lives here, and he said that they dry out far too quickly. The in-ground beds don't dry out nearly as quickly (actually, they retain water suprisingly well).
your garden area looks great. Good jump on the growing season.
Thank you!
Nice rich compost.
Thanks!
I'm just here for the accent ;)
compost looks good. Horse manure? There is a stable near me that gives me all the manure I can use, been thinking of doing a 'hot bed' to plant some early spinach. Always good to have those first warm days and gets me thinking GARDEN!
Horse and cow manure. Some folks who used to live close by had horses and cows, and they asked if I wanted the manure. Yes please! If you get manure, just remember that it needs to age for at least a year before you can use it.
@@NuweBlareHomestead When I get horse manure it is literally steaming...straight from the horse...so I pile it up and put a trap over it so it will heat up and breakdown into compost. Sometimes I add grass clippings or wood chips. One year I dug a 3 x 12 foot bed 15" deep, I removed all the dirt and then added two tons of fresh horse manure, then put 8" of soil back on top and topped that with 4" of bagged potting mix. I planted spinach, swiss chard and radish on top, then put old glass sliding doors on top of the raised bed. It was 0 degrees outside and that bed was 70 degrees day and night. We grew a batch of greens thru that winter that turned out great...but what a lot of work!
How many inches of compost do you put on each of your beds?
I don't measure it, but basically I fill the beds up to the to, my guess is about 2 to 4 inches, depending on the bed. They'll compress naturally, so that by the time I get to planting there's enough space for an inch or two of mulch.
What are your thoughts about raised beds in your climate?
I was initially going to use raised beds, but then I spoke to a friend who lives here, and he said that they dry out far too quickly. The in-ground beds don't dry out nearly as quickly (actually, they retain water suprisingly well).