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Arizona Gardening

Free composted horse manure

12 years ago

I have lots of horse manure to available for free, some that has been composting with forced aeration.

The best of it is dark, moist, and rich with any remaining balls crumbling easily. Contents are strictly horse manure (alfalfa and bermuda hay), raw veggie scraps, and a few mesquite beans/sticks. The composting piles have gotten hot and the only thing that's grown out of them are mushrooms. I don't think the bermuda will be a problem.

I'm somewhat new to non-xeriscape gardening and composting, so I couldn't say for sure whether it would be "ready" for a veggie garden yet, but I have used it to plant some trees (fruit and desert) with promising results.

Would be glad to help load up, bag up, etc - basically the material needs to go! Please email me at lg at sprisemedia dot com. Located off Scottsdale Rd at Shea.

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Comments (13)

Pagancat
11 years ago
I'm getting awfully tempted, after seeing tomatofreaks "Singh Farms" video. It's just a lot of work to get it loaded up, huh?
greyongray
Original Author
11 years ago
Pagancat come by with a trash can, bag, or bucket and I will fill it for you. I even have some empty feed sacks that would surely fit on the passenger seat floor of a car.

Yeah I just saw the Singh Farms 8 Things you Probably Aren't Doing and, having never been there, was pretty amazed at the lushness!

Here is a link that might be useful: 8 Things you probably aren't doing in your garden
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Comments (10)
i've been using horse manure with straw/wood shavings/sawdust bedding in my compost piles for a few years now, and i've asked this same question about when it is considered properly composted and safe for use on food crops. i can't find a definitive answer on that quite yet, but in case anyone is interested, here are a few links to sites with some interesting information on best practices. Some of these publications are kinda scientific, but there's still some good information there for us lay people so don't be intimidated. EPA List of Publications on Compost: http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/rrr/composting/pubs/index.htm Rutgers - New Jersey Ag Exp Station on Composting Horse Manure: http://www.esc.rutgers.edu/publications/stablemgt/E307.htm Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education has a free downloadable PDF on Building Soil which includes a chapter on composting manure: http://www.sare.org/coreinfo/soil.htm National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service has a publication on manure for organic crop production here: http://attra.ncat.org/soils.html One of these days, i'm going to try to ask a soil scientist at my local agricultural experiment station about the latest recommendations for composting manure. Unfortunately, i get the feeling that there's a lot we just don't know for sure yet, and i think it wise to use composted manure cautiously. Certainly, i would agree that you shouldn't apply it if the pile is still generating any heat. Good luck.
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Free Composted Horse Manure
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Comments (1)
THANK YOU!! for posting this. i just spoke with the lady and she was a sweetheart. we're going to head out and get some. we just got a truck and hubby's anxious to break it in, and always wants to get horsey poo. she said some of this has been composted thoroughly, so it should be able to go right on the beds. woo- hoo!! happy happy dance. tammy
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FREE composted horse manure
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Comments (2)
Isn't composting (heating up and breaking down material) supposed to break down that kind of thing?
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Comments (2)
Still have compost?
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aley1511
11 years ago
Do still have any manure? I'm interested.

Thanks.
tomatofreak
11 years ago
Me, too. ;o)
ernie85017, zn 9, phx
11 years ago
Where is the singh video?
MaryMcP Zone 8b - Phx AZ
11 years ago
The Singh video is linked above: 8 Things......
Pagancat
11 years ago
Oh man, I am now overloaded with horse manure. Sheesh! Who wants some????
tomatofreak
11 years ago
Poop for pots?
Baubo
11 years ago
Hello - new member here; I know I'm coming late to the thread. But I thought I'd see if there were any more composted horse manure?
greyongray
Original Author
11 years ago
Oh wow this thread has come back to the top! In the past few months I have pretty much stopped actively hot composting the manure stream, since it was a lot of work and proved difficult to give away for free at a fast enough rate. At present I am spreading it at home and just building my own soil that way.

But for anyone in the north Scottsdale area who wants just old manure, I have plenty of 9-10 month old material that I haven't bothered to spread yet. Come with a shovel and bags (or you can use my old feed bags) and take as much as you'd like. Email for directions and to set up a time.

FYI a lot of horse owners have to pay to have their manure hauled away in a dumpster and would gladly give it to you (fresh) if you approached them.
Pagancat
11 years ago
Me, for one, lol. I have a neighbor who has an orchard in Prescott who is taking buckets from me, but between emptying them I'm still struggling to get rid of this stuff without putting it in the land fill. I, too, am willing to bag the stuff up as I clean, so if you want to drop off any containers, please drop them off and I'll give you a ring when they're full.

Greyongray, how many horses do you have?
greyongray
Original Author
11 years ago
Pagan I have one, but a prolific one at that :) I do not have irrigation or grass so I am presently using the manure to enrich the soil at home. It breaks down with sun and water and my dirt is getting fluffy.

Actually if any thing I just pulled out a bunch of tree bean sprouts (mesquite and pv), it works great as an additive.
Pagancat
11 years ago
Yeah, I keep threatening them (and the dogs) that feeding time is over if they can't keep their room clean....

I'm afraid the water seems to be the biggest issue here. Maybe that, and I haven't been mixing it with much, perhaps if I start adding some soil to it....

So no problem with Bermuda, or do you not feed it?

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