The nice thing about using compost is that it takes a while to break down and be spread around by the worms so it can be utilized by the plants and also improved your soil (the worms are also part of what create all those little "air holes" and lighten your soil, as well as adding their rich amendments to it.) I often add compost to my fall beds because I know that: (I) the worms will be heading for deeper territory in order to survive the winter, so they won't be messing with the compost as much, and (2) the compost will be right there and ready to go to work as soon as the ground begins to thaw, and the worms return in the spring. So by all means, use whatever compost you need to amend your soil. There's an old gardener's saying -- or at least, this is what my mother used to say, and she was a wonderful gardener -- and that is: you don't get a second chance to put a plant in the ground correctly the first time around. Or in other words, you need to do it right the first time, for the sake of the plant. Hope this helps! MacThayer

Chicken manure is a most nitrogen rich one. I wouldn't put it directly in the garden for few reasons. Nitrogen goes away fast. Added to soil in fall, it will be almost gone by spring. So it is kind of waste of good nitrogen. But what it can actually do, it can help to compost a lot of carbon materials to create organic matter. You soil needs good organics probably more then nitrogen itself. So I second shayneca25 - compost it. If turning it every week seems too much of work - you can leave it as is, it will take about a year to decompose. What also you can do - you can dry some of the staff, better without wood. In summer you can dissolve it in water(Google the proportions!) and use as a great organic fertilizer.

Thanks guys. We have put in a rotation- brassicas, solanum/nightshade family and relatives (ie potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant and capsicum) legumes, and root crops and miscellaneous. We will maintain a brassica and solanum roation and relax a bit on the others. There is plenty of compost in the soil but we need to check the pH. It is good to hear that strict rotation isn't necessary. I feel an organic garden should involve interplanting with companion crops and generally a diverse mixture rather than the more monoculture style beds full of one type/family of crop. It's also so much more fun!

The places I use compost as a mulch get replenished once or twice because compost won't last long as a mulch. I make my own so it's no big deal. In your example I'd still cover the composted manure with a mulch or be ready to renew it or mulch the area later. If the compost is limited, then around the plants is best. If an ample supply, then just cover the whole area. tj