I've found out recently, to my great surprise and amazement, that yes, you can in some instances grow in straight horse manure.

I used logs for raised beds and filled them with pure stall siftings taken twice daily...straight from the horse, you might say. No hay or straw mixed in, and no composting time given at all since my projects dealt with strictly ornamental plants. I'd always before thought that I had to mix aged manure with other planting medium to thin it out, so to say, but some (a lot!) of plants seem to be thrilled with the extra nutrients/heat that fresher horse manure supplies.

I'm not saying that the very tender roots of seedlings would necessarily respond the same, but these transplants look happy to me. I suspect that young plants might at least grow tall and lanky, but who knows?



On the left; not quite a month ago. Right side; taken today. Even the variegated Jacob's Ladder looks great, and I've never, ever had luck with those at all!





A few others planted in pure, straight, fresh horse manure and top-dressed with wood shavings to hide it/reduce smells.

(Top two of these four pictures are just focusing on the plants in front -the others are growing in other potting medium)






Now, my horse is older and semi-retired so she's on a diet that's as low in rich components as possible, and her fresh forage is on the low side right now due to a summer without rain. I don't know if the same results can be had in the spring when there's plenty of fresh greens to gobble up, but for right now these look pretty good to me. I see no signs of nutrient imbalances or leaf burn whatsoever, and the plants are performing very nicely.



What kinds of experiences have you had? Good, not so good, or are you just wondering about it?

Wow, your results look great. No horse here so can't be trying out our method.

Thanks, Chelle.

And I had no idea a horse pooped that much!
- wholly crap!

Oh, yes! There's still a nice-sized pile outside of the barn yet, too! I think I'll set up some log beds now to pile it in over the winter. Then I only have to lift each tubful once!

Wow, it's nice to see conventional wisdom stood on its head.

How deep was the fresh poop when you transplanted into it? Is there a chance that plant roots went diving through the poop and into the soil beneath it? They might be thriving from what leaches out of the poop and into the soil (sub-soil?)

Even if that's it, I'm still surprised. But then, I still have trouble understanding how "lasagna gardening" can work. Changing my preconceptions is a slow process!

Newyorkrita said:Wow, your results look great. No horse here so can't be trying out our method.

Wonder how dog poop would work??

NO!!!! Do not use cat or dog poop. Too many possible parasites.

RickCorey said:

How deep was the fresh poop when you transplanted into it? Is there a chance that plant roots went diving through the poop and into the soil beneath it? They might be thriving from what leaches out of the poop and into the soil (sub-soil?)

Some of it's not too deep; maybe six inches or so, but other beds are at least 12" deep...maybe more. I think they aimed for 18" sections when cutting the logs. The roughly circular bed with the mums is the shallowest toward the center because what's left of a huge tree stump is buried there.

I hate to be alarmist, but cat poop often contains oocysts of something nasty that can infect both cats and humans. I don't lie awake nights worrying about my raised beds that are also neighborhood cat boxes, but I do try a little bit to keep them out of my veggies.

Google "cat oocysts" or Toxoplasma gondii

http://www.cell.com/trends/par...

"The annual environmental deposit of cat feces in the US is 1.2 million tons."
"Toxoplasma gondii oocysts may remain viable for several years and thus accumulate."

Sometimes it seems like they're all in my recently-seeded raised beds.

horses don't have parasites??

Dixie gives "DEEP" kisses...can you say no tonsils?...so I probably have "stuff" anyway

To me, "mostly 12 inches or more" suggests that the roots are probably co-existing with that pure poop layer.

Who'd have thought it possible! I always, always scratch manure or compost into the soil to mix them. And I seldom have more than 1" of bagged manure/compost or my own compost to add to a bed.

I've heard advice ALL over the map about the safety of animal manure. All the way from being afraid of it until it's been composted very hot for many days, and then aged for many minths, to the other extreme of "yeah, I add it fresh to the veggie patch, just not near harvest" or "turned under" or "not for leafy crops".

The FSMA Act ("Food Safety Modernization") gives ritualistic rules about size of compost heap, minimum hot-compost temperatures and times, post-aging times, record-keeping, assays for microbial content ... how the heck did ANYONE ever survive 50 years ago when such rules were not in force? Shouldn't we all be extinct 20 times over?

My money is on the alleged problem being entirely caused by field hands pooping on their hands as they pick the crops. Or by food processing companies that haven't been inspected since Reagan was president (guessing). Not on cows.

Thanks for sharing your succesful experiments Chelle. I found it very interesting.

You're welcome.

Now I'm interested in seeing what's going on under the surface as well. I think I'll dig out one of those mums when it's about finished blooming and have a look at its roots.

RickCorey said: ... how the heck did ANYONE ever survive 50 years ago when such [hygienic safety] rules were not in force? Shouldn't we all be extinct 20 times over?

I still contend that I never get sick precisely because I am exposed to all those germs that people nowadays are so afraid of.

One must remember that Chelle's results are with horse manure. Any other animal manure (chicken, cow, goat, etc.) may or may not be safe to use in the same way.

Horse manure is one of the few that can be used without composting (I believe that rabbit is another). Other usable animal manures need to be composted.

I believe also alpaca manure

Yes, rabbit is the other, and it is even more benign.

Aha! A new destination for the stall cleanings from the ponies! May get some use out of those silly little critters after all!

Woofie, those silly critters, as you call them, are just so pretty. I remember some pictures you posted here on another thread.