Posted: Sun Mar 22, 20 1:22 am Post subject: Manure or legumes
If you have a plot that you want to use next year but were expecting to leave fallow for a year would you choose to manure it or plant a nitrogen fixing crop?
I have just such a bed in the garden which I was going to plant with legumes but now Maggie (the better half) has just been donated a quarter tonne of chicken shit.
i would keep it damp for the year but put a tarp over it to avoid excess leaching when it rains if you plan on not using it now.
rather than fallow and a N fixer how about double spit trench, use raw chook muck* at the base , refill, plant broad beans ( n fixers and leave the roots in as the nodules continue to fix)and use the leftover backfill to earth up when they are a foot tall.
best of both worlds, bugs n worms will do most of the work+ you get an ace soil from that and beans.
+the cultivation will suppress weed growth, green manures and fallow can be a good excuse for neglect and "things" become established
pure, ferment it in water for a couple of months minimum and dilute it as feed.
*(if it has bedding etc , pure needs maturing or mixing with straw to use in the fresh state as mentioned)
As you have mentioned bean nodules, I have unearthed a few from last years beans, They are hard and dry, so are they worth leaving in the ground to rot or best put on the compost heap?
i leave them in, so long as you plant something else after them there is no probs with pests and diseases and they will rot down over a year or so releasing the n they have fixed in situ.
Legumes are lazy, and will only fix as much N as the soil needs. So I'd save the chicken shit for another time, and let the legumes work for their keep.
(interesting fact I never knew before I did that Org Ag degree)
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