Vegetables are herbaceous plants that produce fruit, seeds, roots, tubers or leaves as parts of a crop. Compost can enhance vegetable crop health by providing key nutrients.
animal manure contains pathogens that can cause food-borne illness, even after composting is performed properly. While composting does help kill many of these bacteria, improperly conducted composting could still transmit pathogens into vegetables and humans alike.
Spring
Organic matter such as manure, compost or other slow-release fertilizers should be added to your soil in early Spring as one of the key steps to prepare it for gardening. Doing this can help loosen hard clay-like soil, improve aeration and drainage as well as increase fertility.
However, for vegetable planting purposes only well-composted manure should be used, since raw animal manure contains disease-causing bacteria and pathogens that could pose risks. Heat treatments will ensure any pathogens have been killed before being used around your plants.
Though your manure may have been well-composted, it’s still wise to wait until Spring to use it in your garden if you plan on growing leafy greens or root vegetables with delicate soil needs. Also make sure only small amounts are added at a time – no more than several inches deep at most – in order to prevent over-fertilization of plants.
When using manure in your vegetable garden, be sure to fully incorporate it with the soil before planting, covering it with natural mulch (leaves or straw) in order to prevent weeds from sprouting up and protecting soluble nutrients from washing out into groundwater, ditches or drains where they could pose pollution threats.
Before adding manure to your garden, it’s advisable to tidy it up first by pulling up any weeds and tidying bare spots in the area. Furthermore, prepare planting beds by turning over soil, clearing away weeds from them, adjusting depth or contours as required and turning up their edges if possible.
Based on the results of your soil test, you may need to supplement manure with other slow-release organic fertilizers in addition to adding manure to ensure that your vegetables receive adequate amounts of nutrition throughout their growing season. A good rule of thumb for using manure in growing vegetable soil is adding about 25% manure; too much could create imbalanced nutrients in your garden soil and cause health problems for plants and soil alike.
Summer
Summer heat can be tough on many vegetables, but taking a few simple steps can keep them happy and healthy. Mulching is one such step; not only does it conserve soil moisture while suppressing weeds, it also cools the temperature of soil significantly and brings down its temperature.
Mulch should consist of composted leaves or woody materials that have been broken down so as not to harm plant roots, making fall an excellent time for adding this material as mulch.
An organic layer of manure is ideal for vegetable gardens as it improves soil structure, allows more efficient water retention, and releases essential nutrients that support sustainable plant growth.
When adding manure to your garden it’s essential to take into account its source, how long it has been composted, and the timing of harvesting time. For best results use composted manure that has been aged at least six months but ideally more than twelve.
Fresh or non-composted manure may contain bacteria such as E. coli or salmonella that could contaminate vegetables. Therefore, it’s wise to wait at least 90 days before applying this type of material near crops with edible parts in direct contact with the ground (such as tomatoes) while 120 days for other veggies such as carrots or potatoes.
Some gardeners spread green manures in spring or early summer in newly constructed vegetable plots to improve soil and control weeds before planting warm-season vegetables and flowers in that same space. Once harvest time arrives, gardeners turn under their green manure planting their warm-season produce or cool season flowers directly in its place.
An alternative approach would be to dig in your crop after it has been affected by late fall frost and allow it to decompose for several weeks or more in its bed, providing valuable organic matter and beneficial microorganisms while helping maintain a weed-free bed and providing nutrients for next year’s growing season.
Fall
Fall is the ideal time for adding compost and manure to a vegetable garden, as this allows its nutrients to marry up with the soil before spring arrives and prevent weeds from sprouting and makes working your beds much simpler. Furthermore, adding manure early can reduce the need for tilling wet Spring soil, which should always be avoided!
Fresh animal-based manure should be considered with caution because it contains pathogens such as E coli and salmonella that could contaminate edible crops through their contact with soil. Composting can reduce pathogen levels by breaking down proteins and other contaminants found within it, but even then wait 90 days after application before harvesting vegetables directly from soil (or longer for leafy greens or root vegetables).
Spreading fresh, uncomposted manure in the Fall can still be beneficial due to how decomposition releases nitrogen into the environment. Without composting processes in place, nitrogen in fresh manure converts quickly to nitrates that leach out through leaching or volatilization into the environment; whereas by spreading in cool, dry environments (fall), decomposition of these nitrates may be reduced and crop nutrition improved significantly.
By applying manure in the Fall, farmers can ensure all 90 and 120 day food safety rules are observed and that there is enough time between its spreading and when edible crops will be harvested – particularly important when dealing with longer-season plants like tomatoes which are vulnerable to contamination from bacteria in their soil. Mulches made up of leaves, straw or grass clippings also prove advantageous as these break down quickly without harboring contaminants from herbicide-treated fields.
Winter
As gardeners, we enjoy discussing our gardens – from which beans to choose for canning to how to grow flavorful tomatoes and the benefits of using organic fertilizers. Manure is an integral component of any healthy vegetable garden, helping improve soil structure, water retention and adding essential nutrients – yet improper application could cause lasting harm.
Manure is one of the oldest forms of fertilizer, and a cost-effective alternative to synthetic products. Manure provides an abundant supply of organic matter which improves soil quality by increasing oxygen in the soil and suppressing weeds while providing essential microorganisms and essential nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
No matter whether you grow your vegetables in the ground or containers, using high-quality manure with an optimal C:N ratio and low moisture content is vital to their success. Avoid purchasing manure from animals grazing on pasture treated with herbicides like aminopyralid as these residues could linger and potentially contaminate your garden.
If you plan on collecting your own manure, ensure it has been aged for at least six months (preferably one) to prevent diseases and parasites from invading your crop. Select an enclosed location for your pile and add layers of dry carbon material such as straw leaves or corn stover to increase heat production and decrease moisture levels in your pile.
Gardeners who apply manure incorrectly often make the mistake of applying too much, burying it too deeply, leading to an imbalance of soil nutrients. Therefore, it is highly advised that they conduct a soil test prior to applying any type of manure – be it home-composted or bagged composted from garden centers and nurseries.
To help prevent over-application, try burying manure at least a few inches deep in your garden so earthworms can do their work in turning it into plant food and making it more available for your vegetables.