Merry Manurey Christmas



Bill's Gift of 6 Tons of Cow Manure



The soil on most of our property is quite poor and very sandy.  It does drain well which has the advantage of not becoming a quagmire after a rain; however, the soil does not hold moisture long enough to be of much benefit to the trees or crops that we have planted.  We have tried several things to improve the soil:  getting soil samples and following the recommendations for adding lime and the proper mixture of fertilizer, spreading ashes collected from our fire place, discing in last season's vegetation, prescribed burns.  Bill’s latest attempt is the time honored tradition of adding cow manure to the soil.  So he put in a request for 6 tons of cow manure for his Christmas gift.  The farmer who provided it assures him that it does wonders in a garden, as it contains nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium plus humus which is helpful in retaining moisture in the soil.

After hauling and spreading 6 loads of this rich (in more ways than one) dirt on half of the field with the poorest soil we were surprised to see the following result:



Green vegetation at far end of field where manure was first applied



After a good rain the vegetation at the far field of the field where the manure was first applied is noticeably greener.  Since nitrogen is one ingredient of cow manure this could have a short term impact mostly benefiting the weeds.  A brassica called rape seed has now been distributed throughout the field, and we will observe the effect that the manure has on the development of this seed.