compost in my garden

[cheesehead]

my garden is roughly 1200 square feet. Is it possible to add to much composted cow manure to it?

The manure I'm getting is 7 years old and has no odor, it actually smells like dirt. My plan was to add 6"-10" tilled into the top 12 " of soil.

come spring I'll get a soil test to add any other amendments needed.

[IFallsRon]

Rotted manure is about the best thing. Even so, you're still going to get weed seeds. If you can, till, water and cover your planting area in the spring with plastic tarp and let the sun cook the weed seeds out.

[huntingmaxima]

IFallsRon Never heard of it> Do you use a peice of clear plastic or black plastic? HOw well does it work?

[IFallsRon]

Either work just as good. Wet down the area, cover with the plastic and seal off the edges and the sun will take care of the rest. The heat build up under the tarp will kill off most everything.

[sparcebag]

IRF This is the same method of killing the fungi that cause tomato wilt,But it takes 6 weeks recomended time to have area covered,so no garden that year here in Mn.And black plastic is the color to create lots of heat.

[LwnmwnMan2]

There's nothing that's going to help get rid of the weeds more effectively than getting out there with a hoe and doing it weekly - biweekly.

Yes, the method of covering with plastic will kill whatever's been established, already sprouted, but it will not kill any seeds that are still in the ground.

Your best bet would be to wait until late June, then 95% of weeds will already be growing. However, as most will tell, you're also too late to start a garden by then.

Either suck it up and lose a year for a garden, or plan on getting out there weekly to clear out the weeds.

My dad has a "garden" that's 50' by about 200', mostly sweet corn. However, he's 70+ now, with asthma so he can't weed it very well. About 3-4 years ago he cleaned out the neighbors horse manure pile and spread it out, tilled it in.

Worst weeds he's ever had. He can keep up with it until mid-June, maybe late June, after that he can't handle the heat. Fortunately MOST of the plants are established and can grow, but it still takes nutrients from the plants that we want.

Soooo... it's a good thing, obviously. However, get ready for the weeds.

However, however. If the compost that you're going to use is really that old, then possibly that'll keep the weeds down.

Also, my dad keeps threatening to use roundup or whatever, but that's entirely not feasible, since you're introducing a chemical into a food source, unless you don't mind a little extra "tang".

[BLACKJACK]

I scraped my compost tumbler because it didn't get hot enough to kill the weed seeds, I could see exactly where I spread the 'compost'. Manure has a lot of weed seeds in it because of the straw used. If its been piled 6-7 years it may be alright.

Nowadays I just work in leaves in the fall, that seems to build up the soil.