Is it too late to start a lasagna garden for vegetables that won't be planted until the last week of May, first week of June? I have access to horse manure, leaves, old mulch. The problem may come in finding enough "green" this time of year.
Honestly, green might be a little too late to apply for planting in this year, I would say you are better off using what you have available and just start it. Is the horse manure aged? at this date it would be best to use aged manure as a layer instead of green and all the other layers are fine to use, too. Most manure is considered "green" if it is fresh, too much of it, especially if it came from a big "wet" pile, will burn the roots as soon as you plant in it. Mart on here uses it fairly fresh, but hers drys a lot before she puts it on the garden. We don't have that luxury this far north.
Oh, horse manure! Have both fresh and dried. DH has 2 miniature horses that are basically useless except for their steady supply of manure. Lol. Have gardened in 3 small raised beds for the last few years(4x8), but have decided that I need to enlarge my growing space and don't really have the desire or equipment to plow and till a garden. Think that if I can do a 25x25 lasagna garden I can get the space I need.
I am thinking most horses supply an endless amount of fertilizer and work....most being hay burners or pasture ornaments.... I never see anyone actually doing anything with a horse except ride one around an arena....hmmmm, how fun. round and round and round. A merry go round would be much less work. get going on your gardens and have fun. It isn't gardening weather up here yet. Right now it is 20f. joy . Maybe I can go back to bed until spring really decides to come.
Carolyn, I can relate. It has been very cold in MA and we still have 12" of snow on the ground from the last storm. Forecast is for 40-50 degree days though in the next week!
I wish. Here today it is 27 degrees and snowing. Not supposed to be over 40 until the end of next week.
For green material, I am thinking of goi g to the local Ryan's restaurant and see if they would save their salad bar trimmings for me for a month or so.
Not to "rain" on your thought, but I think I would not do that. They will not separate the "scrapings". You will get meat, bones, cheese, junk food...not things you really want in the garden. It will draw rodents and vermin searching for a free meal. Leaving scat behind and it could be contaminated with parasites, worms, and possible diseases such as http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/ ... ekey=52173 http://www.daff.qld.gov.au/4790_3148.htm I would want to keep them as far from the garden as possible, if I am going to eat out of it, too. Does anyone have rabbits or chickens that they are piling the droppings in a compost pile that you can "harvest"? even a 4-H group may have a few members needing to clean out a manure pile. Just a thought...
I would want a full 30 days between application of (horse goat rabbit) manure and planting. To reduce the risk of accidental nitrogen burn of tender plants. The 'standard' is 90 days between fresh application of manure and human consumption. So I am enlarging the window to be forgiving of accident. {i]Omnivore[/i] poo (chicken duck swine), I would want composted. It is IMO way way too hot. Not to mention carries a bacterial load I want reduced by composting. So get dobbins' doo mixed into the field soon as you can.
Will hopefully get it laid out in next week or so. So will have plenty of time for it to set. Also have dry and wet horse manure. Would use the driest possible.
