using manure

I have tilled my garden space and now am ready to add manure to soil , I am buying it already bagged I am not sure how much to use and if it is ok to use on all my vegetables , beans,corn, carrots, sweet ppotatoes, onions, snap peas,cucumbers also I was going to put it in the soil when I plant my strawberries but was told never to fertilize strawberries so I dont know now if I should or not. please any one got any advice for me?

I use mushroom compost. I have never used manure. I am posting to move you back to the top of the page. I hope someone will help you. Good luck

Well if it's a plant, it needs fertilizer. That much I CAN tell you.
As far as the spreading of manure, I would guess a lot would hinge on how deep you're tilling it in, existing soil type and soil needs. Organics typically don't "burn" plants as fast as chemicals so you can use more than you think. Being it's bagged I'd have to assume it's pretty well rotted down at this point. Basically it's nitrogen with a few traces of other nutrients but the material also helps amend the soil to help with drainage and aeration. Any local gardeners you can ask, or maybe the county extension agent? Do they exist anymore?

Our county Ag Department office is staffed with volunteer Master Gardeners in the spring/summer who man the phones for people with questions. Mushroom compost is good stuff and won't hurt your plants. Personally, I use decomposed horse manure only because we have the "machine" in our pasture and it's free. I think the mushroom growers use horse manure too. If I had to buy it, I would get mushroom compost. Plants love it.

You should never use "fresh" manure in your garden. It needs to be composted first to allow it to break down. Fresh manure can burn/kill plants.

http://www.almanac.com/content/manure-guide

http://gardening.wsu.edu/library/vege001/vege001.htm

http://web.extension.illinois.edu/champaign/homeowners/000513.html

I didn,t know fresh manure could hurt your plants . my friend told me I should just use my dogs droppings but I am not real keen on that idea horses ,cows and such eat grass ,hay but dogs have a much different diet. I dont know if it would be safe to use .

Dog and cat feces contains pathogens that can be contracted by humans. The safest manures are those from cows, horses/donkeys, chickens and rabbits as these animals diets consist mainly of grasses and grains which break down more easily and release nitrogen back into the soil.

Hey thanks for the info themoonhowl I am glad I did put it in the soil. have you heard of using eggg shells or coffee grounds in the soil?

Egg shells and coffee grounds are like ambrosia in the compost pile. Worms and plants both love them.

http://www.gardeners.com/Coffee-Grounds-in-Compost-Bin/coffeelp,default,pg.html

http://www.plantcare.com/gardening-guides/compost/making-compost.aspx

Follow-up question regarding use of dog dropping as manure/fertilizer. You mentioned risk of humans contacting pathogens if this is done. If the plants being fertilized in this manner are strictly ornamental, is this still a problem? (I can understand why this would never be a good idea on a food crop/fruit tree) What if the plants are on a hill where no one ever walks? Thanks for answering this.

Has anyone found a non-lethal way to keep ground squirrels out of the yard? I have birdfeeders frequented by the tree squirrels as well as numerous birds. I enjoy the tree squirrels but do not want the ground squirrels because of their holes. Is there some substance I can put into the holes to keep out the ground squirrels? I tried a ground squirrel bait station but it was absolutely horrible to see the poisoned squirrels dying.

My only experience with dog droppings is on a Red Twig Dogwood bush way out by our barn. The dog, in the winter, poops on the cement paddock, lazy boy doesn't want his tushie wet in the snow. In the spring I would throw all the old, dried out, poop under a nearby dogwood in my prairie garden. It's far away from the house. The dogwood is huge. Much bigger than any other older dogwood in the yard. I would never do that to any bush that was in the yard by the house, only because it's kind of gross and probably a fly attractor.

We have dogs in fenced area in back yard. So a couple of years ago I built a raised bed and added their droppings and filled in with dirt and compost. I only planted flowers in this bed but the fertilizer apparently helped because these flowers have far outdone the others in our garden. I would not use dog or cat litter for anything we might want to eat. We have used our guinea pigs and rabbits litter along with horse manure in the compost for our veggies.