The Power of Horse Manure

In this video I show some of the results that I got this year by simply putting down a few inches of horse manure last fall and then direct seeding into the manure the following spring in April - no tilling needed! Thanks for watching, and if you enjoyed this content, please subscribe to my channel. You can also check out my podcast (maritimegardeni...) where I discuss how to grow healthy food in your backyard cheaply and easily. Special thanks to Audionautix.com for the music used in this video ("pioneer" and "serenity").

[@michelleschweizer9000]

Don't forget to give the horses that gave you the manure some carrots !

[@fannybuster]

I had a pick -up truck load of semi rotted horse manure delivered from our local race track and I grew over 50 bushels of blue lake green beans in just a 80 x 80 garden space.This has to be some kind of record amount as I sold them for $ 500.00 to a local grocery store.The beans themselves were of great size and quality,never had such a crop like this again in 40 years.

[@kamryntony3523]

you prolly dont give a damn but does any of you know of a way to log back into an Instagram account? I somehow forgot my login password. I appreciate any help you can offer me

[@arielkarsyn9710]

@Kamryn Tony instablaster =)

[@1skinnypuppy]

How many times can a person hit the like button! Still lovin it!

[@maritimegardening4887]

Thanks

[@ancientfire850]

Please stop apologizing! How Canadian of you.. You are creating great videos that are super useful and I enjoy your presence as you are. Thank you! Keep it up!

[@maritimegardening4887]

Thank you so much!

[@brandonkrause6401]

Yup, manure and moldy hay do wonders on depleted soils. Right on man.

[@luckychicav7981]

Greg, well put! "Perfection is measured in terms of the ratio of effort put in, to yield achieved". Perfect carrots!! ;) I'm new to your channel, and here to stay as long as you want to continue sharing your knowledge and experiences. I'm going thru and watching a couple here and there, first time commenting and now subscribed. ;)

[@maritimegardening4887]

Thanks for subbing luckychica! Let me know if you have any questions:)

[@MinkesMom]

When England's population all had 'kitchen or victory gardens' everyone used horse manure over the winter. Horse manure provided just enough heat during the winter months to keep their garden growing. Others use horse manure in tunnel houses for added warmth.

[@maritimegardening4887]

H-manure is magical stuff! Especially when it's free!

[@MinkesMom]

Free is always best!

[@davidcampbell7903]

I use horse manure ,free for the collection, but make compost with it.What you are doing is great also

[@carolparrish194]

I love watching you pick those beautiful carrots !

[@maritimegardening4887]

I was really floored at how little the weeds seemed to affect the carrots.

[@sandrawolon595]

Also started a garden on a Sandy and rocky soil as yours 8months ago, found a good source of horse manure 2months ago and so far , I see a lot of goo change. Can’t wait to harvest such beautiful carrots. Very inspirational videos btw.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Horse manure is the ultimate cheap solution for lousy soil :)

[@brittanystephens6574]

I shared this to my community gardens Facebook page. This is my favorite one. Thanks for sharing!!!

[@maritimegardening4887]

Thanks for sharing!!

[@ecnalted1]

Realy like the common sense way you garden. This stuff is not found in the garden books or garden shows. Great results. Thanks for sharing.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Thanks man for the nice words!

[@victoriaoshea4865]

Yes would love a book with beautiful pictures!

[@Crazy_Garden_Lady]

Wow! This carrots looking awesome! I'm a beginner and I hope I have a little bit success with my first garden. Wish me luck!

[@maritimegardening4887]

Best of luck!

[@grounded7362]

The plantain you pulled out of the end of your carrot bed you could be harvesting greens from when the leaves are young and tender. Plantain has amazing health benefits. I allow the plantain to grow in my garden and year after year it never gets out of control.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Yes good idea!

[@abigailbelford883]

Ditto that. Plantain is amazing

[@lindasands1433]

I watched a later video where you put down strips if cardboard & planted in between. I thought that was a brilliant idea, so I've done that 😁

[@maritimegardening4887]

Yes, I definitely recommend that over weeding!

[@lindasands1433]

@@maritimegardening4887 carrots won't be up for a while because it's cold, but I'm sure it will work as I have cardboard down in other places. Just never thought of strips

[@maritimegardening4887]

@@lindasands1433 Once the plants are 4-5" high, you put mulch over the cardboard.

[@lindasands1433]

@@maritimegardening4887 I've put mulch on already. Since I've been watching your videos, I've been inspired to build up the soil in ny gardens by every means possible 🤩

[@markblumhardt]

Nice. Here in my part of Colorado we don’t have a lot of trees so my only choice is horse manure. Actually it’s everything from the stall so I also get wood shavings and hay too. My hugel which was mainly horse manure produced amazing cucumbers and squash. Everything else thrived. I also have a Hill not too much unlike the you showed behind your property. Mine was a lunar scape due to erosion but after a couple years of horse manure the native grass came back and it’s in much much better shape

[@maritimegardening4887]

Awesome man, great to get the confirmation! Horse manure is amazing stuff! Totally underrated!

[@andreagolden4001]

That's very encouraging-- we have almost NO soil to work with but we have a source of FREE manure, unlimited quantity! So we're trying to rebuild the orchard and pasture and really hoping this works according to plan! You truly never know but it sure helps to hear from others with similar challenges.

[@lgomez222]

You make things simple, I really enjoy your videos!

[@maritimegardening4887]

Thanks!

[@Whistlewalk]

The other thing about horse manure (or any other kind of manure) is that as it rots, it produces heat. Great stuff for early seed sprouting. Just needs a bit of cover in the really early spring.

[@phillipbielefeld]

I want the small Carrot 🥕 that you didn’t plant back and just threw to the side.lol This is a Great Garden!! A+

[@maritimegardening4887]

Thanks man.

[@bethnugent7629]

Great carrots! We too have rock/clay and we found a neighbor who feeds her horses non sprayed hay. We also added chicken manure. Plants grew great until aphids. Love your compost timesaver and no till method. Can't wait to grow again. Thank you for sharing.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Thanks

[@bertharios7413]

I'm using horse manure too. I like to use it. BC my dad used it for years in Mexico to grow Organic begetales

[@gillcartwright2081]

I just love your laid back approach Greg, I'm lucky to have a few stables near me here in Lancashire UK and have access to a mountain of half rotted manure with a mixture of hay, sawdust and poo! when I went to collect it I wasn't sure what to take or where to start, so I thought blow it take it as it comes, a lot of it was still steaming in the bags! I then came across your video's so I have subscribed and look forward to now catching up, this my first time of growing veggies in beds like yours, so I'm a bit more confident about laying the manure as you suggested

[@maritimegardening4887]

Awesome! I hope it works out well for you :)

[@frankirwin3774]

That's mighty fine carrot's man! Although too many weeds better to hot compost the manure this will kill most weed seeds and pests.

[@MyBearhugger]

I know that was a weed you tossed and you didn't really want to keep it, but it was plantain! You should have kept it and dried it! It makes a good tea for detoxing, is good for strengthening the kidneys, and if you dry the leaves they can be made into a poultice for cuts, skin infections, insect bites, even poisonous snakes (not that's a problem in NS!) I'm learning to eat and appreciate the weeds. The other thing is plantain is an indicator plant of fertile soil. (Not that you didn't know your garden is fertile!) The weeds can be beneficial, too!

[@debrakessler5141]

Great info, thanks so much.

[@Pepper5655]

I pulled a bunch of weeds and stuck them in a bucket and let them rot than added the essentially fermented weeds to my garden

[@maritimegardening4887]

I've done that too, it's amazing how many inexpensive amendments you can source when you use your imagination!

[@ZE308AC]

That is also a great way to add nature's fertilizer back to mother earth

[@navagatingthroughthebeasts2908]

I have a huge pile horse & chicken manure that sat all winter, looking forward to using it, but I've seen vids where people saying be very careful of pesticides that were used in hey fields. I pray its all ok. Thank yoh

[@maritimegardening4887]

You never know with these things. Some herbicides break down in a few months so so the manure has been breaking down it might be ok now regardless

[@navagatingthroughthebeasts2908]

@@maritimegardening4887 True true , well ive already got it lay out & mixed with soil so I reckon im runnin with it 🙏

[@maritimegardening4887]

@@navagatingthroughthebeasts2908 That's kinda how I roll too so fingers crossed man good luck :)

[@ditmagiknietvergeten]

Oooo yeah im so happy i don't have a driver's licence or car so getting hay mulch manour is a real hassle my husband said I drawed the line with.poop. he will pick up almost anything like furniture wood, lumber, stones but no poop. 😂 so i asked a friend with a trailer and called sime farmers and I can get chickenmixed with horse manoure🎉🎉🎉 i got a free compost bin and I will use some manour in my regular garden and let the rest age in the bin with leaves coffee eggshels and such ni kiychen scraps vid if they don't break down in time i have bananas peals sticking out of my soil... no thanks... but yes i got some potential power fertilizer for my hügelcultre expiriment garden. I'm sooo exited. Ps why did you not do the news paper slits thing instead of 1.5 hours picking weeds ? Thanks for all the time you put in i love your videos. Kind regards rose 🌹🖒

[@mylisaflowers-shipanga2520]

I loooove this video!!!

[@maritimegardening4887]

Thanks

[@jesus.maryandjoseph8880]

Great video...the only thing I would caution is using newspaper anywhere in a food garden...the paper is usually bleaced with chlorine bleach, and there are suspected other toxins in newspaper inks. Most newspaper inks are soy-based inks, and most soy is GMO. I was going to use newspaper in my garden this year, but opted not to do so, due to the controversy over toxins and carcinogens that are known to cause cancer. Just wanted to give you a "heads up", just in case you weren't aware. Thanks, again. LOVE your channel! :-)

[@maritimegardening4887]

Lots of people warn me about this (newspaper ink) but I've not seen a shred of actual evidence that this is a risk. Is there anything that you can point me to that might provide some evidence for this claim? How much toxins in ppm; how many carcinogens in ppm; exactly what is in GMO soy that's a danger, and how much of it is present in food grown in soil that has had newspaper composted in it? Which foods take up more of these toxins than others, and how much? When you eat these toxins, how much of it is absorbed by your body and how much is simply passed through? Not saying I don't worry about toxins/carcinogens, etc. - I'm with you man - I just want to know how worried I should be :) As is often said in chemistry - it's not the poison, it's the dosage :)

[@marlenecardinahl9346]

Just what I was going to warn people about Din’t use bleached paper and printed paper- and anything that is contaminating to humans

[@TsusokaYnM]

These are such beautiful carrots! I can definitely see the power of horse manure. I don't really have access to that but I do have some fertilizer that's mainly chicken manure so I might spread some of that this fall to break down and feed my fall plantings. I love the idea of digging a hole for weeds to compost itself. Do you have to wait a year to plant in it and is it something you plan so it will eventually become its own bed or dig it up to be used elsewhere?

[@victoriaoshea4865]

Very helpful!

[@davidgonzaga232]

Horsepower!!!

[@maritimegardening4887]

Damn, that would have been an awesome title!

[@catejordan7244]

Glad you switched to a voice over , I was just about to abandon the video. 😀

[@maritimegardening4887]

Thanks and sorry. Just bought a new camera and mic this week to solve my wind problem.

[@richardmiesell4785]

Lots of vitamin A.

[@PinkSlippers70]

Greg, I am learning so much from your videos...I have raised beds and plan on digging a trench late in the fall and burying the garden vines, spent plants and some kitchen waste, then cover it back up and spread a few inches of composted manure, tons of shredded leaves and grass clippings, then straw mulch...is this a good idea?

[@maritimegardening4887]

Bury the manure too if you want less weeds, but yes, in principle, good idea for sure!

[@maritimegardening4887]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/j6erqZynp8Sfn7c

[@bwhiddon74]

I really enjoy your channel and the way you explain things. Although, I'm a long way from your growing zone..I'm in 9a in coastal Mississippi:) But a lot still applies! Anyway, at the building of your boxes, just lay down cardboard and horse manure? Any soil at all? How deep manure for first application? Then cover with hay, I got that. Keep up the awesome vids!

[@maritimegardening4887]

Great man glad to be of help. Everything I do should just work better where you are :) The manure is the soil dude :) about 6" should do it. In early spring, cover in between rows with heavy paper or cardboard to avoid the insane weeds I have in this vid :) I plan to show some vids of this technique next spring. Hell where you are, maybe do that in the fall, perhaps the weed seeds will germinate and die before the following spring. Too damn cold here for that.

[@bwhiddon74]

Maritime Gardening quick question: a lot of folks lay down cardboard or newspaper to block the weeds when starting a bed. Do you ever do that? If so, do you think masking paper or builders paper would work?

[@reneebrown5598]

Bobby Whiddon they both work. Or cardboard or newspaper. Biggest thing to remember is wet it then lay it if it's cardboard.

[@maritimegardening4887]

I have used all of those materials, and they all work, although it takes cardboard quite a while to break down. For large areas I like getting rolls of builders paper. Pick a day with not too much wind, that can be a real hassle! I didn't use that technique in this garden this year because I was being lazy, which turned out to be more work in the long run as I had to spent about 2 hours weeding it in early June I believe. I plan to do some videos next year showing how to use paper in the garden to suppress weeds.

[@ThisIsGoogle]

You need more mulch to avoid weeds

[@GardenDocSC]

I appreciate your videos! I hate to rain on your parade, but I will NEVER EVER use "partially composted" horse manure again. A few years back, I built about 8 raised beds. 16 feet long, 4 feet across, 11 inches high. I filled most of them with "store bought" stuff. My recipe was always peet moss, "Black Gold" composted cow manure, and mushroom compost. Worked awesome. One bed, I decided I would put a permanent raspberry patch in. I thought I'd save some money, and fill the first 6" with free partially composted horse manure. I lived in an equestrian community. Covered the top 4 inches with "the good stuff". Well, within 2 months, the seeds in the manure had made their way through the "good stuff". I couldn't keep up with the weeds!!! By the end of the summer, the raspberry canes were goners, the horse seed grass was 3 feet tall, and I ended up weed-whacking and flaming the whole bed. The next year, I tried tomatoes in that bed, same thing, weeds took over like a nightmare. I say weeds, but really pasture grass. I flamed it again (thought the neighbors were going to call the cops), then covered it with landscape fabric the third year, to grow squash. That worked. Wasn't worth it. Cheers.

[@maritimegardening4887]

It has thousands of weed seeds in it, and you have to mulch it to suppress them - ideally with a layer of cardboard or newspaper. I've talked about this in other videos. Clearly it works, I've used it everywhere in my garden and spend very little time weeding - you've gotta use a mulch - that's the secret.

[@beebob1279]

The problem with a garden your size is that you just can't eat all of the food. What do you do with it? Do you sell, give away, or store it? If you store the food how do you do that?

[@maritimegardening4887]

I eat & store all of it - what I grow is planned out with that in mind

[@atheos2050]

Why throw away weeds? Perfectly good compost material!

[@maritimegardening4887]

I agree

[@katdatko6727]

You never mentioned about watering. Do you spend any time watering or are you just counting on Mother Nature? What I mean is, do you water at all or do you just let the rain water for you? I would like to try this method. Could you let me know? Thanks. :)

[@maritimegardening4887]

I water when they are seedlings if they need it, but once they are big enough to get a good mulch around, they take care of themselves. From July - onward they took care of themselves, as did most of my garden.

[@islandgardener158]

Do you use seaweed and horse manure, or one or the other for carrots? I put leaves and seaweed down for our carrot boxes this fall.

[@maritimegardening4887]

I don't use h-manure every year, just for beds that are new, or that didn't perform well the previous year. Once your soil is nice and healthy, leaves, seaweed, etc. should keep it going fine. Hardly added any h-manure last year, still got great carrots. Key is planting early.

[@alalston]

Enjoying the videos..what kinda camera do you record with?..picking up the wind

[@maritimegardening4887]

Its a Sony bloggie. Got it for $40 on ebay.

[@alalston]

Maritime Gardening prolly can put a piece of scotch tape over the mic to cut out the wind

[@maritimegardening4887]

It will still pick up audio like that? I'll definitely give it a try thanks.

[@maritimegardening4887]

I tried that today, it dramatically mutes everything. I would have to scream to be heard. :) Still, I like the principle. I taped some tissue over the mic, we'll see how that works. I really need a better camera, and will have to go that route at some point.

[@alalston]

It worked well with my phone..oh well..keep on keeping on 👍🏼

[@planetbob4709]

you know you can put a sponge over your mic to prevent the wind from botching your audio. Wind blowing on the mic is really really annoying.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Yes Frank, you're right, and I've done that in my more recent videos. In fact I just ordered a new camera as well which I think will be better. My property is at the top of a hill, so winds are a real problem for filming.

[@sharris2788]

I have two year old horse manure I added to my lasagna-style garden. Is that safe to plant in ?

[@maritimegardening4887]

I would.

[@j.reneewhite915]

Would you be willing to share the spelling of the variety of carrot you used? I tried spelling it and google told me to "go fish" lol.

[@maritimegardening4887]

In what part of the video do I mention the variety?

[@j.reneewhite915]

@@maritimegardening4887 4:43 it sounds like you said the variety is imperito carrots and when I tried to google it I came up with nothing.

[@dianerollston9958]

Would you use manure on everything including onions. Thanks

[@maritimegardening4887]

I use manure to get a garden started - but once your soil is good, you maintain it's fertility with mulch. The mulch becomes compost - the compost feeds the plants

[@dianerollston9958]

Amazing..thanks

[@fortnb]

So it’s best to add the horse manure in the fall or spring?

[@maritimegardening4887]

Generally I woudl recommend the fall - gives it that much more time to break down

[@bethreaves403]

How about cow manure? Is it just as good as horse manure?

[@maritimegardening4887]

Cow manure is much stronger - you'd want that well composted and worked into the existing soil

[@bethreaves403]

Thank you!

[@benc1927]

Holy smokes it's Norm McDonalds brother

[@maritimegardening4887]

What is it with the Norm MacDonald comments!!! I'm a huge fan but I don't sound a thing like him :)

[@benc1927]

@@maritimegardening4887 Please do some Norm Mcdonald impersinations! Or just read some of his jokes to everyone while you're doing gardening. So awesome

[@carolparrish194]

how many inches of manure do you add? Is the manure aged ? Your soil looks so loose and fertile. I am jealous.

[@maritimegardening4887]

I put about 5" on that garden. Don't forget to mulch too :)

[@nonyadamnbusiness9887]

I'm not concerned with weeds in horse manure. I own a hoe. I'm concerned with persistent broadleaf herbicide in horse manure. I don't have enough land to abandon an entire garden for years.

[@northernpike56]

Somewhere I read that carrots and manure dont mix...Proved that myth wrong!

[@northernpike56]

The weed you pulled @ 7:41 was plantain....another wild edible...Also notice you're becoming more comfortable in front of the camera. Keep up the good work

[@maritimegardening4887]

Got that right!

[@maritimegardening4887]

Yes, I was searching for the name but could not recall. Only name I could come up with was yarrow- but that's a different one, and more of a medicinal plant. Thanks man!

[@marbarnes7063]

too much nitrogen can make carrots fork out instead of being straight. I would say he didn't have too much nitrogen. :)

[@TheMarkbarron]

Alot of variables when it comes to horse manure, depending on if it's aged or not and how much bedding is mixed with it.

[@MyBearhugger]

So you put the horse manure down in the fall and don't cover it with a mulch yet? Then in the spring you put about three layers of newspaper down, cut slits, and plant carrots (or whatever) in the slits and then mulch on top of that? If you mulch on top of that, doesn't it block the sunlight from reaching the carrot seeds and causing then to germinate? So how much mulch do you add on top of the newspaper after planting the carrot seeds? What do you use?

[@maritimegardening4887]

You don't mulch the slits - but otherwise you've got it. I'm putting out a vid this morning (uploading right now!) that shows that principle in action. Onec the carrots are up a few inches, then you move the mulch right up to their stems. Add about 2-3 inches of mulch - enough to keep it from blowing away and to help retain moisture. For mulch, use anything - leaves, grass, hay, straw, seaweed, woodchips - anything organic, ideally something with some green in it.

[@JessicaJohnson-pw1ok]

how many seeds did you have to sow for that size bed? and do you collect your own carrot seeds?

[@maritimegardening4887]

I think that was one pack of seeds - like $1.89

[@JessicaJohnson-pw1ok]

wow can't wait for spring.

[@JM-es2ky]

Norm McDonald?

[@litebkt]

My rock and clay has a hard time growing weeds. ;)

[@nygardenguru]

Man that’s too many weeds I better stick with hot composting

[@maritimegardening4887]

I think you'll find that this approach is less work overall - and the yield is obviously good. But if you can't bear the sight of weeds then then hey whatever works for you man - there more than one way to grow carrots :).

[@samnikole1643]

I ordered a bunch from my neighbor for 20 bucks a load

[@maritimegardening4887]

Good deal!

[@samnikole1643]

Maritime Gardening I was talking about Bulgarian bucks ! Here everything is chesper! My yearly property tax is 18 US dollars 25 Lev tops

[@rutherglen7226]

This is a load of crap. Good crap! Thanks for adding context!

[@samsonwilkinson8090]

Why have such a long intro when folks come for info?

[@sqwrrl]

So you left them 7 months in the ground?

[@maritimegardening4887]

They were growing for 7 months, yes.

[@hosoiarchives4858]

If you compost the horse manure it won't grow weeds

[@maritimegardening4887]

Those weeds are growing out of 2 year old horse manure! Certain weed seeds can last a long time :)

[@hosoiarchives4858]

Maritime Gardening wow