I absolutely use horse manure, and have gone to the local stables where they let me have it free, and partialy composted, along with the hay from their bedding. My 90 year old neighbor goes barefoot in the fields nearby collecting “cow patties”.
OTOH, chicken manure is considered pretty “hot”, and I’ve never used it.
Here is what TILTH says;
My Dad chose Cow manure as his preferred garden fertilizer back in the '50’s because, he told me, a cow has three stomachs and the waste “produced” from them eating their food is much richer that the “hot” droppings of a horse.
Learned behavior on my part.
OK lets see how this summer goes then 
It seems like a lot. Hopefully it is well aged and has been left in the unplanted plot for awhile. We always turn the chicken manure under a bit. Let us know how you make out…I always something new to learn about gardening!
@biondanonima, I just posted a thread on our “home” board about gardening. I’d love to pick your brain about your cherry trees and fruit plants-- maybe at the HOdown on April 1!!!
My “new to me” edible I’m growing this year is orach. So far, I’m in love with the colors and the variety it brings to my salad greens. I live in a cool climate, so although orach is touted as a spinach alternative that can withstand heat, I’ve read that it prefers cooler climates. So far, the plants I started from seed are doing well! I had to start them under lights, but that’s per usual in my foggy climate.
The other new plant I’m growing this year are Bulgarian carrot peppers, glacier tomatoes, purple bush beans, and two types of alpine strawberries. I also started yacon and purple potatoes.
Annuals that I’m growing again are purple tomatillos, purple jalapeños, thai basil, molten fire amaranth, and purple Genovese basil. (Yes, I love the color purple!)
A month ago I went to clean out the overgrown swiss chard and I pulled out the plants with their giant roots. I noticed tiny new growth buried in the middle so I decided to chop off all the old leaves and replant them. A few weeks later all three plants are going crazy again! In the middle is last year’s jalapeño, which seems to be growing new foliage and has a few baby peppers too. And then there are two new tomato plants, one cherry and the other unknown.
And then there is the bucket with lemon grass and chives, and a new pot of basil.
Is it difficult to grow? I have tried grains, didn’t grow a thing.
Very easy to grow. It was about 1/4 of the size you see when I planted it. I have done nothing but water it. You can reach in and grab a stalk when you want it. I watched a video a while back about dividing then plant and that looked easy too.
Wait, you replanted the leaves?
No. I removed all the old leaves and was left with these giant roots (looked like granarly tubers) with a few baby leaves on top. So I dug deep and replanted the tuber roots. And now I have tons of chard again.
This March was the warmest in France since 1900 and the same as the year 1957! 11°C in average, +2.3°C! Busy, busy for gardeners…
The cherry tree is now in full blossom!
First time ever, the rhubarb will have flowers.
Raspberries are budding…
Lemon verbena is slow from recovering from winter.
Peach, the blossoms are gone now, you can see the start of fruits.
The fava beans planted in feburary is now around 20cm tall, no flowers yet.
Bought 2 citrus trees a week ago, a finger lime tree that originated from Australia…
and an Asian pomelo called Yuzu, used a lot in dessert.
The sweet peas planted in February are still very small. In the beginning I would like to sow directly exterior, and another smaller container, the same seeds but the young leaves will be for salad. The outdoor seeds in the soils disappeared (no ideas why, slugs?!. So Plan B, now the salad pots need to be transplanted soon. You see some lettuce leaves too, as the container was used for growing lettuces last year.
Indoors, tomatoes are now 1 month old, I just transplanted them to bigger pots. They will start the process of hardening outdoors later this week… when the temperature rises more especially in the afternoon.
I planted herb and pepper seeds last weekend and they are starting to sprout, hooray! My most exciting garden development, though, is that my ramps are up! I planted bare-root ramps last fall and have been crossing my fingers ever since that they would be happy in my soil. They have complex light requirements (sun/dappled sun in the late winter/early spring and shade after the trees have leafed out) and need lots of moisture. Lucky for me, my side yard fits the bill, and they seem to be doing very well there! I will probably only harvest a few leaves this year to let them get better established before harvesting full plants, although apparently if you cut them close to the root rather than digging up the root entirely, the roots will continue to produce.
Exciting time of year; checking the perennials is like Xmas morning every day and this weekend we finally put out a new raised planter box on the patio, three levels and planted lettuces, chard and herbs, Have seedlings on my toaster oven sunning under an LED pucklight while we sleep and an Earthbox under a plant light we’ve been growing green zebra heirlooms in all winter. Deciding what to plant in addition to the 9 tomato plants we’ll have this summer. Eggplant, zucchini? Maybe brussels?
I LOVE this time of year and my favorite cooking season.
I got brussels seeds at the seed swap in February. They came up great! We shall see.
After the experiences of being a first time gardener this year, I am already thinking about next year. I will definitely amend the soil over the winter. And try to develop a schedule for doing some rotating, I have experienced this year that not all things grow all summer long. Learning from Youtubes has been very helpful.
Do you plant anything this autumn / winter?
I usually do some feva beans in winter / spring for crop rotation. I might plant some more parsley for this winter.
The garden where I have my little plot wants all the beds emptied for over the winter. I have no control over that. But I have let them know that I want the same bed next spring.
That’s essential if you want to amend the soil. Do you have any idea why they want beds to be emptied for winter?
