Your guide to using manure in the garden

Manure from vegetarian animals, such as cows, goats, horses, rabbits and poultry is valuable as a soil builder and fertilizer, but it can have some unwanted side effects. Find out the proper techniques and amounts of manure to use in your garden for the best results.

Manure from animals that feed in open pastures often contains weed seeds, while manure from factory farms may contain residues of antibiotics and growth hormones.

All manure can contain E. coli and other dangerous bacteria, so keep both your safety and that of your garden in mind if you decide to use manure.

Ask at local farms and stables and look at where the animals live and what they eat.

• Manure from grain-fed horses is usually quite rich, and manure from chicken houses is so packed with nitrogen that it must be composted before it's used in the garden.

Bagged manure has been composted and then processed to control weed seeds.

• It seldom has an unpleasant smell and it can be used directly in the garden.

• The best way to handle manure is to put it in a pile, water it and cover it with a tarp to keep nutrients from leaching out when it rains.
• Turn the pile occasionally to speed decomposition and mix some of the manure into your compost heap to provide needed nitrogen.
• As manure decays it releases heat, which kills weed seeds.
• Compost with plenty of manure mixed in should release steam on chilly mornings. If it doesn't, turn it and mix in a little water.

Each year, enrich a third of your vegetable garden with composted manure.

1. In the first year, use the space for heavy feeders, such as eggplant, cabbage, spinach and squash.
2. The next year, plant it with carrot, tomato, green beans and other vegetables that need slightly less fertile soil.
3. The third year, grow light feeders, such as garlic, turnip, onion and radish.

Manure tea is a rich liquid fertilizer that gives plants a quick boost.

• To make it, put a shovelful of composted manure in a permeable bag, such as an old pillowcase, bind the top together with a big rubber band and steep in a large tub of water for a week.
• Dilute the manure tea by half when using it to water plants.