Spreading it on thick

Well it is election time.  The mailbox is full of political ads.  Our answering machine is full of robo-calls from various politicians bad-mouthing one another.  Radio and TV ads are full of candidates making campaign promises.  This reminded me that it is time to spread manure on the newly planted ryegrass:)  Ha Ha! 

I had a large tub full of chicken manure (litter) that I had saved for top-dressing the ryegrass that we planted a couple of weeks ago.  This will give the young ryegrass a "jump-start."  Unfortunately, the lid had blown off of the tub during a thunderstorm we had in September and the tub filled with rainwater.  In order to broadcast it, I needed to dry it out so I spread the smelly stuff out on some sheets of tin to dry.


Drying it out to spread

What I couldn't fit on the tin, I left in an old wheel barrow to dry.  The wheel barrow has a hole in it.  I propped a bucket underneath it to catch the "tea" that dripped out.  I'll use that to water some of the older plants in the garden, providing liquid fertilizer.


"Tea" time

Once it was completely dry, I shoveled the manure into my little fertilizer spreader and began to broadcast it over the newly planted ryegrass.  Once we catch a little rain, the manure will provide a beneficial boost to the ryegrass, enabling it to grow with vigor.  The last several years, we simply haven't had a good stand of ryegrass.  Hopefully this extra chicken litter will provide the nutrients that the ryegrass needs to really take off and grow.


Broadcasting the chicken manure

The manual spreader has a gate that opens on the bottom.  As the manure drops out of the bottom, it falls on a spinning wheel that slings it out evenly as I push the spreader across the pasture.  I made sure that I overlapped it and spread it on good and thick so that the grass gets good fertilizer coverage.
 

Fertilizer spreading in action

Here's a close-up of a few shoots of ryegrass that have taken root and are growing.  The ryegrass sprouts are the thin, skinny shoots of grass in the foreground.


Ryegrass sprouts

We're counting on the ryegrass to provide the cows with some good green grass this winter when the bahai and bermuda grass has died for the winter.  I'm confident that The manure I'm spreading, unlike some political promises, will yield positive results for everyone here on the farm in the near future.