Purple Cow Manure

[MissS]

I went to my farm supply and they have a shipment of Purple Cow manure in. I know that Black Cow is a good product but I am not so sure that Purple Cow gets good reviews. Has anyone here used it with good results or is this one that may contain herbicides?

I did purchase one bag and potted a seedling into it to see if the plant thrives or not before using this in my tomato beds.

[mama_lor]

Must be from the Milka cows

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

I'm sold on Purple Cow Organics (had a coupla yards delivered eight [8] weeks ago), but if you're getting it by the by the bag, it'll come dear.

Make sure to get the Raised Bed Mixture, if that's where it's going.

The Gotch

[MissS]

@Cornelius_Gotchberg where did you get a truckload of Purple Cow from?

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

https://madisontopsoil.com/product/classic-compost/

GREAT folks/GREAT product!

The Gotch

[greenthumbomaha]

When I saw the title of this post, I snooped to see if the posters were from Wisconsin. My local hydro store, Paradigm Gardens, is a branch of their main store in Madison. They send down local products , and yes this is a great company. Years ago when the store still hosted classes, Purple Cow sponsored a demo on soil blocking using their compost in combination with potting mix or your regular garden soil. Good stuff but expensive, at least here.

- Lisa

[MissS]

It seems that Purple Cow does contain traces of herbicides. My potato leafed plants were first to show symptoms and now the regular leafed plants are following. I had two plants that germinated quite late and did not go in until last week. They are still fine but I'm sure that they too will start getting curly thick leaves like the others. I don't think that this will be fatal to my plants but they are not normal either. There is no way that they could have caught a herbicide drift from my yard or a neighbors. The curly growth is only on new growth on the tops and inside of the plants (suckers).

@Cornelius_Gotchberg how are your plants doing?

[Tormahto]

Is it the cow or the manure that's pur...

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

@MissS; one of the beds I topped off is doing so-so, but I'd also put a coupla inches of wood shavings/sawdust in that one which hadn't had a chance to decompose. Lesson learned!

The others, one in particular, are doing spectacularly. Are you going to let them know?

The Gotch

[MissS]

@MissS; one of the beds I topped off is doing so-so, but I'd also put a coupla inches of wood shavings/sawdust in that one which hadn't had a chance to decompose. Lesson learned!

The others, one in particular, are doing spectacularly. Are you going to let them know?

The Gotch

If you use fresh wood shavings on your beds, use them on top as a mulch to protect your soil. If you work them into your soil you will have some nitrogen issues while they are breaking down.

Purple Cow is not a cheap product now is it? So I should let them know but I have no idea of how they will manage to do much about it. Trying to find the source of the hay use to feed all those cows will not be easy. I also doubt that they would get many complaints because most people don't know what they are looking at. The plants are lush, nice and dark green, thick stems and leaves (a clue) and then the new growth starts to come in curled and deformed. It was not noticeable right away either, it took about 3 weeks to start showing symptoms which tells me that it is a light dose.

[karstopography]

What a shame! Buying aged manure specifically to raise plants and vegetables and it contains a herbicide. I wonder how or if there is any practical way to prevent the herbicide containing feed from getting ultimately used for the manure sources destined for gardens? Is there a way to process this herbicide out of the manure?

I mean, if there’s no way to know if this herbicide is in the manure, why would anyone risk buying this product only to damage or destroy their garden and or landscape plants?

There’s no way I’d buy purple cow (if it were available here) now or the black cow. I continue to look out for any compost sources or bagged soils to make sure those don’t have manure in it.

This herbicide getting into the manure sources stream seems to be a big deal to me, and not so isolated, so why doesn’t there appear to be more of an outcry about it or is there?

Herbicide drift is one issue and bad enough on its own, but now the manure isn’t safe. Are we not supposed to be able to grow our own vegetables?

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

Is there a difference between manure and compost?

Compost:
High-quality compost from Purple Cow Organics in Madison, WI
100% plant-based and organic product is OMRI listed for organic production
Ideal for mixing with grass seed for turf and lawns
Ideal for replenishing existing garden beds
Increases organic matter and improves soil health and soil structure
Promotes bigger, higher yielding plants

From madisontopsoil.com/faq/
How do I know the soil is of good quality?
We have a strict quality control and soil testing program in place. Our soil is tested for adequate nutrients, composition, and contaminants to ensure that our soil is safe and easy to use.

Mine was bulk delivered compost, and one bed topped off'n with it is going absolutely gangbusters!

The Gotch

[Amateurinawe]

It all starts in the soil, otherwise plants would have evolved to float in the air.

It's a bit outrageous that there are contaminants in a purchase product.

[BlueDog]

It's a bit outrageous that there are contaminants in a purchase product.

I think it’s becoming all too common. Grazon and its aminopyralid containing friends are showing up in a lot of manure based products.

As hard as it it is to believe these herbicides can stay viable through a digestive tract of an animal, then endure YEARS of composting, and STILL be potent enough to destroy things in our gardens… I think it’s even harder to believe it and other techno chemicals don’t harm us.

[karstopography]

https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/herbicide-carryover

More on these type of herbicides and how they find their way into vegetable gardens.

[karstopography]

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/AG416

One more. Not all vegetables are as sensitive to these herbicides as the solanaceous crops and legumes. Corn and wheat are highly tolerant. Soil microbes do break grazon down in time. Tomatoes are sensitive to 0.2 ppb. Laboratory tests usually only go to 20-50 ppb, so tomatoes can be injured even if the lab says “all clear”