Is this normal?

I finally got my box filled with the mix yesterday. I used all composted manure like I was supposed to and there is quite a smell to the whole thing. Will this smell go away after a while? I think the one composted manure that made it smell was the bag of Chickety Doo Doo.

This is my first square foot garden using the mix like it is spelled out in the book and just wondered about the smell. It is far enough away from my house that I can't smell it from the deck.

I also got a surprise when I opened my Oma Grow stuff...I had a few big fat earthworms come out of the bag, so I guess that means I have some worm castings mixed in, huh? LOL!!! Now all I have to do is put up the dividers and get to planting!

Be assured the odor will simmer down in a few days. And CONGRATS! on getting your mix done! WOOT!

I figured it would get better in a few days. Mixing everything on the tarps really helps too! I am really hoping this mix helps me grow radishes this year....every other year I have had no luck with radishes. My daughter refuses to go near the thing until the smell goes away...she is 21 and didn't want to help me shovel poo around!

Yes - it's normal. Chickety-Doo-Doo smells really strong, especially to those of us not used to any kind of "barnyard" or "farm" smell.

I used it as one of my five composts to add to my beds this year before planting and it smelled fairly strong for about the first week. Then it smelled a bit only when I watered it for a little while after that. Now it doesn't smell at all.

Now I am a total novice gardener. I'm on year 2 of my SFG and NEVER had any gardening experience before last year. But here is what is growing in it...

First peas


Broccoli


Tiny head forming - for size the clamp is a 2" clamp (Can you believe I didn't have a coin in my pocket?)


Ok just read your post about the radishes and had to go take another pic... These are French Breakfast radishes and I've had better luck with them than other varieties I tried last year.


So...hang in there. Most of us from the city don't realize that the "farm smell" is what grows us the best goodies. It'll disappear in a short while.

I knew the Chickety Doo Doo had a strong odor to it since I work at a Menard's store in the garden center and earlier when we were stocking stuff I had a bag of the Doo Doo break and we had to tape it and I ended up getting it all over my shirt and jeans...I smelled awful for the rest of my shift! LOL!!!

I now have my veggie list done and I will try the breakfast radishes instead of the other ones and see how it goes.

My list includes radish, beans, sugar snap peas, onions, green peppers, hot peppers, tomato, khlorabi, and cauliflower. I may throw in some lettuce to depending on how many squares I have left. I really want to get out there and plant today, but I still need to get my dividers in, so I better not get too ahead of myself. I am going to use some small thin wooden dowels and tie them together so they form the squares.

jamieb29,
Add some phosphorous to your MM with something like bonemeal or wood ash. In the fall I had great radish tops but no bulb just wimpy little roots. I sprinkled a little bit of wood ash from my fireplace and the radish bulbs started growing.

would wood ash from my fire pit outside work? My son has been using it to burn the branches from our trees that have fallen down.

I think it would be fine to use that. I have heard you don't want to use ashes from charcoal briquets due to chemicals. Did your son douse the branches in diesel or something like that to burn them? If so some of the chemicals could still be present.

I used ashed from my fireplace and they worked fine. I too the conservative approach that I can always add more if needed as to not add too much because it can throw off the ph if you do.

I will ask him to make sure just in case he used a little bit of gas from the garage.

If the wood ash is OK also use it sprinkled on the area you're going to sow carrots as well for it is beneficial for them too. not only doe it help growth it also helps keep carrot fly at bay .

jamieb29 wrote:I finally got my box filled with the mix yesterday. I used all composted manure like I was supposed to and there is quite a smell to the whole thing. Will this smell go away after a while? I think the one composted manure that made it smell was the bag of Chickety Doo Doo.

Crack open a bottle of fish emulsion fertilizer and you'll find the smell from your compost will disappear immediately



... no, don't do that ...LOL

acara wrote:

jamieb29 wrote:I finally got my box filled with the mix yesterday. I used all composted manure like I was supposed to and there is quite a smell to the whole thing. Will this smell go away after a while? I think the one composted manure that made it smell was the bag of Chickety Doo Doo.

Crack open a bottle of fish emulsion fertilizer and you'll find the smell from your compost will disappear immediately



... no, don't do that ...LOL

Oh my Gosh Acara...You crack me up! Yup and I have both in my shed -

I know what that kind of fish fertilizer smells like from working in a garden center....LOL!!!

UnderTheBlackWalnut wrote:
Oh my Gosh Acara...You crack me up! Yup and I have both in my shed -

We'll keep it there & don't get it on your clothes and then come inside and toss you clothes in the family hamper.

Unfortunately, I don't own a shed ..... and it was chilly on the couple of nights I had to sleep outside, while mama calmed down.

UnderTheBlackWalnut wrote:

acara wrote:

jamieb29 wrote:I finally got my box filled with the mix yesterday. I used all composted manure like I was supposed to and there is quite a smell to the whole thing. Will this smell go away after a while? I think the one composted manure that made it smell was the bag of Chickety Doo Doo.

Crack open a bottle of fish emulsion fertilizer and you'll find the smell from your compost will disappear immediately



... no, don't do that ...LOL

Oh my Gosh Acara...You crack me up! Yup and I have both in my shed -

LOL, an effective, if not somewhat cruel lesson in olfactory sensibility. Glad to have you back Acara!

acara wrote:

UnderTheBlackWalnut wrote:
Oh my Gosh Acara...You crack me up! Yup and I have both in my shed -

We'll keep it there & don't get it on your clothes and then come inside and toss you clothes in the family hamper.

Unfortunately, I don't own a shed ..... and it was chilly on the couple of nights I had to sleep outside, while mama calmed down.

Does that come close to how you smell when you just washed a skunky kitteh ?

acara wrote:

jamieb29 wrote:I finally got my box filled with the mix yesterday. I used all composted manure like I was supposed to and there is quite a smell to the whole thing. Will this smell go away after a while? I think the one composted manure that made it smell was the bag of Chickety Doo Doo.

Crack open a bottle of fish emulsion fertilizer and you'll find the smell from your compost will disappear immediately



... no, don't do that ...LOL

[GAG] Childhood memories!!! Dad only used it one year that I remember from my childhood. That was about 40 years ago. I have never felt the need to stoop that low in my gardening ventures! I think I will go back to eating processed cheese spread before I pop open a bottle of that in my neighborhood!

GG