Brian and Judy are loading one of the Truckloads of horse manure at the secret compost location . A week earlier, we had loaded leaves and manure. During the week, additional leaves and manure were transported and placed in the compost stockade.
Brian, Judy and Marcia enthused and effused loading the first of an additional two loads of manure.
Only crazy committed gardeners can get excited about shoveling a truck or two of manure and be all smiley in the photos.
The bin is finally full. There are a total of 9 truckloads of material in the bin. We had some small amount of material from the garden. However, the tomato vines corn stalks were taken to the landfill to prevent the spread of powdery mildew, and southern corn rust.
The compost bin measures 6 feet x 4 feet and is 5 feet high. Doing the math, it contains 120 cubic feet. Since the manure was already "hot" we expect the pile to heat quickly. It has been rained on several times during the loading process. So we have all the ingredients needed for a treasure trove of Black Gold in the spring. The leaves are not very compact and the pile will settle to about half the current height. We are also using the wire tomato cages as mini-composters. About 1/3rd of the height has been filled with manure. Additional leaves and manure will fill the height. We will see how much composting will take place since there is not much volume in the cylinder. The material can either remain in the cage or be scattered in the bed.
There are post holes already drilled and enough treated lumber has been purchased to construct a bin like the one already filled. If the weather cooperates, we may have an additional bin before Spring.
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