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Well I finally got the gumption to fix my newest compost pile that was not heating up so yesterday morning First Wife and I took the pickup and a couple of pitch forks and went over to the public horse stables a couple of miles east to get a load of stall bedding and the commercial composter had just cleaned out the big bin. We were able to get about a yard and came home to take apart the compost bin and put it in the isle and layered it with new grass clippings, garden soil and that bedding. Today I was going to put it back in the bin when a friend from our Church called to report someone had broken off a faucet and it flooded the north lawn and was running down the street so I ran over there to take a look. He had called a landscaper and they were there getting ready to fix it so I came home and got sidetracked putting weed and feed on the big lawn.

I started on the compost operation afternoon and notice steam coming from it and checked the temp and it was 140 degrees in 24 hours!!! I got most of it back in the bin and added a little more of the horse bedding and it should be 160 to 170 degrees in a couple of days. It was quite a achievement for me as I have lacked my stamina for the last 8 months. It felt like chronic fatigue that people describe. We had a damp morning 4 days ago and the Red Gold Potatoes are blighting however they are about ready to harvest but I see the blight in the Yukon Gold now and they need 2 or 3 weeks more...

I am a compost fanatic. A physicist by formal training, I can't stop tinkering. An avid woodworker hobbyist as well. A constant problem for woodworkers is that on occasion we need a high volume source of compressed air, but generally the large compressor sits idle with a tank of moist, corrosive air. I plumbed my compressor to “dump” periodically through a manifold system build into my compost. Instant aeration ... I often hit temps of 180 degrees. And if I have a lot of “green” in the pile it will sustain 180 degrees for a week. Makes for quick compost.

A word of warning .. go lightly with horsemanure and make sure it composts thoroughly and at as high heat as possible. Disgetstive systems of horses are not to efficient ... they pass ALL weed seeds intact. If your compost pile does not heat thoroughly .. at least 160 .... you are going to be sowing weed seeds as well. And .. those weed seeds germinate quickly and grow rapidly in that rich compost host.

Been there .. done that as the saying goes. Tool me 5 years to get weeds somewhat under control in my perennial beds.

A better idea. Still use you horse manure .. but isolate it in its own compost bin using garden weeds you might be pulling or cutting. Kill two birds with one stone. None of my weeds ever go into my main compost .. I compost them separately. Weeds are always a problem, but I have cut production of them down by 75% since I started this.