sexy hot pile

[berryman]

Finally got the pile turned and here's a pic of it. Notice the plum tree is in full bloom now and you can hear the bees working it over from 150 ft away.
Lots of mycelial growth and heat left from over two weeks of cooking.

[berryman]

So here's my new bin made out of fiberglass acoustic panels left over from a job. It's 13 ft across and four feet high. This pic shows the 13th pickup load going on top.

The material is horse manure and softwood shavings about 50/50 so for my super alkaline soil I add copious ammonium sulfate and sulphur so that it ends up being a richer fertilizer and ph balancer for my poor soil.

Even though the night time lows are in the single digits and daytime highs in the thirties, it is starting to get hot. On the left you can see last Summer's load turned out in a big pile. I'll use that cooked stuff this spring.

[Salsacharley]

Now you've got a heated above-ground pool! Very nice!

[Cole_Robbie]

wow. Did you have a track hoe did the pit?

[berryman]

Cole, shovel power. Keeps me in shape during the winter.
Salsa, ha! It does look like a pool. My dog loves it in there too, her favorite treats now are the hoof trimmings the farrier throws in. Good chewing for days.

[JRinPA]

I wanted to get the cap off the truck for a week this fall to get some compost going this winter, but it didn't happen yet.

My 5 cubic pallets from last year were mostly horse manure, arbor vitae shreddings, leaves and kitchen scraps. I innoculated with redworms as well. They find their place in there. Those piles were down to 2 cu pallets at end of spring, and probably equal about 1 cu pallet now. I transplanted some canteloupe and watermelon on top in the summer, so got some use of that area even as it was finishing.

I do have to watch my dogs; they will steal horse manure and wolf it down like they haven't been fed for a week.

[berryman]

That's funny JR, never can tell what the dogs are gonna eat.
In my compost pile, it is mostly horse manure as well (with a lot of sawdust) but the farrier that works on the horses throws in the hoof trimmings which turn into these hard chewy curly things that my dog adores.