# straw and manure



## yooper (Sep 23, 2016)

How should this pile of **** be stored, there is still a bunch of greasy turds in it now. Should I cover it?


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## Sagetown (Sep 24, 2016)

Hello yooper: Feeding cattle round bales during winter, the cows leave a mess around the feed rings. I push it all up in a pile. That's mud, manure, and what's left of the grass hay. I let it set through all the spring rains, and turn it over in the summertime. Slow process, but it makes rich black dirt. for the garden.


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## yooper (Sep 25, 2016)

Sagetown said:


> Hello yooper: Feeding cattle round bales during winter, the cows leave a mess around the feed rings. I push it all up in a pile. That's mud, manure, and what's left of the grass hay. I let it set through all the spring rains, and turn it over in the summertime. Slow process, but it makes rich black dirt. for the garden.


So I can just let it get snowed then. Little farm that I drop woodchips at brought it for me. I look forward to adding it to my garden. Been probably fifteen years since I have added any.


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## farmer steve (Sep 25, 2016)

covering will help prevent a lot of nutrients from leaching from it yoop. cover it right after a rain while it is wet to help speed up the composting process.


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## yooper (Sep 25, 2016)

farmer steve said:


> covering will help prevent a lot of nutrients from leaching from it yoop. cover it right after a rain while it is wet to help speed up the composting process.


That's what I was kinda worried about. I have it sitting on a bed of wood chips that will also go into the garden.


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## farmer steve (Sep 25, 2016)

yooper said:


> That's what I was kinda worried about. I have it sitting on a bed of wood chips that will also go into the garden.


skip the wood chips on the garden. they. can make you soil to acidic.


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## Sagetown (Sep 25, 2016)

I've heard you can pour a bottle of cola on the pile and it will get the bacteria going faster, but I don't know if that's so or not.


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## thomasjf (Sep 25, 2016)

left over sodas are good for a compost. Beer to for that fact. What you are doing is adding sugar to help the Bacteria develop and multiply. I use plain table sugar. Cheap and easy to scatter. And really promotes Bacteria growth.


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## amberg (Sep 25, 2016)

Sagetown said:


> Hello yooper: Feeding cattle round bales during winter, the cows leave a mess around the feed rings. I push it all up in a pile. That's mud, manure, and what's left of the grass hay. I let it set through all the spring rains, and turn it over in the summertime. Slow process, but it makes rich black dirt. for the garden.



Do the same thing here. I have several people that come every spring and get me to load their pickups or trailers for their gardens with the old piles that have already rotted down.


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## amberg (Sep 28, 2016)

This is one of the rotted down piles that Sagetown described in post no. 2. It makes real nice black dirt for gardens.


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