Compost, Manure, and Dirt

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kitty_mom Waverly, GA(Zone 8b) Mar 20, 2010

Hi- this is kind of a strange question :)

Some friends offered us free donkey and goat manure. We brought it home, and since we were unsure of what we would do with it, we dug a pit and covered it with dirt.
Well, I found out that manure is supposed to be composted before use for sanitary reasons, so in order to remove it (we buried in the future garden site) we dumped it on the compost pile. Now, it's a mixture of a little bit of kitchen scraps, poop, and a lot of dirt.
What do we need to do to get/keep the compost pile going? Will it work with the addition of the dirt?

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themoonhowl Prairieville, LA(Zone 9a) Mar 21, 2010

Here is some info for you on composting manure and composting in general.

http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/carringt/livestock/Beef%20Report%2002/manure%20composting.htm

http://usagardener.com/breaking_ground/composting_manure_and_fertilizer.php

http://www.howtocompost.org/

http://www.composting101.com/

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kitty_mom Waverly, GA(Zone 8b) Mar 22, 2010

These are great articles. Thanks for replying. :)

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themoonhowl Prairieville, LA(Zone 9a) Mar 23, 2010

You are too welcome. Before ya know it you will have a wonderful amendment for your garden.

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landscapetech55 Toronto, Canada Apr 04, 2010

The main thing I remember is to keep it hot! even put a black sheet over the pile to attract sunlight. I have a jet-black composter and I keep it in the sunniest spot of the yard -- I've measured temperatures of up to 145 F on sunny days. At nighttime, I assume all of the bugs and worms are attracted to the warmth.

I've got the speediest composter of all my friends, who've tucked it away in the shade at the side of their house! I empty every 1.5 months or so.

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themoonhowl Prairieville, LA(Zone 9a) Apr 05, 2010

Agreed, the more heat generated the better. Stuff breaks down faster and the heat kills the weed seeds.

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