My composter has sat fairly undisturbed for almost a year now. Open the lid and yup... room temperature. Bummer.
I add a nice layer of freshly raked oak leaves, some kitchen scraps, and even some shredded newspaper.
What's missing? Fertilizer.
I live in the country, so my neighbor boy is in the FFA. He's doing a cow this year.
I said A COW! As in MANURE! YES!!!
So I wheel my wagon across the street and his daddy helps me fill my wagon, shoveling up the good stuff from around her pen (not where she sleeps, but where she does her walking I guess). I get excited, take the fresher stuff and put it on top of my organic stuff and water. Close the lid and walk away.
The older stuff I decide to put on my old, neglected veggie garden spot. To date what remains in that bed now are a few onions, some daylillies (I think), and my asparagus mound. I was very careful as I spread the remainer of the wagon load (about 2/3) over this bed and then watered.
Very proud of myself now, I walk away, clean up and go to bed.
I sat straight up in bed around 2am thinking 'omg! I'm going to burn up everything that's left in that bed!! I should have NEVER put that fresh of manure on my GROWING veggie bed! what am I going to do?!!' As if that's not enough... I worried that there's also urine in the mix--is that really BAD?! Holy Smokes!
Wasted NO time (well unless you count the hours between then and now) getting on here to find out just how much damage I've done, and is it reversible? and what can I do now? It MAY not be too late to rake it all off and move it to a pile on its own until it ages more.
Except we have rain coming tomorrow.
