wish me luck

OK I'm through lurking and it's time to get started.I've been following this forum for a couple months I think.
This will be my third year growing in the same dirt ,I found out this weekend that my neice and her BF are living on a large horse farm and I've been invited to remove as much manure as I possibly can with my little truck.Not to mention the 10 bales of damp hay he gave me last night. Sadly I don't have access to AN for starter, What else can I use?
This has really got me pumped, I've been lurking for too long . Would it hurt to mix aged and fresh manure together and put it on the bales?

Pictures to follow

If the hay is already damp you probably won't need a "starter". The AN is just used to jump start the decomposition process. Just get them place where you want them and water every day. If you have access to a thermometer with a long probe you may want to check the temps in the bales before you start watering and again a week or so later to see if they're heating up any. I thought mine were ready last year after about ten or twelve days but I stuck in that thermometer and it was ~120 degrees. Way too hot to plant in!

Doug

I've got about 3 or 4 weeks before I start putting in plants.I got 6 of the 10 bales placed tonight and watered in good.
I hope I can get the other 4 set tomorrow night, I promised my sis-in-law I'd till for her tomorrow.
I'm still going to use a couple of raised beds that I already have in place as my control and will be able to compare against bales
I'm doing cucumbers in 2 bales and peppers and tomatoes in some more maybe a few squash too.

fremar: you're on the right track; welcome aboard.

Use the aged manure if you need it and let the fresh "simmer" for later use.

As of Thursday evening all the bales are in place and watered in well. I'm curious now about the difference between hay and straw bales and exactly how would I be able to tell the difference?
I got the bales from a horse farm so is it more likely they are hay?
When I got them home and in place they seemed tightly packed but after 3 days of watering twice a day they seem to be looser or softer. I can use my hand and press flat down on the center and they compress about an inch or two, does this mean they could be rotting already? They were somewhat old and had been wet before I got them.
And should I go ahead now and put some compost in them where I intend to plant? Our hardware store already has tomatoe plants out for sale I'm just not sure about planting this early, we generally have a good Easter frost and I hate to waste my money on plants to lose them to a frost.
what temp should I be looking for to be relatively sure they have finished cooking?