Another Massive Muck Mountain!

My neighbour phoned the other morning and asked if I’d like some manure as he was cleaning out his lambing sheds ready for this year’s lambing. Of course, I said, “yes, please.” Then he said, “How much would you like?” After thinking for a nanosecond, I said, “As much as you want to get rid of.”

I’m guestimating that there’s 20 cubic metres in this pile of manure,

The last load of manure from the lambing shed was four years ago, and I was only saying last year that another would be welcome.

A couple of hours later, a dumper truck loaded with manure arrived and chugged up the front field to dump the manure near to the top gate, which is near to the polytunnel and walled vegetable plot.

The dumper truck with another load of manure for the pile.

Having tipped his load, it was back across the road for the next one. And repeat until nightfall. Well I thought that was my lot, and very pleased I was too. But the next day he was back with more, roughly twice as much again as the first day.

20 Cubic Metres of Manure

I’m only estimating, of course, but I think I’ve ended up with something like 20 cubic metres of manure! It’s fairly fresh, so will need to rot down before it’s used. I don’t want to just leave it sitting open in the field. For a start, the cold rains will slow decomposition and wash nutrients into the field. So, onto Amazon, where I ordered an 8 x 10 metre tarpaulin to cover the pile. OK, it’s £40, but the muck was free.

Last time I had a load of manure, I covered it with a tarp, but the winds shredded it. Hopefully, this one will be stronger and better held down.

Since it’s been mixed and aerated by the scraping it up and delivering it, I expect it will heat up a bit under the tarpaulin. Some will be going into the new deep raised beds. The plan is to take some from the edges, which won’t be well rotted, and mix it with the semi-composted green material in the base of the beds. They’ll be topped up with well rotted compost from the bins in the old field plot.

If I had the strength, I’d take that as an opportunity to mix the main pile to speed up the decomposition. Still, just letting it go at its own pace will do the job. Just takes a bit longer.

Taking Time to Compost

I think we’re all in such a hurry nowadays, “compost in just six weeks!” as I’ve seen advertised. Then I watched a video from The John Seymour Self Sufficiency School where he was talking about making compost that wouldn’t be used for over a decade! In light of that, a couple of years seems positively rushed!

Once it’s broken down a bit more, this manure will be great!

One thing I will be careful of, overusing. The soil is in good heart and, until recently, I would have said more manure is always a good thing. But apparently, you can have too much of a good thing! See my post on Too Much Manure