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Midwest

Hello, I have located some piles of hores crap that was last used 2 years ago. Some are about 10 feet tall so the stuff on the bottom could be 3 to 4 years old. My question is the pile ready to use or would it need to be turned for months in order to compost it??
Thanks RE

2/8/2005 9:02:53 PM

Roanoke Il

It will have lost most of its NPK but it will be good for trace eliments and organic mater great stuff..mark

2/8/2005 9:07:25 PM

[email protected]

Use it as you found it. Just get it tilled in & tested ASAP but I doubt after this time you'll need to make major corrections. Maybe some Gypsum for Calcium but wait for test results. Sample both the native soil & the amended result.

2/8/2005 10:42:12 PM

Puyallup, WA

In my opinion, the major benefit will be improving the tilth of your soil. I'd spread that stuff on the entire patch a good four inches deep and rototill it into the soil as deep as you can. If possible, get a farmer with a
"real rototiller" on his tractor to till it in for you.

2/8/2005 11:59:03 PM

Montoursville, PA

There could be a surprise awaiting in the debth of that pile of horse poop. Without oxygen from active turning one might expect to find "real" preserved non-converted poop.

Let your nose and eyes be the judge. If it smells like poop it is! If it smells like rich earthy compost it is!

Rich earthy compost naturally returns to PH of 7.0 and needs no testing because compost is beyond what NPK testing is good for. A good compost fully converted to humus or nearly converted to humus is a biological package of all the goodies expected to be found in a healthy living soil.

In a pile ten feet deep of this age expect a range of conditions to show. Only the man with the fork can make these determinations.

Treasure your find but be aware, of the possible ranges, of material, you may discover. It is most unlikely that any material deeper, in the pile than three feet, will be compost without further time and/or physical turning, to arrive at compost.

2/9/2005 8:39:43 AM

Follansbee, Wv

Are we forgetting something here Doc? In a pile that old there may be a healthy worm population leading a merry decomposing life in the bottom of that pile. If that is the case, mother has provided her own aeration and drainage. As is often the case, left to her own devices, mother will do a superb job even when we least expect it. I do agree though, if it smells like poop, it is. It certainly wont hurt to dig around a bit and see what is in there. Good luck.

2/9/2005 11:57:14 AM

Midwest

Thanks to you all
Rodney E.

2/9/2005 12:35:15 PM

Vancouver, White Rock, Canada

There's a joke in there about your misspelling of the word "horse crap" but this is a family website...

2/9/2005 10:38:38 PM

Midwest

tanks fur potin out skippy

2/10/2005 2:27:18 AM