A pile which is too low or spread out will not build up heat and so will not compost effectively. You may well find things easier if you construct bins instead of just accumulating piles. These need to be at least the size of a typical washing machine but larger is better. Aim for 2. This is the size you need to tackle the manure from one horse over a six-month period.
Life is easier if you have at least two bins. This will mean that you can fill the first bin and then allow it to compost whilst you start filling the second. The finished compost can be removed from the first bin when it is ready and this bin can then be refilled and so on. A third bin will enable you to remove finished compost at your leisure. One of the most important things to do in order to create a successful compost system is to cover each of your compost piles or bins with a tarp.
This will prevent your material from becoming soggy in the winter or too dry in warmer weather. A tarp also prevents nutrients from being washed out into the surface water and then polluting watercourses. As a bonus, as manure and other stall waste break down, the microorganisms generate tremendous amounts of heat that destroy weed seeds, fly larvae, worm eggs, and other disease-causing pathogens.
Ready to consider harnessing these microbes for good on your own property? To begin, Youngquist suggests first figuring out about how much manure you are managing. How many horses do you have? Are you picking up manure daily from stalled horses, or are your horses mostly pastured? While compost management does require a time commitment, it provides you with a free source of a valuable soil amendment for your pastures, garden, or yard.
Both options add air to the compost, keeping it aerobic: A static system forces air into the pile using a blower, whereas a turned pile involves adding air by turning it occasionally, usually with a tractor.
Begin by locating an appropriate composting site. This is your choice, but a bin system typically helps keep things neater and easier to manage.
You usually need at least two to three bins or piles. Pile 1 is where you add manure and stall waste daily. Pile 2 is where you monitor temperatures regularly and turn the compost as needed more on each stage in a minute. You can construct multiples of any of these stages or piles.
To compost and generate heat, each pile should be at least 3 cubic feet—the approximate size of a washing machine. It also keeps compost from becoming a soggy mess in the winter and crispy-dry in the summer. Tip: If you live in a windy area, weigh down your tarp with recycled milk or detergent jugs filled with gravel.
You might even want to attach it to the back of your compost bin or use bungee cords to secure it in place. Oxygen is a crucial component to composting, as again, bacteria and fungi require oxygen to do their work and break down organic matter. The simplest way to provide it is to use a small tractor to turn the pile. If the compost is starved for air, it will become foul-smelling rather than earthy. How often you turn it determines how quickly your compost will be ready to use.
Aerated static pile ASP systems use a fan instead of mechanically turning the pile. This unit requires little handling for several months until the pile is done—an investment option for larger facilities, as this system can handle a greater volume of material with minimal time investment.
Compost should be about as damp as a wrung-out sponge. For dry climates or in the summer, find a chore-efficient way to water your compost, either with a garden hose as you turn the pile or by hosing down the manure and stall waste daily before dumping. Compost should be damp but not dripping.
If you squeeze a handful of material—wear a glove if you like—only a drop or two of moisture should squeeze out from the edge of your hand. You can monitor temperatures easily using a long-stemmed compost thermometer purchased at a plant nursery or garden store. After turning several times, if the temperatures stay low, that indicates you are moving into the curing phase and out of the active composting phase.
Compost piles can cure for a month up to a year; the longer it cures the more stable it becomes, and the less likely that nutrients will leach out at the first drop of rain. It should take around three months, perhaps longer in the winter when microbial activity slows.
You will know your compost is ready when the material looks evenly textured, crumbly, dark-colored like dirt, and is earthy-smelling. The most important part of the composting process is the carbon-to-nitrogen ration.
This is what allows you to turn fresh horse manure and bedding into finished compost in a few weeks. Layering the manure with dried leaves allows air to flow and keeps the pile from developing a foul odor. The ratio for horse manure is 15 parts carbon to one part nitrogen, so for every inch of horse manure added to the pile, add a inch layer of high carbon material, such as dried plants or leaves.
To go from fresh horse manure and bedding to finished compost in a month, make sure the pile gets enough oxygen. Turning the pile, ideally about three times per week, adds oxygen that speeds up the composting process.
A properly built compost pile heats up to to degrees Fahrenheit as it works. When the pile no longer feels hot and the composted manure resembles dark brown garden soil, it is safe to use on your garden.
Fresh manure transforms a cold frame for over-wintering plants into a hot frame where you can grow vegetables and plants even in the middle of winter. Cold frames, small garden enclosures covered by windows or heavy plastic lids, only keep plants from dying in freezing temperatures, but don't encourage plant growth.
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