My New Hotbed

ducks4you said:

It's a win-win. And, I have now double dug 5/13 beds, so THAT's a win-win.
This time I have been frugal.

Click to expand...

I dug FIVE beds that are 13 feet long?

Nope. Each bed that I double dug about 7-8 years ago was about 3-3.5 ft. x 12 ft. That's when I dug four of them, and this month I double dug a 5th bed, but THIS bed was about 1/2 the size of the others.
Given enough time they will all be double dug, but I may have a tractor in my future and that will REALLY make it easier.

Gardening with Rabbits said:

Have you heard of Charles Dowdling? I can't find the video, but he shows his greenhouse and he has manure hotbeds in the greenhouse starting flats of seeds. Here is a video outside. I am not sure if this is horse manure, but he does show some videos with hot manure and uses a thermometer to test temperature. Very interesting and if I could get horse manure right now I would try it. I might be able to get some manure and going to look into it.

Click to expand...

OOOOO, MORE videos to watch!!! Thanks!!!!

Home today, so I filled the "ditch" today about 1/2 full. Went back and read my tips about putting in 1/3 straw--only had soiled Hay, so I emptied poo from the stalls with some sawdust bedding first, then I went to my horse's shelter and filled my big wheelbarrow with mucky uriney manure mixed with grass hay that they have been pushing out of the manger. Got my wellies on and stomped like I was starting wine from grapes. It compressed to about 1/2 full, down a few inches. Tomorrow I will buy a meat thermometer and I'll take a reading on Saturday when I finish filling. Got work Thursday and Friday, so it will have to stew by itself until Saturday.
When I've stripped the shelter before I've noticed that it was hotter below the surface, so we'll see...

More to report. Yesterday I finished filling in the ditch. I didn't feel any real heat from below, but DD says "give it time to cook," so we'll see. I will need to invest in a compost thermometer:

to check on it. At first I thought that the old meat thermometer that I have never used could work, but it measures too high for this.
The temperatures went from creepy warm to cold with a wind chill of 9 degrees above and now windy and 49 for a high today. Still a little cold, I'm making more bread & butter pickles, but I'll try to take a few more pictures this afternoon to post.

That thermometer should work well. I wouldn't expect it to be extremely accurate but for your purposes it doesn't need to be. As long as you are in the ballpark you're good enough.

ducks4you said:

Nope. Each bed that I double dug about 7-8 years ago was about 3-3.5 ft. x 12 ft. That's when I dug four of them, and this month I double dug a 5th bed, but THIS bed was about 1/2 the size of the others.
Given enough time they will all be double dug, but I may have a tractor in my future and that will REALLY make it easier.

Click to expand...

Save your back teenage boys work cheap, your back will thank you

@Nyboy , this is suppose to be a work of love-enjoy working (playing) in dirt. When you have to garden to feed a family (or assign kids chores) then it's work....

There is no shame in saving your back. Double digging is hard sweaty work.

D'awwww!!!! Thanks for the kind wishes!!! I look for some boys...