Interesting...
I think it's all about your supply. It's not as black and white as some online advice. Ya know, Something is a bad idea, even though it's not poisonous to the soil or earthworms. I want to more completely utilize the soiled bedding from my horse's winter stalls bc it piles up on the property.
I KNOW that pine shavings are Not toxic bc they would get sick. Some horse owners learn the hard way, for instance, that cedar is toxic, even though it is fragrant.
I don't ever have enough time to turn piles during the growing season, I am having a problem with my latch for my bucket of my tractor, so it is downright irritating that I cannot use That to move them, at the moment. A lot of it has to do with the Big Implement store I bought it from. They replaced the knob wrong, but if I call them out to fix Their mistake, it will be several $100 later, and I am Not a farmer who can write that off.



My friend suggested that I call the manufacturer directly about how to fix the problem. That will be a soon phone call.
ANYWAY, I have dug into piles that sat for 5 years and found medium sized pine shavings that weren't yet broken down. Buried WITH SAME and there isn't much of a change.
When I dig it up less than 6 months later and garden with it, by the end of the season it becomes Really nice soil.
I try to keep all empty dirt covered, and I don't have the current hatred of straw. Right now I have purchased 40 bales of straw for the winter, along with 400 bales hay (plus about 40 leftover from 2021. Year old hay still has good nutrition.)
I buy pine pellets for animal bedding. Horse's urine breaks it down into a pine powder. It's pretty neat, I let it get peed on 2x before removing, so it is full of urine, and that is Old by the time I want to use it.