Another Turning Day, Continued

Okay, so my Aunt’s pile is freshly turned & aerated.  It looks to have about another 1 to 1 ½ weeks till it is technically finished, barring any more heavy rains since I cannot really cover it.  That will be just in time for a garden project that my Aunt and a Friend of hers will be doing together.  Not to mention the one project I was have talking about earlier this year which is also a raised garden bed.  This project which be growing a variety of squash for a fall harvest, so I actually need to get on that sooner than later. Never enough time and resources. LOL!  Speaking of this specific project, I am going to do a mini-hugelkulture bed with some cottonwood trees that are around my Aunt’s property.  In combination with the fresh compost, I think it will make for some really large squash.  Something that I think she will get quite a kick out of.  Currently, she has several cottonwood trees that are too close to her property line and are in a very wet area. Regardless, they need to come down.  I am going to cut the smaller ones down, cut them into rounds, and place them in the garden bed.  I know that fresh cut logs could become a nitrogen-sink, but I can mitigate that with some horse manure, and place the compost soil on top of that.  Also, the cottonwood should help the garden soil from becoming too wet/saturated by groundwater and allows for proper drainage from rain water.  I am not sure how tall it will be just yet, but probably safe to bet around the 18-inch marker.  I might have to dig down into the soil a bit to make sure it does not exceed that height.   I will post some pictures when I get to building that project, so keep an eye out for it.

Another Turning Day

My Aunt and Mother have both told me with much excitement that her pile is steaming big time. With all of the passing showers we have had in the last few  days, hopefully it is not too saturated with water since I do not have a cover to put over it. To be  continued....

*EDIT* Continued at Another Turning Day, Continue