Sanitation - Horsekeeping on a Small Acreage - page 471

COMPOST PROCESS. Raw materials include organic matter: manure, urine, bed-
ding, water, minerals, microorganisms. Finished compost is humus .
The composting and composted piles should be kept uniformly moist—about 50 percent,
like a wrung-out sponge. A dry pile dehydrates the microorganisms; a soggy heap smothers
them. Whether you cover and water your compost piles will depend on your local precip-
itation. In arid or semiarid climates, you'll want the pile uncovered so it can benefit from
precipitation and you can add water to the pile as needed. In very wet regions, the compost
pile could become too soggy and allow undesirable leaching into surface waters, and so
might do better under a roof or cover. Plastic covers retard oxygen exchange and smother
the bacteria, so a tarp might be a better choice. Earth covers are too heavy, reducing the
necessary pore space. Open piles or those with geotextile fabric covers seem to fare best.
An open pile should be about 4 feet high and 4 to 6 feet wide or sized so that you can reach
it with a fork to turn the compost. Once the pile has been formed, add to its length, not to
its height, to form a windrow. When the compost process is completed at one end, that end
is ready for use.