Now that most of the sheep are out on pasture, The Farmer has begun cleaning out the barn. The bedding is packed down very solidly, and so the first step is to scoop it out of the barn and bring it outside to place it in the manure spreader.
Once the spreader is full, he turns it on, and the spreader spews it everywhere, breaking it up into smaller pieces. Stand back!
He loads it into the mixer wagon, which beats it up some more.
He opens the side gate on the mixer wagon, and the compost travels up the conveyer into the invessel composter. The composter slowly turns and aerates the manure and straw, allowing it to heat up and do its thing. The constant turning of the drum makes for a high-quality, consistent product.
After 3 or 4 days in the composter, The Farmer takes the compost out of the drum and piles it up outside. It then ages for about a year before we sell it.
All compost is not created equally. Our compost is made from sheep manure and straw bedding. We do not add leaf and yard waste, with the chance for chemical weed and feed residues. Those chemicals come through the composting process and get put on your garden beds along with the compost. Probably not what you want in your garden. Next time you buy compost, ask what is IN the compost. Ask where they get the inputs that go into making their compost.
We have compost for sale by the pickup truck/trailer load or smaller amounts in 5 gallon buckets. Please email us at info@shadysidefarm.com for more information.
It makes sense to think about what is going into your compost to have a healthier garden and crop that is free of the stuff you don't want.
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