I know this and similar questions have been asked before, so I hope I'm not cluttering the forum, but I'd like to get some experienced advice on my particular situation.
This is my first venture into composting. I've found a great source for some starting material. It's approximately 30% horse manure, 70% dry lumberyard softwood sawdust, and an unknown amount of
urine. It's been stored in a large (50-100 cubic
yard) unaerated static pile for 3-5 years. I was told that it's "already been through a heat cycle" but there was no kind of monitoring going on during this time.
This mix is obviously very brown heavy, and I don't have easy access to any greens so I've layered in 10lbs of urea per cubic yard while building my pile as per recommendation from my extension office. I also layered in some finished
compost and topsoil for inoculation. I'm using an aerated static pile setup with a bounce house blower, sawdust bed, perforated pipe, and cornstalk plenum covered with a thin layer of
hay. However, I'm having trouble getting this pile to heat up. It's just staying around 50°f.
I was hoping that the nitrogen from the urea would get things going, but it doesn't seem to be having any effect. I'm starting to wonder if maybe the compost was finished when I picked it up and isn't likely to breakdown any further. It's nice and brown, and has a good earthy smell, but on close inspection it just seems to be brown pieces of sawdust...
I'd love to get y'all's opinion, and any suggestions you may have.