hi newbie market gardener and composter here.
i have been offered the above materials and would like to know what the best combination is for the purpose of starting vegetable beds.
manure - 4 tons or so of sheep bedding:
straw and manure that has been sat for 2 years. it has been stored on
concrete and we've had epic rain so it is sodden wet and there is no heat in the pile at all. the top and bottom foot are nice, black and crumbly, the middle 3 feet are wet, brown, straw-y and slimy. almost all of it is full of worms though. we have been moving it in bags (no
tractor!) so it is sort of being turned in the process, ending up in wet, probably quite airless clods about 6-8" cubed.
sawdust - mix of actual dust-like stuff, and chunkier bits
woodash mixed with charcoal dust - from the bottom of charcoal kilns
we have already decided to spread the manure 6"s thick on top of the pasture to create the beds and leave it until spring before we plant by which time it
should have mulched the grass underneath and the worms should have broken it down a lot.
so should we spread either or both of the other materials with the manure? any idea of ratios?
if we have leftover manure after we have made our beds, should we treat the heap with either of the materials?