Brag: I may have won the neighbor lottery: compost edition

My neighbor runs cattle on his land.  Over the winter, he feeds them hay that he cut and baled himself (some of it cut from our own hay field) that has never been sprayed.  He has years worth of barn cleanouts stashed on his land, and in the past has offered to give me some of it for my garden.  Yesterday he made good on that, and dropped off 4 tractor buckets full of gorgeous well-rotted manure (and some bonus weeds), and when I asked if he had any old bales of hay I could buy for erosion control in areas we've disturbed with construction excavation (running power, water, etc) he brought me 3 big round bales that were on their last legs as well.  He says he'll continue bringing compost by while we are at the land until I tell him that I've gotten too much (lol).

Laurel Jones wrote:My neighbor runs cattle on his land.  Over the winter, he feeds them hay that he cut and baled himself (some of it cut from our own hay field) that has never been sprayed.  He has years worth of barn cleanouts stashed on his land, and in the past has offered to give me some of it for my garden.  Yesterday he made good on that, and dropped off 4 tractor buckets full of gorgeous well-rotted manure (and some bonus weeds), and when I asked if he had any old bales of hay I could buy for erosion control in areas we've disturbed with construction excavation (running power, water, etc) he brought me 3 big round bales that were on their last legs as well.  He says he'll continue bringing compost by while we are at the land until I tell him that I've gotten too much (lol).

You definitely hit the lottery.  I would for a service like that.  I can't possibly compost enough to keep up with the amounts I could use.  Congrats.

Trace Oswald wrote:

Laurel Jones wrote:My neighbor runs cattle on his land.  Over the winter, he feeds them hay that he cut and baled himself (some of it cut from our own hay field) that has never been sprayed.  He has years worth of barn cleanouts stashed on his land, and in the past has offered to give me some of it for my garden.  Yesterday he made good on that, and dropped off 4 tractor buckets full of gorgeous well-rotted manure (and some bonus weeds), and when I asked if he had any old bales of hay I could buy for erosion control in areas we've disturbed with construction excavation (running power, water, etc) he brought me 3 big round bales that were on their last legs as well.  He says he'll continue bringing compost by while we are at the land until I tell him that I've gotten too much (lol).

You definitely hit the lottery.  I would for a service like that.  I can't possibly compost enough to keep up with the amounts I could use.  Congrats.

Right?!  I told him I'll take as much as he wants to bring, and he didn't seem to believe me.  

I was all set to be jealous and then I realized there is no way I could keep up with using such wealth. Then I'd feel guilty for wasting it.  I'm wholely glad it's going to someone who properly values the resource.

Post lots of pictures as you reap the benefits so we can all live vicariously.  It'll be like watching Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, but on a permaculture theme.

Perhaps he's smart enough to see a win-win situation.

A good neighbor is much more valuable than the land he lives on!

Congratulations!

There's tons of free organic material around, you just have to talk to people. I got a landscaping business to drop all their clippings at my place. Now every other day, they arrive with a truck full of grass clippings, pine needles, and tree trimmings which is a God-send for my dry and parched environment. These businesses need a place to dump this stuff and they don't want to pay the landfill. We could be that place and help mitigate the methane emissions from landfills.