I've seen that Florida muck when working at the sugar mills around Okeechobee. Good stuff. All I can do is dream of it.
My idea right now is to pretty much mix all these together into a big compost cassarole, throw some extra innoculent, mushroom spores, worms and go to planting.
That's as good a plan as you need to get started.
Muck soils are the result of drained bogs. All kinds of organic matter in there. Nothing wrong with adding more. Muck soils have a tendency to blow away and oxidize which will diminish the depth of the A horizon over time. Keeping that soil covered will reduce wind erosion and oxidation of the humus. Eventually you'll be left with sand. Protect that soil as best you can. You'll have little fertility issues.
Wood chips and nitrogen
Wood chips on top of the soil does not leach nitrogen from the soil very quickly. Mixed in with the soil, the chips will deplete the N quickly. A few weeks is all it takes. Initial N consumption will be where the chips meet the soil. Every time it rains, a little N is added to the soil (I think it's a lightning thing). As the chips age, the fungi grow. The mycellium of the fungi serves as a nutrient highway and will transport N from where it is concentrated to where it is needed. Once the N is more in balance, the chips won't continue to rob the soil. If you were to compost those chips, the N robbing is not so much of a concern. To keep a better balance of N, don't add so much at a time, add it to the top, let the chips work themselves into the soil. You need not shock the soil with a sudden influx of woodchips. All those microbes have been there for years and they like the place just fine. A rapid altering of soil composition kinda throws things out of whack for a while. The microbes will recover, even flourish. What I see in my field are clearly delineated strips of soil with a significant difference in growth. Deep rich green with noticeably larger, wider, taller, thicker growth where I have added wood chips, sawdust and leaf mold. Furthermore, these strips have different weeds. I gotta get some pictures. You can tell at a glance exactly where I added material. What I think is going on is the acidity of the soil has been changed, giving some species a better habitat and survival advantage.
Here's the funny part: If you did add a whole bunch of wood chips all at once, that's ok too. Shock and sudden change creates chaos from which life leaps ahead. Nature will return things to normal, even if its a 'different normal' than it was before. Stirring in the wood chips with wild abandon mixes the soil, add oxygen, allows the soil to take a deep breath after being suffocated for a long time. If you drastically change the nature of the soil chemistry, something is probably going to grow, although it may present in stages. First the fungi come, then the bacteria, then the protozoa, then the worms to eat the protozoa, bacteria and fungi, then the bugs and crawlies to feast on the worms...before you know it you have a thriving ecosystem.
You can let the chips sit and age all by themselves for a while. The rain will bring some N, giving decomposition a
boost, and the fungi will get to work on the chip pile slowly. It will take a few years, but much of the chips will break down even with little N in the pile.
Should you have a need for brown material, you can always take it from the chip pile, in whatever stage of decomposition it happens to have reached. Wood chips and leaves that have already broken down won't draw up N. It's already broken down.
For those leaves: leaf mold. I can't say enough good about it. For me, it's an absolute must have. Try it. You'll be sold.
Them worms you speak of will do you good. If acidity is the issue, worms are
the answer. Whatever comes out the back of a worm is closer to pH neutral than what went in. Wood chips, leaf mold, and the resulting humus offer an ideal environment for these little guys. Moisture retention, lots of minerals, lots of yummy cellulose bedding. Your compost provides the nutrients. I'd expect them to flourish.
The horse manure gives me pause. Don't get me wrong-I like horses, I think they are great. However they are often treated with deworming medication that passes through them and persists in the manure for months. I had a bad
experience with horse manure when I was very small. It wiped out my worms, took a couple years for them to come back. If the manure was aged for at least a year, I'd be more receptive to using it.
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