The E shaped bed

17/7/10 – Time to fill the E shaped bed. I had 20 x 100 litre bags of manure delivered, 10 chook and 10 cow/sheep mix. I borrowed a friend’s ute to pick up 15 bales of straw, 5 pea and 10 wheat. The majority of this bed is going to be a no dig garden. I over ordered the soil for the first three beds so I filled the bottom arm of the E with that mixed with a bag each of chook manure and a bag of sheep/cow blend, blood & bone, (with 10:1 potash), and dolomite lime.
Now to the remainder of the bed. I’ve ended up with 9 layers to fill the bed to about 100mm above the top of the border as follows...
A good thick layer of newspaper to try and stop that couch grass coming through
Wheat straw
Chook manure with a handful of dolomite lime per square meter
Pea straw
Sheep/cow manure with a handful of dolomite lime per square meter
Wheat straw with a handful of rock dust per square meter.
Chook manure with a handful of dolomite lime.
Pea straw with a handful of blood & bone per square meter. The blood and bone had sulphate of potash mixed in to a ratio of 10:1.
Sheep/cow manure with a handful of dolomite lime and rock dust per square meter.
Wheat straw with a handful of blood & bone potash mix.
After a few days I dug down into this brew and it was HOT. Just as planned. It will now compost down nicely ready for spring.

I also concreted in three 75mm x 50mm x 3400mm steel posts and strung these with 2.5mm wire. They are this heavy to support the perpendicular pumpkins.