With spring just around the corner we are getting things ready for our garden here at the Yardstead.  Currently the garden is bare with the exception of a strip of onions sticking up in the middle.  We will be adding compost in a few days and our plan is to till it in well and then cover the entire garden with a heavy layer of mulch.  The compost bin shown here on the left is pretty full, but not nearly enough to cover our entire garden.  Luckily a neighbor of the Yardstead works for a local Ag Center and maintains a huge pile of old shavings once used to bed stalls for horses or cattle.  They turn the pile regularly with a front end loader.  Althought the shaving are resistant to rot they do slowly break down.  There is a great deal of manure and other organic matter mixed in and the shaving help make it more coarse and airy.  Last time (about 5 years ago) I added this compost to the garden it took 4 loads to cover it sufficiently.  I plan to add the same amount this time. 
The compost in the bin will be...

We have have had a few warm days down here and it has started me thinking about our spring garden.  At the moment the garden here at the yardstead is just a big dirt rectangle with a green strip of onions sticking up in the middle.  It's been so cold since I last tilled it (for planting the onions) that very few weeds have grown.  I plan on doing very little tilling (or weeding) in the garden this year, so I have to get a plan finalized in the next few days to combat weeds.  The main component of the weed control plan this year ....