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The other day my horse looked at me and smiled. Well, maybe not, but it looked like it to me. She knows how much she is helping my gardening efforts by providing lots of fertilizer.

Once I left fertilizer in the barn in a big pile over by the door. I had cleaned the floor and piled it by the door, knowing that I would get back later that day to pick it up. Two days later, I saw it smoking and about to catch fire. I could have burned the barn down!

Shoveling it out rapidly, I touched the shovel near my foot and burned myself.

This action is the oxidation of the ammonia component of the manure. I guess that is why they can make bombs using ammonia compounds.

The oxidation in the pile in the barn was accelerating from a slow oxidation to a rapid one (fire is rapid oxidation, which only happens when an oxygen supply is available).

A hotbed is slow oxidation because oxygen supply is limited, so it is enough heat to take the chill off of the soil — similar to using a heat mat under potting soil to germinate seeds more rapidly.

Build a hotbed using fresh manure. We used horse manure. Dig a deep hole and put a substantial amount in the bottom. Add a deep layer of soil (this prevents the manure from having free access to oxygen), put a wooden frame around it and cover it with a window frame.

The window lets in light and also keeps heat in. In the 1970s that’s how I started tomatoes from seed outdoors early in the season.

The slow oxidation puts out enough heat to give the seedlings a head start. Actual heat is given off through the chemical reaction of the manure ammonia breaking down as it oxygenates. The ammonia salts leach out slowly with time and water.

All the organic fibers and nutrients left in the manure from the animal’s incomplete digestion loosens up the soil and helps the soil hold onto water. That’s why “rich dirt” builds up around barns.

It’s a great idea to add manure to a compost pile, as the plant material needs nitrogen to decompose. The heat from the manure will kill bacteria, virus, or fungus contained in the plant waste.

The whole reason that compost or manure is added to soil is to loosen the soil so the tender plant roots can get air. Nothing will grow in compacted soil, not even weeds.

Consider how a path forms: many trips back and forth and the air is pounded out of the soil. Compaction is one of the most damaging things we can do to the fertility of our soil.

Loosen your soil with: compost, manure, spading, raking, hoeing or using a spading fork; or consider stepping stones and stay on the path.

Maybe my whimsical black mare had reason to smile, and maybe if she’s very patient, I may just catch on!

• Prune fruit trees. Apples and pears first. Peaches, nectarines, and apricots should be pruned just before they bloom.

• Seeds of slow-growing annuals like ageratum, verbena, petunias, geranium, coleus, impatiens, and salvia may be started indoors.

• Sow seeds of larkspur, sweet peas, Shirley poppies, and snapdragons where they are to grow outdoors

• Dormant sprays can be applied to trees and shrubs. Do this on a mild day when temps are above freezing.

• Save grape vine prunings to make attractive wreaths.

Happy gardening and thanks for reading!

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