Creating a hotbed February 2022

As a means of generating heat underneath a makeshift cloche...

Dig a square shaped trench, probably about a foot or so deep:


Fill with about 6-7 bags of fairly recent horse manure.  Turn it over thoroughly before firming it down.



Cover the remaining with a layer of soil




Place cloche (containing some early broad bean sowings) on top.  Within the next few days the heat generated by the decomposing horse manure should regulate the soil temperature a little during this cold February of 2022.



A temperature reading taken on 16 February 2022 - approximately 13 degrees Celsius.








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