Here's where we had the big bonfire shown at the beginning of this album. The dark ash has been rained into the ground or blown away. A small pile of mesquite awaits one last fire. You can see the compost heap in the yard just beyond the fence -- horse manure and shredded newspaper, layered in and watered and it got up to 160 degrees F within two or three days -- and is still perking along at 120 a week later. That compost, along with layers of uncomposted manure, cardboard boxes, flakes of hay, and some top soil, will cover this area soon. It's the first place I want to sheet mulch because otherwise the tumbleweeds grow so thick and high here (in our septic system's drainage field) that we can't get out the back gate.  29 January 2004