last year i believe i did not put enough wood chips on my basjoos in the backyard
in years past i had bought some straw bales which i used to insulate the stone retaining wall which also helped in making the pile high without spreading as wide
the bales eventually decomposed and i tried just piling chips against the wall instead last year but i think because i used so much on the sides that the pile wasnt tall enough
this year i bought some new bales and i also got a whole truckload of chips dropped at another front yard a couple blocks away and brought trailer loads of chips to a bunch of different locations with basjoos
it was a big pile and i moved half of it on one weekend and the other half the following weekend and when i was moving the chips the 2nd weekend the main pile of chips had started composting and had gotten pretty hot
it was steaming as i was moving them to the trailer on a cold day
so there is a ballance somewhere between too little chips and too cold and too many chips and too hot
i havent disturbed the piles on my basjoos to see if they are cooking but hopefully i have a good amount
i will let you know next year how it turned out
about a 6'X10' trailer load per mat ... a little more on the one in the backyard
i also waited a week or so too long to cover them and some cold weather affected them and the stems were already a bit mushy when i cut them down
it would have been better if i had buried them before they experienced those cold (-5c and snow and wind) conditions
