Hot beds

Anyone done one of these?

I'm about to empty my two manure bins onto the beds, and I have a free supply of horse poo delivered to my plot - basically as much as I want.

So I thought I'd replenish the bins with fresh poo, and do a hot bed to get early carrots and turnips, and then plant squashes in them after that.

Do I need a cold frame stylee lid?  And should I put some soil over the manure as a sort of buffer layer?  I realise I'll need to let them sit for a few weeks to settle down a bit before planting, but other than that, I have no idea.

Any thoughts?

Great link, Axey, mate - just what I needed to know.  Don't fancy all that salad, much - but will try carrots, turnips, squash, tomatoes etc.  Watch this space!

I'm tempted to grow my tom's this year on bails of straw anybody tried this before ? You have to soak them with loads of water and leave them to get hot and when they have cooled down you can plant your toms direct from their pots into the bale about three to a bail or so I've heard.

  Might just try that this year, suppose it might work for peppers as well. Bail of straws about £2.50 around here so it might work out quite reasonable in the long run as you would have loads of straw for composting at the end of the year, and some free heat in the early spring.  I'll post some picks if it works !