.. The office paper will be absorbed pretty fast so use a lot. Plan on frequent turning. Really frequent turning if I understand things correctly. If I understand things correctly, cow manure is wet and will smother. Layers of office paper will not change this. Although office paper is a good source of carbons to feed your nitrogen heavy pile with lots of cow manure. I have not worked with cow manure but would expect a bunch of wet splats and there fore you want sticks and leaves and stuff that add texture so you get air pockets and things. Cow manure is wet and super nitrogen so you want to add a lot of browns and turn as frequently as possible. Grass is high nitrogen so adding grass to cow manure is like putting out fire with gasoline. I could see compost in 3 months if: - Your pile or bin assembled all at once. - Is kept moist -Has a good mix of nitrogens (cow manure is a lot nitrogen) with carbons ( dry brown stuff like leaves, cardboard, sticks or, paper). - That the mix is a bit rough and not just a big pile of cow sludge. - Is turned at least once a week. I kind of expect cow manure to require more turning than most. - You're OK with half decomposed sticks in the mix. (I'm cool with that. I just spread some of just that.) Sticks take a while to break down but are great at setting up air pockets and adding texture. I have to speculate without looking at the ingredients and the conditions. I think the very very very best you can expect is three months. I think you should plan on 5 months under good circumstances. You may want to plan your spring on the basis that you will NOT make compost in time and that it will be applied at the end of the growing season. to sense worth ..

That's exactly what I do along with adding a handful of leaves or sticks if I have them. I use 2 plastic garbage cans with holes punched and lids on for all my kitchen waste to keep critters out and use open bins for yard waste. I have had a tendency to let those cans get just a bit garbag-y because I hate to take up too much space with "browns" and run out of space for kitchen waste, but after awhile I find that if I add the right amount of paper and cardboard it stays fluffier and breaks down faster so that I can keep adding about as much or more anyway. Don't forget used paper towels & napkins, paper towel or TP rolls (just tear them into a few pieces). Although it fills it up faster, I add small amounts of these items to my kitchen countertop scrap container (usually grab the things that are right at hand generated in the kitchen or nearby, rather than putting these items aside for later or making another trip outside) because then there is already starting to be a green/brown mixture and they absorb moisture from the kitchen scraps.

More layers - the more the better! Another thick layer of shredded papers (scattering doesn't count ;), another thick layer of manure, more coffee grounds, spread a bale of straw and add more manure on top of it, a layer of fall leaves with a layer of grass clippings on top of it, etc. Ideally, the cardboard goes on first next to the scraped ground to block weeds. Picture a cross section of a chunk of lasagna - each layer is thick enough to be identified, right? Enjoy the bed building process. ;) Dave

The Bottom Line  Newspaper and cardboard sheet mulches can be effective for annual beds if they are properly maintained.  Sheet mulches can prevent water movement and gas exchange if they are too wet or too dry.  Use site-appropriate mulch materials. Permanent, ornamental landscapes, non-maintained sites, and restoration areas are not appropriate locations for newspaper and cardboard sheet mulches. Here is a link that might be useful: The Myth of Paper-Based Sheet Mulch