We have piney woods all around us and there is no shortage of stuff growing in there. So hard to imagine it could be harmful on a path. Since it was kiln dried it would be "cured" to some extent. I would think by the end of summer if some ends up getting into your soil, it would be ok. I use shavings in my chickens, then gets composted and then to the garden. Also I mulch my flower beds with pine bark. I think it's the fresh stuff going directly on the bed that is the real issue. It sounds like you're concerned that it will leach something over onto your growing bed, and as I understand it the issue with fresh shavings is that it pulls nutrient from the soil. As to the earlier post about won't it blow away, the minute it gets wet, it will stay put, so wet it down with a spray hose to get it to stay where you want it.

Dave: The stable manure I pick up from local riding stables is about 70% wood shavings and 30% or so actual horse apples. I always head for the part of the pile that seems to have the most horse apples. I have a big pile to work with; more than I could keep up with if I hauled every day. Interestingly, the horse owners/riders here, almost without exception, are girls or ladies too, while the boys who muck out the stalls are visitors from Central America. Bless them all, for without them I would have no horse apples. Of course, they focus on the front half of the horse, while I am more interested in the product from the rear. But the girls put up with me, and suspect I am just an eccentric old geezer. Little do they know that I actually am one. I would not, BTW, mix stable manure into the soil until it is fully composted, since it can rob soil nitrogen if buried prematurely. Leave it on the surface, where it can access oxygen necessary for decomposition. If you want to mix something in the soil at planting time, make it peat moss. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Hi Gamebird - While I can't answer your question about turpentine, I can offer you some advise about grandparents. My grandma (93) has always had a garden and canned until this past year. When I started composting she told me not to use oak leaves as they will never decompose. After doing some research, I decided to use them. She was a bit disappointed when she found out (I think because I didn't take her advise) but after that I just didn't tell her. I love her but it's hard for her to accept "new-fangled" ideas. I had to search for other ways to can when I started because I realized her way wasn't the safest way. When I told her about what I'd learned about canning, her response was "haven't killed anyone yet". God love her! So my advise is if you decide to use the pine shavings, don't tell your grandpa *smile* Val

Hi toxcrusadr, yup, thats what I suspect when I sense the ammonia... I know sawdust take quite a fair bit of time to get decomposed but I didnt expect no change at all after 1 month of composting. Even the colour of the sawdust remain the same. Now, I wont be suprise if anyone were to tell me that sawdust could take years to be decompost. rgreen48, yes, I have been turning the compost every 3 days for the 1st 2 weeks but the pile does'nt heat up so I turn the pile once a week instead from 3rd week onwards. On 4th week, that is when I start to smell the ammonia. I guess I need to turn to twice weekly turning of the sawdust pile from now and wait for another 2 month. I will also cut down the Urea mix to 1/2. by then, I should have added 8kg worth of Urea into the sawdust pile. The sawdust should have absorb sufficient nitrogen and I will start to mix it with my claysoil. From this lesson, I will keep my test raise bed small... perhaps a 1' x 1' raise bed. Just In case if anything went wrong, I can reverse it easily., unlike now, I dont know what to do with the sawdust pile if it really take years to compost..