second season garden questions?
 

Hi, well, last season got away from me, but I was able to pull up the disease
prone plants and compost them (the tomatoes and potatoes, beans....) I mixed
them up with fall leaves, and a huge amount of horse bedding, and even got
around to turning it!

I was wondering though, I didn't do anything about the soil in the fall--just
left it out to the elements. Here in Alabama, (should it ever quit raining?)
I would like to get a jump on the season, and add some rotted manure and leaf
mold to the soil.

Should I just heap it on, let it get beat down further in the weather until
spring, then go with it?

Also, I have some hay (not straw--like the books recommend) bales that were
left over from halloween. They are grey and weathered. I was wondering how to
treat them so as to use them as mulch? I don't want to raise a weed garden out
there. They are pretty beat up, and actually greenish mold comes out of them
(so the decay process is on). Is there some way to help and kill most of the
seeds in the bales? I was thinking of perhaps wrapping them in poly sheeting
in the sun until ready to use. a little "solarization" to kill a lot of the
seeds, and encourage further breakdown?

I don't know--perhaps it's just winter blues, or spring fever?

Thanks,
John