Covering soil or manure with a tarp

I've been covering my pile of topsoil and cow manure with a tarp to keep down the weeds. I was wondering, does this affect the soil's or manure's viability when the pile gets no moisture for, say, a whole garden season? How about a couple of years? I'm hoping that once it is in the garden and gets water, it will spring to life and invite the earthworms in. Thanks.

Uh - it's probably already inviting the earthworms in right now, unless there's absolutely no moisture getting in, which is next to impossible?

Moisture comes from the ground up as well as from the sky down you know.

Ahh. great info. Thanks.

True, ground water travels up to reach the upper layer of soil but it relies on maintaining a continuous film of water around soil particles along the entire path. In our gardens, occasional rainwater or irrigation is what maintains the water film that permits the capillary action to bring up ground water. (How big is this pile? A very small pile would likely wick enough moisture in from its surroundings that there is no issue.)

Most of us at some time have seen the effects of denying water to parched soil and anyone who has had a dirt basement knows that under ideal water-tight basement conditions, the soil is basically bone dry and lifeless.

It probably doesn't hurt the soil to dry out for a season or for years even, but I think if I had to keep it stockpiled for some reason instead of spreading it on the garden, I would put it to work growing some cover crops and keeping the soil life active. Or plant some vine crops around it. I hate to see soil sitting idle.

Wayne

Wayne,

Most of the time I use my topsoil right away, but this time I bought a whole load (cheaper) thinking that I would use it in a season for my projects and plant sale. It turned out, I didn't have time to finish all the projects, so I ended up having leftover soil (a smallish pile). In the past, I had weeds growing all over the pile, so I thought I'd try covering with a tarp. It sure looks tidier, but it got me wondering about whether it was a detrement to the soil in any way.

Thanks for your comments. Now I'm thinking maybe if I put it in a more out of the way place I could plant cover crops to deter the weeds, yet keep the soil active.