I can almost smell that soil through the computer screen Past thermal, and it will probably be impossible to keep worms out. If you throw a piece of cardboard on the ground around here, in a month you'll have more fish bait than you can shake a cane pole at. They'll just make my job a little easier
Last year in the mountains of WV, it was down in the single digits. I'm usually in the southeast US, so I guess not a "real winter". I was just bringing it up so anyone new to composting discouraged by any extra work involved would know you don't have to actually do much at all. This pile, wet, turn once, and use next year method is how I was able to get my folks into composting. And since they started using the pile I got started for them two years ago, my mother is able to use gardening as an excuse to get away from my father anytime needed now. Lol. Don't know why I brought that up, but whatever.
Didn't get started yet - bottom dropped out just before I left work yesterday. But I did realize I need to do a bit of setup first; if I start a pile just straight on the ground, the dogs are going to piss and shit all over it. I'll need to come up with some material to have a protected area for it... I'll come up with something.
If you feel that you need to "containerize" your compost piles, consider building bins out of shipping palates. You can get well over a cubic yard of material in them, and they can be sourced for free from anywhere that ships or receives heavy materials. Beer and soda distributors will be your best bet. Check out the ones I put together here... http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/1241556-backyard-composting.html/page-50#entry20364338 I just attached the sides to the fence that they run along with bailing wire. If you're crafty, you could use stakes or maybe rebar to use as support for the front/sides of bin. I did it with the fronts of my bins. Place the stakes/rebar so that the palate can be removed/replaced by sliding it on and off over the support stakes. If you build two to three bins close to each other, you can remove the sides of the bins that are closest to each other, and shovel material right out of one and into the next when it comes time to flip your piles. If time is of importance, of course...
You can saw shipping pallets into stakes as well. The longer pallets are harder to come by but those are generally better as per length obviously.
lol, I just like the smell of good dirt. The smell of rain on a freshly plowed field is wonderful to me.
I agree. I was just poking at ya. There's nothing quite like the smell right before rain comes down IMHO and the smell immediately after the rain stops. ...it's like the world around you just got a good washing.
Ok composters, I really hope this hasn't been answered somewhere in this thread, but here goes... Im blessed, or cursed as it were, with an abundance of pine needles! Am I nuts to just break them down as small as possible and start building my pile? can i use in my worm bins? I hate to think there is no place to utilize these?! ANY ideas welcome.. E
Hey jerry I thought it was better to harvest your comfrey second season when it's around 2 feet before it flowers because it is said to have the most nutrients at that stage?
I've been thinking about that ever since we talked about that the other day in your thread. I always figured in plenty of rain fall up there but not to the point where it becomes a huge inconvenience. ...if that makes sense? I still wanna get up there and hike it!
I grew up here and the cloudy, rainy, misty, drizzly, foggy days really don't bother me. In the Seattle area it averages around 36" a year. Most of this is October through May. The summer months are June - September are less than 5" and most is in September. I hiked a lot in the Cascades all the way into my 40's. I've always liked the mountains and my dad used to take us on hikes when I was younger. I think that why I choose to live in the forest rather than on a lake or Puget Sound. You'd like the mountains up here. Come in July or August and you're in for some good weather.
@[member="elvisfreshly"] I personally would steer clear of pine needles unless you want to be finding them in your mix 4 years from now, the have a waxy coating and some kinda compound that isn't good for the plants if I'm to understand it correctly
Okay, solved the dog question. Long story short, they have their own fenced in runner; did that yesterday. Today, got started on the pile. Its in a mostly shaded area, where it will only receive direct sunlight in the late evening. As of now, it is quite small; around 2.5 feet across and a foot high. I began by drawing from a pile of partially decomposed leaves. And while there were certainly some black walnut leaves present in that pile, it has been sitting for a year and I think I'm well safe from any negative effects. I made a layer with these leaves, covered this with some cardboard that has begun to decompose, put what little kitchen scrap I have thus far (mostly some eggshells, teabags, coffee grounds, and a wee bit of lint from the dryer) on top of that, another small layer of leaves, layer of undesirable yard growth, more leaves, another layer of yard growth, and topped with a final layer of leaves. Finally I moistened the whole bit with the garden hose. I think I will be able to get the horse shit this week - I have five empty 5 gallon buckets and intend to fill them all for the pile. I also have tons of cardboard, a whole lot of junk that shouldn't be growing in my yard, and many, many rotting logs at my disposal.
So I have a yard scrap pile that never gets turned or used. Leaves, grass clippins, small branches. Way basic. Can it be used as leaf mold since it might not have ever gone thermophillic? Also the bottom quarter (pretty much into the native clay) is worms and castings. Could I sift all this out (castings n leaf mold) add lava rocks and simple amendments then call it day without really measuring it out? Seems years of laziness has set it up.
Could be - I honestly have no idea. The comfrey I was referring to is 2nd season. My "mother plants" are probably 4 years old. I usually just wait until the plants are around 3' to 4' tall (and almost as wide) and then cut them. Yes - they usually have flowers at that point. I'm not sure if the flowers affect the potency of the comfrey or not. I actually am ready to cut them down again for another harvest. I usually harvest 3 times per year. When I'm not slacking off. J
I am making my own potting mix using compost. How long will the nutrient in the mix supply the plant for or will I have to occasionally water with compost tea? I will be vegging for six weeks and transplant three times over the life of the plant using my compost potting mix Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Jerry If you cut the flower stalks as close to the crown as possible without damaging the crown itself, like with any flowering plant there will be a big increase in the leaves which is what we want in the first place and not the damn stalks which have 'just enough' lignin that makes them a PITA if you're using the comfrey as a green mulch. It's better to use them as a nitrogen (green) source for composting. CC