Backyard Composting

Thanks, that was my exact next question.

 

I really need to spend more time in this thread as I'm not a very good composter. For this attempt, I used a lot of chicken coop bedding, veggie scraps, cannabis leaves/stems, straw, etc. I wetted and turned the pile last summer. I ran it through a 1/2" screen today, and this is what it looks like:



I'm thinking about running it through the worm bin next.

Om shanti,

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it looks great @Patanjali . germ a few veggie seeds directly in it and see what happens. if they germ and stay healthy you're good to go.

certainly nothing wrong with using it as worm bedding either. it looks pretty nice.

 

Thanks Possuum! I can't decide what to do with it just yet. Worm bin, or just use it. It was sitting outside and a couple of weeds started growing in it. They seemed to do just fine. Think I'm going to end up with about 60-80 gallons of material. Boy does it shrink down lol!

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Ha! @Patanjali you beat me to the same post!
Last year I made three large, lasagna style composting heaps using pine saw dust, oak shavings, MT prairie grass, alfalfa, and aged horse manure. I tuned them twice last year and the covered them up with straw for the winter. I have tuned them twice this spring now and on the last turn I added a couple handfuls of neem meal, kelp, Karanja meal, granite and basalt dust. I haven’t screened mine yet, but I plan to, and then maybe add 50% of the horse manure that has been aging since last spring and is packed full of red wrigglers to it and let them work it for a couple of months.
I’ll be constructing another 250 gallon bed soon... having my own super compost will be bad ass!

 

Here’s a pic of the new piles I made over the weekend. I used fresh cut prairie grass, oak shavings, chipped aspen and cottonwoods, black moldy aspen leaves from last year, some finished compost, and some aged manure.

 

@JMcGD your compost sounds awesome! I was thinking about adding a little more rock dust and kelp to mine. I really like your compost piles! This is really the first time I've really had space and materials to compost, so I need to read through this thread a little more and get some ideas. I have quite a bit of brown material and sawdust. I have all the Montana prairie grass I want to cut and then it's about time to clean out the chicken coop again lol. I can see this becoming an addictive hobby lol!

Peace!

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Patanjali, if you can wait then I would run it through your worm bin. The worms will increase the quality of your compost. They add much to make the compost better. Anyway, you're free to ignore my opinion.

 

I read a good piece last night from the pdf thread here. It’s from Idaho but speaks to the topic of regions.

 

Hey, what up Pakalolo! I'll definitely listen to your opinion! Add amendments and worm bin is the plan atm.

Nice! Anything you found in particularly interesting?


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@Patanjali, it’s just a good overview. That thread is full of good reads.

 

Ha! The addiction is real.
Once I saw the value of composting, and how it works symbiotically with the No Till mentality I became a total convert. My view of the natural order of things became much clearer and the evidence of mans meddling with that delicate web destroying it was just an epiphany for me. Seriously, it was a life changing experience for me. I’m a bit more cynical as a result, but so be it!
My new environmental eye now looks across the landscape and sees nothing but a wasted chance for salvation. IMO, what this world needs right now is a 12” deep layer of humus rich compost over its farmlands ( and maybe a 6’ layer of dirt over the politicians... sorry couldn’t resist). I see all of the right ingredients out there, dead leaves, grasses, deadfall, and endless manures.
Unfortunately, as I look at all these free compost materials I also realize with a level of contempt that most of them are useless. One of the challenges for me was sourcing clean materials, that is , ones that have never seen any form of pesticides or herbicides for many, many years. Aminopyralids, the active ingredient in many popular herbicides can be present nearly seven years after being applied, so finding virgin grass areas that have never been sprayed is tough to do. Hay and straw that has been harvested of of any commercial crop land has almost certainly seen a variety of weeds sprays and chemical fertilizers over its short lifespan, not to mention what’s left in the soil every year. And just try to find any form of livestock manure that hasn’t been fed nasty stuff or inoculated with vermicides. I got lucky and found a slightly eccentric horse lady who literally removes all weeds by hand on her property yearly, feeds nothing but organically grown hay, and has fecal sampling done each year on her horses to insure that she never need to worm them. Her pile of poo is a goldmine, and I’ve brought home several truck loads as a base for my composing needs.
I remember when I got started reading about how using the wrong materials that are loaded with some of what I mentioned above can lead to a pile of killer compost, killer like dead plants.

 

Patanjali, I'm still growing herb in the cellar. One amendment that you may not think of is malted barley. I like to grind up some and throw it in my worm bins. I also use kelp meal and comfrey.

 

I agree @JMcGD, it’s alive and real. My hole where that about ground pool was has become my project. I hope to have it built up by next year and I’m there daily. I compost straight into it since I’m in no rush and I have my bottomless containers there so it’s a garden as well. Heck, I may camp out there one night for the fun of it, right in the yard.

 

Not everybody knows this rule, but make sure and bring that nice lady a pie or something good every time you visit. In short order it turns into "I was thinking of you and pulled this really good stuff aside, just for you."
cheers
os

 

Nice! Glad to hear you are still doing your thing! Are you throwing your comfrey in wet, or do you dry it first? I've used mbp in my wormbins before, but still need to get some bins set up here.

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I throw it in wet. The malted barley is more to help break down the large molecules so the bacteria will have access to it. Then the bacteria feed the worms. Don't you just love the soil food web? I'm still growing the same: The One, Goblin Girl, Goblin Queen, Afgooey, Agnus, and 3 Elders. I don't bother posting much because if you read my threads I've shared all I know about growing the herb.

 

I should be ashamed of my compost pile;

or should I?

 

Thanks Chunk! I have this one in my notes, but I definitely need to read it again! Stuff seems to sink in a little better when I'm putting it to use.

Right on! Some Sanctuary Gardenz genetics if I'm not mistaken? We just planted a bunch of comfrey at work - hopefully I'll have a bit of material to work with by the end of the summer. I do love the soil food web! It's so cool how all this works together.

Om shanti,

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