So ive been thinking about certain resources in my area and wondering if i could gather certain things myself instead of buying them online contributing to the fossil fuels of shipping overpaying for the said items and not feeling as good about being less self reliant. My thoughts are milling my own fresh water clam shells and my own fresh water crayfish for crab meal and shells for oysterflour any thoughts?
Sounds good to me. Clams filter out pollutants and retain them dont they?. I'd want to know they were from a clean source (maybe this is a non-issue? ). Other than that I can only think you'll have some crazy amazing compost in a few months.
Go for it!! I think you will need a really good grinder for the clam shell to become flour like powder. In an outdoor garden, small particles are not quite as important, because its a long term deal. If I didn't have resident bears, I would be composting shrimp and crab waste all the time. I have been doing this at a friends place in small amounts, it works sweet. Shrimp, crayfish, and crab waste can be easily processed in a blender before composting, this will speed up the process. Add water if it helps break it up. Add to some peat. I have been doing it with fresh from the package, so I hydrate it the normal way. Add some lime, I use the amount I would for a soil mix, like 1 cup a cu ft. Mix it up well, and make sure it wet to carrying capacity. Wait a week, and mix up. Repeat when you feel like it, as often as you feel. The lime will help kill the smell in addition to making the ph of the peat better. Adding lime to seafood that is composting is the secret to keeping smell down, and finishing with a great product. Just let it sit in a tub or however you want. When you can't tell what the broken down parts are, and it smells earthy, you are good to go. We have added worms with a straw mulch over the top as well. I think this is gonna be the ticket. I also have some going with aeration and compost in soil mix proportions. (33-33-33ish) I do stuff like this all the time, just cause I can. If I go out and 'collect' stuff, I know its true origin. I used to go pick at stashes of dynamic accumulator plants (now I grow many), collect rock dust, seaweed, the list goes on. OS
I've been harvesting nettles and horsetail from the wild so far. I find it helps activate my compost and I've been top dressing it in my veggie bed. No complaints so far. I've been sterilizing the horsetail first though because I was told it will spread. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Awesome thats what i wanted to hear. I live on the northern east coast so most of my resources will be toxin free(to a extent). Not far from the Canadian boarder which is where i plan on gathering the shells to flour. Also growing my own comfrey non sterile type so within a few years it should be very abundant. I have been burying my crustaceans in my compost pile and didnt think to add lime which makes sence to help smell and ph with the combo of peat moss. I really wanna be more self sustainable and keep the enviromental footprint down to a minimum so hearing this is possible makes me happy and gives me something to look forward to thabks a bunch for all the great feedback cheers!