COMPOSTING

[jsasker007]

Looking to start composting and don't know a lot about it. I can pile up my "scraps of various materials but figured I'd check here to see if anyone has been doing it with success and maybe skip over as much of the learning curve as possible by learning from others what works good and what to avoid.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Are you looking to do it with just stuff like kitchen scraps or large volumes?

When I lived in town, I made a ring with some welded wire fence and I would dump leaves, grass clippings, kitchen scraps and anything else organic I had. It would slowly break down all year and in the spring I would empty it out and spread it on my garden for fertilizer. I would even throw in carcasses of wild turkeys, small game, etc., and that would all break down into great fertilizer. You just generally want a decent mix of green and brown stuff with varying carbon amounts to make a good mix. If you have all leaves it will break down really slowly and if you have all animal carcasses or growing green stuff it will dissolve into a smelly pile of goo. But if you have a mix of both together it turns into good stuff.

I generally do the same thing with pig manure and bedding and garden and crop residue, but on a larger scale with a tractor bucket.

 

[Bill Loser]

I started composting the year we moved to the farm. I am starting to get decent results finally. I made 2 bins out of pallets , 1 side is older material the other is for throwing new material in. I turn it every once in a while and try to keep the compost on one side while keeping enough on the other side to remain active ,if that makes sense.
It took me a long time for it to really give the results I am looking for, this season I will be able to start using some. It really does make some nice material.

 

[Bill Loser]

Are you looking to do it with just stuff like kitchen scraps or large volumes?

When I lived in town, I made a ring with some welded wire fence and I would dump leaves, grass clippings, kitchen scraps and anything else organic I had. It would slowly break down all year and in the spring I would empty it out and spread it on my garden for fertilizer. I would even throw in carcasses of wild turkeys, small game, etc., and that would all break down into great fertilizer. You just generally want a decent mix of green and brown stuff with varying carbon amounts to make a good mix. If you have all leaves it will break down really slowly and if you have all animal carcasses or growing green stuff it will dissolve into a smelly pile of goo. But if you have a mix of both together it turns into good stuff.

I generally do the same thing with pig manure and bedding and garden and crop residue, but on a larger scale with a tractor bucket.

I was always told to never use any meat, bones or carcasses?

 

[Barndog56]

I pile up my horse manure, along with any uneaten hay, or used bedding (pine shavings). I'll add grass clippings if I've waited too long to mow and there's a bunch of it. When we're in a dry spell I'll soak it with the hose once a week. I keep kitchen scraps in a plastic barrel with a lid, and then dump it in the pile the first weekend of the month. At that time I will also turn the pile over completely, mixing it all up.

I start a new pile every couple of months. Whenever I need to use some I grab from the oldest pile. It will be full of earthworms.

If you're strict about your ratio of greens to browns, the pile will heat up enough to kill off any weed seeds, and will break down much faster. Mine will get warm when I have a good mix.

 

[yoderjac]

Looking to start composting and don't know a lot about it. I can pile up my "scraps of various materials but figured I'd check here to see if anyone has been doing it with success and maybe skip over as much of the learning curve as possible by learning from others what works good and what to avoid.

When we use the balance of C & N in our food plot mixes and rotations to improve OM, we are using the same principles of "Green" and "Brown" balance they use in composting. There are lots of internet resources for backyard composting. You can use bins that help with heat and allow for rotation in introduce oxygen to speed the process. Here is where things are different. In composting, you want fast decomposition. You generally take the compost somewhere to use it in some way. In a food plot, we don't want to introduce O2 though tillage as it speeds the burning of existing OM.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

I was always told to never use any meat, bones or carcasses?

I was told that too, but I don't think it is accurate. I use every type of kitchen scrap for my compost - meat, bones, etc. as well as leftover parts of small game carcasses. If you put a bunch of leaves, branches, corn stalks or high carbon compost around the carcass or meat that will absorb the meat juice and turn into great compost. But on the other hand, if you used only meat or carcasses, you would just have a slimy mess.

My organic apple growing book recommends using bones for fertilizer for apple trees, so it seemed like a waste not to utilize bones in some way. After butchering my deer, I always leave the carcasses out for the crows to clean up. Once they are picked clean, I load the bones up and sprinkle them around my apple trees.

 

[Buckly]

If you’re in NY you can now compost yourself. kind of creepy if you ask me but………

In most cases, the deceased is placed into a reusable, semi-open vessel containing suitable bedding – wood chips, alfalfa or straw – ideal for microbes to go about their work. At the end of the process, a heaped cubic yard of nutrient-dense soil, equivalent to 36 bags of soil is produced that can then be used as fertilizer.

 

[yoderjac]

If you’re in NY you can now compost yourself. kind of creepy if you ask me but………

In most cases, the deceased is placed into a reusable, semi-open vessel containing suitable bedding – wood chips, alfalfa or straw – ideal for microbes to go about their work. At the end of the process, a heaped cubic yard of nutrient-dense soil, equivalent to 36 bags of soil is produced that can then be used as fertilizer.

There are a number of states that allow this alfalfa provides the N and the straw provides the C.

 

[fishin coyote]

I built mine out of pallets also, it’s a double bin set up. I just fill one side with whatever plant scraps I have be it leaves in the fall, grass clippings in the summer and all the cutting/deadheading of the flower gardens that takes place all year. We also keep a container for table scraps and coffee grounds in the kitchen that gets emptied into it a couple times per week. Typically I fill one side a year, when they are both full I empty the oldest one and start over.

 

[swat1018]

I do mine in a fairly large pile. I use some horse manure that is mixed with straw or wood chips. I then add grass, table scrabs, fish and duck/goose carcasses. I also add most of my garden plants as they expire. I turn it every so often with the front loader and keep it moist with hose if needed. I leave it about a year or year and a half and spread on garden every spring. I usually have 2 piles going. I'm no expert, but I think it works. My tomatoes were 7' tall last year, I haven't used any synthetic fert or chemicals in 5-6 years.

 

[Catscratch]

I was always told to never use any meat, bones or carcasses?

I've given this thought before. You can find videos and articles where people use animals in compost. I suspect it's generally not recommended due to the idea of pathogens. Nobody wants to recommend animal parts, have someone do it wrong, transfer it to the garden, then end up with some crazy disease or flesh eating bacteria because they ate a contaminated pea.

 

[loshonhora]

I think the meat/bones taboo is so you don't attract scavengers to your city/suburban backyard. Here in the country, my compost pile is within rifle range from my kitchen window.

 

[Bill Loser]

8 was told that at a school trip to a organic green house in the area. I remember at the time they warned against putting anything meat based , even dog poop into a compost pile. I thought at the time that seems a bit odd but for some reason without really realizing it I stuck with that warning for all these years. It never did make a lot of sense, I compost literally everything else.

 

[jsasker007]

I'm just going to start small and probably have a growing pile every year. Plenty of grass and leaves to mix in but want to try for a good balance that will make some quality compost down the road. Probably start with an open pile on the edge of my yard for convenience. I don't have any livestock to get fertilizer. Just the thought of how much I've just thrown away bothers me that it could be used for something. On an open pile that gets turned with my tractor would it be a good idea to throw some black plastic on top to help create heat in the pile or would I be doing more harm than good with plastic? Anybody add any extra worms or does that just work itself out? Thanks for the replies!

 

[Catscratch]

I'm in the exact same boat as you jsasker... seems wasteful to keep throwing this stuff away. My plans include rock walls on 3 sides with the open end wide enough for a tractor bucket. Close enough to the hose that I'll water it. Far enough from the house that smell and critters aren't a nuisance.

This has been a great thread!

 

[Bill Loser]

I put mine 8n the tree line pretty far from the house. I figured that way it was in the shade and wouldn't dry out so quick , no need to water it usually. For a while I would throw some lime on it every now and then but have stopped doing that.
Worms, if I have some left over from fishing, or whatever I will throw them on the pile that's about it.
I'm going to start throwing in everything and see what if any the effect will be.

 

[jsasker007]

How does a guy know when the compost is ready? When does it become compost? Can you tell just by looking at it? What is the ideal end result? I would think there would be almost infinite combinations and stages of the compost. Is it possible to wait too long to use it?

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

If you’re in NY you can now compost yourself. kind of creepy if you ask me but………

In most cases, the deceased is placed into a reusable, semi-open vessel containing suitable bedding – wood chips, alfalfa or straw – ideal for microbes to go about their work. At the end of the process, a heaped cubic yard of nutrient-dense soil, equivalent to 36 bags of soil is produced that can then be used as fertilizer.

Composting could take care of most of the body, but the bones and skull would still be there!

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

How does a guy know when the compost is ready? When does it become compost? Can you tell just by looking at it? What is the ideal end result? I would think there would be almost infinite combinations and stages of the compost. Is it possible to wait too long to use it?

It starts to look like standard store bought compost when it is finished. I've found that one section will be ready sooner than an adjacent area, but with time it all breaks down. I think it would break down faster and more uniformly if you mix it frequently, but I rarely get around to that step.

I don't think you can really do it wrong. As mentioned above, if you use carcasses or meat scraps you probably should give it plenty of time before you put it in your home garden. But if you are just using it to fertilize trees or a food plot it doesn't really matter.