Great video. I agree on the turning the pile. I have been composting for the last 5 years and I have learned that turning my pile only twice a week gives me the same results as turning every other day. Just something to think about
Go to any coffee shop and ask for the spent grinds. Provide them with a clean spackle bucket with a lid. Put your name and number on the lid. High in nitrogen, potassium and trace minerals. Most coffee shops especially starbucks will be glad to do it
I bet you'll quickly adopt the long term composting method.... We all do. The best thing about making compost is it's easy. The worst thing is that it takes a while, I like to really focus in fall and make big piles and let them sit all winter in the rain, by summer you have the goods.. The bigger the pile the faster it works, moisture is key. Thanks for sharing.
In my experience flipping piles is a waste of time unless you're Hot composting to kill seeds. If your materials are chopped small & have no unwanted seeds I'd just drop it as Mulch, let the worms handle it. In addition hot composting works best when it's 86+ degrees outside. My grass clippings can reach 160 degrees in less than 12 hours where I don't add additional water until the third and last flip on day six (if it hasn't rained), it's then spread on the garden before day 14 to avoid it going Anaerobic in the rain.
Did your pile get hot? If you have the ratio of N and C close to correct your pile will heat up quickly. Something I noticed was that you only watered the pile at the end, should be watered each time you added a barrow of material.
One main ingredient many people miss in a compost pile is a starter. The starter is simply some finished compost that is like rich soil. If you don't have starter simply use some of your best soil. The whole purpose of the starter is to introduce the proper microbes that will do the work for you. Another problem people frequently have is not adding enough water as they turn their pile. Obviously the the greens to browns balance is helpful to speed up the process but you seem to grasp that well. Don't be bashful about adding some soil although your chicken coop mix is quite helpful also.
I have vermaculture and did some cold composting. vermaculture (worms) are the easiest thing I the world. you get the tea near straight away and the castings I harvest after a month or so. I use leaves to layer on top of the food refuse to keep away gnats. I do compost, but have never had the"ratios"right to get it hot. I ended up turning it into a worm bin, too. best pets I've ever had!
In my area of North San Diego County Coastal there are large numbers of people that have Pet Horses and massive amounts of “Stable Waste” after cleaning out barns. They are very glad to have someone to “donate it to”. It’s very “Hot” stuff but off-sets the Browns. Cheers (!!)
John Talbot no worries about salt. barn animals just have a salt lick and take it as needed.it gets metabolized. besides, to conserve water,I use kitchen sink water to irrigate. that has a lot more salt and my garden is still happy! any way, barn animals refuse just doesn't have any/enough salt to be of concern. been using it for decades.
if you need more green grass clippings bribe the gardening services driving around with a dozen fresh eggs in the urban city a dozen free eggs has more barter value than just the 3.00 or 4.00 that the stores charges Gardening service have too much in way of grass clippings and have to pay to get rid of them Win Win
Too much carbon is usually is not a problem as long as it stays moist and gets some air it will compost. I take all the organic material I can get and I just keep adding it to my pile. when it gets full, about 2 or 3 times a month I turn it and sift the areas that look finished, then age the sifted compost a few weeks before I use it.
Best wishes! You scored in that most of your material is fairly fine. I do think it may be too dry, but I could be wrong - it should have the moistness of a good piece of chocolate cake.
Compost piles are a pain in the butt. If they were easy then ever gardener would have one. A good alternative is to still have a big pile but to use it as staging area for loading into a few compost tumblers. I can throw in partially finished compost into a compost tumbler with freshly cut grass clippings and easily have 120L of good compost in less than 10 days and repeat this process for most of the warm months.
I empty my compost each spring, adding it to my garden beds. Then I add in all of my different inputs and continue to add all summer and fall. In spring I start the whole process again. Works pretty well for me. Only thing I don't add is weeds that have seed heads on them. I have chickens and access to rabbit poo so I have a decent size pile. Hands off approach.
for adding mosture to the inside of a pile use a ball valve hooked up to a hose with a copper pipe down stream of ball valve drill small holes in end of copper pipe thrust into to compost pile and open valve
im with you. I can buy it at $20 a ton. my dad just dug a pit and threw everything in it. put dirt on it over the winter. he didnt like excess work either.
Angela Baumbach me bad , 20 a yard. Seattle. Cedar Grove compost . just looked it up. it's now 28 a yard County govt waste management, one of the first to use high tech.
Bro you put waaaay to much thought into your compost. Just make a pile of organic waste, let it break down for a year or two and... Viola! That's compost! Composting is as much about waste management as it is about resource production!
Got to say that composting for me is not worth the time. Not enough room, and in sub-tropics, waaay too much rain. Would rather use compost tea from concentrate. My garden isn't as intricate or large as yours, so not messing with it anymore.
I'm in favor of just letting your chickens do the work. I don't have any right now so I compost my waste. When I get some space for the girls, they'll be on compost duty and I'll try to avoid feeding them grain.
Great video. I agree on the turning the pile. I have been composting for the last 5 years and I have learned that turning my pile only twice a week gives me the same results as turning every other day. Just something to think about
Go to any coffee shop and ask for the spent grinds. Provide them with a clean spackle bucket with a lid. Put your name and number on the lid. High in nitrogen, potassium and trace minerals. Most coffee shops especially starbucks will be glad to do it
I bet you'll quickly adopt the long term composting method.... We all do. The best thing about making compost is it's easy. The worst thing is that it takes a while, I like to really focus in fall and make big piles and let them sit all winter in the rain, by summer you have the goods.. The bigger the pile the faster it works, moisture is key. Thanks for sharing.
In my experience flipping piles is a waste of time unless you're Hot composting to kill seeds. If your materials are chopped small & have no unwanted seeds I'd just drop it as Mulch, let the worms handle it. In addition hot composting works best when it's 86+ degrees outside. My grass clippings can reach 160 degrees in less than 12 hours where I don't add additional water until the third and last flip on day six (if it hasn't rained), it's then spread on the garden before day 14 to avoid it going Anaerobic in the rain.
how often are you mucking out your coop?
I don't have experience with a chicken coop or poultry manure composting.
Did your pile get hot? If you have the ratio of N and C close to correct your pile will heat up quickly. Something I noticed was that you only watered the pile at the end, should be watered each time you added a barrow of material.
One main ingredient many people miss in a compost pile is a starter. The starter is simply some finished compost that is like rich soil. If you don't have starter simply use some of your best soil. The whole purpose of the starter is to introduce the proper microbes that will do the work for you. Another problem people frequently have is not adding enough water as they turn their pile. Obviously the the greens to browns balance is helpful to speed up the process but you seem to grasp that well. Don't be bashful about adding some soil although your chicken coop mix is quite helpful also.
I have vermaculture and did some cold composting. vermaculture (worms) are the easiest thing I the world. you get the tea near straight away and the castings I harvest after a month or so. I use leaves to layer on top of the food refuse to keep away gnats. I do compost, but have never had the"ratios"right to get it hot. I ended up turning it into a worm bin, too. best pets I've ever had!
In my area of North San Diego County Coastal there are large numbers of people that have Pet Horses and massive amounts of “Stable Waste” after cleaning out barns. They are very glad to have someone to “donate it to”. It’s very “Hot” stuff but off-sets the Browns. Cheers (!!)
Can't find anyone to bring it to me. I don't want to load it. Also worried about salt, not sure if I should be.
John Talbot no worries about salt. barn animals just have a salt lick and take it as needed.it gets metabolized. besides, to conserve water,I use kitchen sink water to irrigate. that has a lot more salt and my garden is still happy! any way, barn animals refuse just doesn't have any/enough salt to be of concern. been using it for decades.
Salt is not metabolized.
if you need more green grass clippings bribe the gardening services driving around with a dozen fresh eggs in the urban city a dozen free eggs has more barter value than just the 3.00 or 4.00 that the stores charges
Gardening service have too much in way of grass clippings and have to pay to get rid of them Win Win
Too much carbon is usually is not a problem as long as it stays moist and gets some air it will compost. I take all the organic material I can get and I just keep adding it to my pile. when it gets full, about 2 or 3 times a month I turn it and sift the areas that look finished, then age the sifted compost a few weeks before I use it.
Best wishes! You scored in that most of your material is fairly fine. I do think it may be too dry, but I could be wrong - it should have the moistness of a good piece of chocolate cake.
You might address this in another video, but what are the white "spools" that are hanging from your trellis line? Thanks from Hafen Acre.
Compost piles are a pain in the butt. If they were easy then ever gardener would have one. A good alternative is to still have a big pile but to use it as staging area for loading into a few compost tumblers. I can throw in partially finished compost into a compost tumbler with freshly cut grass clippings and easily have 120L of good compost in less than 10 days and repeat this process for most of the warm months.
I empty my compost each spring, adding it to my garden beds. Then I add in all of my different inputs and continue to add all summer and fall. In spring I start the whole process again. Works pretty well for me. Only thing I don't add is weeds that have seed heads on them. I have chickens and access to rabbit poo so I have a decent size pile. Hands off approach.
for adding mosture to the inside of a pile use a ball valve hooked up to a hose with a copper pipe down stream of ball valve drill small holes in end of copper pipe thrust into to compost pile and open valve
im with you.
I can buy it at $20 a ton.
my dad just dug a pit and threw everything in it. put dirt on it over the winter.
he didnt like excess work either.
Tom Robertson where do you buy it at 20/ton? are you in the North County area?
Angela Baumbach me bad , 20 a yard.
Seattle.
Cedar Grove compost .
just looked it up. it's now 28 a yard
County govt waste management, one of the first to use high tech.
If you buy it you'll never know how good it is
Just get alfalfa pellets. It works great for replenishing the soil and it breaks down quickly. Pellets are much cheaper then meal.
Add some red wigglers. Maybe that'll help from you having to turn it.
looks like north county San Diego?
Yes
damn, i'm good
Bro you put waaaay to much thought into your compost. Just make a pile of organic waste, let it break down for a year or two and... Viola! That's compost!
Composting is as much about waste management as it is about resource production!
Got to say that composting for me is not worth the time. Not enough room, and in sub-tropics, waaay too much rain. Would rather use compost tea from concentrate. My garden isn't as intricate or large as yours, so not messing with it anymore.
Thank you for a fantastic video.
I'm in favor of just letting your chickens do the work. I don't have any right now so I compost my waste. When I get some space for the girls, they'll be on compost duty and I'll try to avoid feeding them grain.
Good job. You sound like me brah.