Hot composting with chicken bedding and garden waste

[lazy gardener]

You would think that, but in this day of litigation, school officials are afraid to exercise common sense.

 

[politicalcenter]

I can understand their position. Parents sometimes complain about anything and everything.

 

[HennyPennyCO]

What ever it takes to keep the bureaucrats happy! Coffee grounds are wonderful. I would love to have a restaurant to keep me supplied. I bring them home from church when ever I get the chance. Today, I was poking around in the chicken run with a rake, just for the fun of seeing the black compost they are making. The run is 500 s.f. and I'm hard pressed to keep enough material in there. Time to get to work with the wheelbarrow.

We are on a roster with the coffee shop at a hospital. There's a Monday group, a Wednesday group & a Friday group. I'm in the Friday group and go every 4 weeks with my empty buckets (frosting buckets are free from the bakery department at the supermarket) and pick up the full buckets. The haul ranges from 2 to 4 buckets (with filters). Most times I use it for my home compost; this summer (and last) it's for the "coffee grounds heap" at school. Filters are torn up nice & small to decompose faster. If I get too much I just tip the coffee grounds straight onto the soil (removing the filters for later). They work OK for soil amendment, but do tons better after passing through the composting system.
Penny

 

[HennyPennyCO]

It seems like a compost pile at schools would be a teaching tool. It is biology in action. It also teaches that some things considered garbage can be put to good use. You could teach the kids to monitor temperature, the different phases of decomposition, saftey, and many other things.

Believe me, I've been actively campaigning for the change and am quite willing to go talk to the school officials and take along samples of the stages of composting. with samples from each of the three bins. You know they're imagining rats, rotting vegetables, stench, flies, and unsightly heaps, but our compost-making efforts can only be described as exemplary. You wouldn't even know that there was compost under the black plastic covers. And the officials didn't last year, until school got back after the summer and the principal noticed that we were actually composting (against the rules, naughty gardeners). I bagged up bin 2 to finish at home, and bagged up bin 3 to store since it was already finished. I left bin 1 to quietly mature until this spring and no-one made any comments. (The principal wasn't really too worried as she appreciates having the garden at the school, but she was technically the one in charge of making sure we obeyed the rules. When school is in session I do a lot of work with the students out in the garden and she appreciates that.) (And it's science-based.)
In addition to my own composting experience I've taken the approved composting class, and our two Compost Captains this year have both attended the approved composting class with Denver Urban Gardens. We're ready!
When I check the compost heaps I always invite any gardeners who are "lucky" enough to be standing nearby, to stick their hands in the middle of the heap to see how the heap is cooking. They're quite impressed with the heat generated, how clean it is and how it has a pleasant earthy smell.

Ah, a question for those who use compost thermometers to check the heat of their compost. I don't have a compost thermometer per se, but I do have an infrared thermometer (gun-shaped) which I use for demonstrating soil temperature. If I dig a hole in the compost heap, can I direct the infrared beam into the depths and get an accurate reading? (I can see where the beam is reaching.)
Penny

 

[aart]

Ah, a question for those who use compost thermometers to check the heat of their compost. I don't have a compost thermometer per se, but I do have an infrared thermometer (gun-shaped) which I use for demonstrating soil temperature. If I dig a hole in the compost heap, can I direct the infrared beam into the depths and get an accurate reading? (I can see where the beam is reaching.)
Penny

I would say, yep!
I could test this for you if my infrared's target light hadn't gone kaput.

 

[scottcaddy]

Quote:

Penny

I would say, yep!
I could test this for you if my infrared's target light hadn't gone kaput.

Lights can be fixed.

Scott

 

[aart]

Quote:

Penny

I would say, yep!
I could test this for you if my infrared's target light hadn't gone kaput.

Lights can be fixed.

Scott
Can they? How?
OH!!!!...just fixed it, there's a button

that I didn't know the function of....until just now.
Boy, do I feel like a DumbButt....but a happy one, haha!
Thanks for making me look at it again @scottcaddy

 

[scottcaddy]

Quote:

Penny

I would say, yep!
I could test this for you if my infrared's target light hadn't gone kaput.

Lights can be fixed.

Scott
Can they? How?
OH!!!!...just fixed it, there's a button

that I didn't know the function of....until just now.
Boy, do I feel like a DumbButt....but a happy one, haha!
Thanks for making me look at it again @scottcaddy
Nice work!
And here I was going to say something like 'check the bulb'
Scott

 

[aart]

Quote:

Penny

I would say, yep!
I could test this for you if my infrared's target light hadn't gone kaput.

Lights can be fixed.

Scott
Can they? How?
OH!!!!...just fixed it, there's a button

that I didn't know the function of....until just now.
Boy, do I feel like a DumbButt....but a happy one, haha!
Thanks for making me look at it again @scottcaddy
Nice work!
And here I was going to say something like 'check the bulb'
Scott
Well, it's weird.....the more I think about it the more I think I did try that button before <shurgs> who knows? SMH.

 

[Kusanar]

Quote:

Penny

I would say, yep!
I could test this for you if my infrared's target light hadn't gone kaput.

Lights can be fixed.

Scott
Can they? How?
OH!!!!...just fixed it, there's a button

that I didn't know the function of....until just now.
Boy, do I feel like a DumbButt....but a happy one, haha!
Thanks for making me look at it again @scottcaddy
Nice work!
And here I was going to say something like 'check the bulb'
Scott
Well, it's weird.....the more I think about it the more I think I did try that button before <shurgs> who knows? SMH.

Could have something loose in it and you just happened to be holding it just right this time. I have a flashlight that you sometimes have to tap on something to make it turn on...