Ants in my compost pile!

[Papas Chickens]

I believe that Oleander leaves/branches contain a toxin that may not be beneficial in your compost pile.

The good news is that the toxin in Oleander–a glycosoide called “oleandrin”–will deteriorate within about 50 days in an effective compost pile. Moreover, on tests conducted by UC Davis researchers, the toxin was not taken up by vegetables such as lettuce (which grow quickly) and tomatoes (which take longer to mature). The only possible danger the researchers noted could come from accidentally ingesting some not-fully deteriorated Oleander compost when harvesting leafy vegetables such as lettuce. Im mostly going to use the compost for compost tea for my trees and cactus and some in my garden but that wont be until next year by then it will be fully composted.

 

[Papas Chickens]

I found some old black plastic that was by my old pig pen our goat was using it as a restroom/bed dang nasty creature lol, so i put it on top of my compost pile after watering it down again today, i also found a piece of sheet metal and put that on top of my manure pile to help speed things up.

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

Good information Papas Chickens!