Catch 22 Composting

[David61]

I have two piles now. One big bin of leaves, Mostly live oak and a pile of all that is green. Grass clippings, watermelon rind and any other veggie, up rooted plant matter and dirt. Now I'll have a third pile. But I'll add some from the first two with the chicken poo to make this pile.

 

[jthornton]

I also want you to know, jthornton, that while you want to balance out carbon and nitrogen it's not a 1-to-1 relationship. The ideal is 25 to 30 parts of carbon to 1 part of nitrogen.

I didn't know about the ratio... some good information is coming out here. I can see now I was a bit off in what I was putting in the compost piles and when.

JT

 

[jthornton]

Here's a list that will give you a feel for what's carbon ("brown") and what's nitrogen ("green"). Also leaves are "green" when they're green and pliable. When they dry out and get brown they're "brown". Makes sense, right? But, again, brown coffee grounds are "green". That's just to keep you on your toes! And chicken poo is "green" regardless of what color it is when it exits a chicken.

The list is a big help, I do wood working projects from time to time and have garbage cans full of saw dust and wondered about adding that to the compost piles. I used to burn my cardboard boxes that I get shipments in but I'll save them now and save the coffee grounds all summer for winter. I think I have a much better handle on what I need to put into the compost piles and when. Of course the chickens always want to help turn the compost piles and we get a newspaper but some days it's pretty thin and only has a front and a back but we save them.

One thing I found interesting is how hot a trash can full of fresh grass clippings gets and how quick it gets hot.

JT

 

[ChocolateMouse]

The list is a big help, I do wood working projects from time to time and have garbage cans full of saw dust and wondered about adding that to the compost piles. I used to burn my cardboard boxes that I get shipments in but I'll save them now and save the coffee grounds all summer for winter. I think I have a much better handle on what I need to put into the compost piles and when. Of course the chickens always want to help turn the compost piles and we get a newspaper but some days it's pretty thin and only has a front and a back but we save them.

One thing I found interesting is how hot a trash can full of fresh grass clippings gets and how quick it gets hot.

JT

Sawdust is a perfect carbon source at 325 parts carbon to one part nitrogen.
The 25:1 ratio is more complicated that 25 bags of brown one bag of green.
https://www.planetnatural.com/composting-101/making/c-n-ratio/
Here's a more comprehensive list. Everything that lives has SOME amount of carbon and SOME amount of nitrogen but some have higher levels than others. The ideal ratio is one PART nitrogen to 25 PARTS carbon.
For example leaves are 60 parts carbon to one part nitrogen (60:1). Chicken manure is six parts carbon to 1 part nitrogen (6:1). If you put a pound of leaves in with a pound of chicken manure you'd get 33:1, which is pretty good. Two pounds of chicken manure with a pound of leaves is 24:1, even better.

Another example, as you pointed out wet grass gets very hot. That's because fresh grass clippings (depending on your plant species) will have a carbon to nitrogen ratio of about 20-30:1, which is actually ideal for breaking down rapidly. You noted it gets very hot, that's because the bacteria that breaks it down is producing a lot of heat as a byproduct and those bacteria are fast at breaking things down. (Thermophilic - literally heat loving - bacteria.) It breaks it down rapidly and gets so hot it sterilizes the whole pile. It even kills things like tapeworms and salmonella. That's called hot composting and it's fast and safe. And that's at about 20-35:1. A very hot pile can finish composting in 6-8 months.

But! You actually loose more nitrogen in the air that way. To preserve as much nitrogen as possible, a cold, slow composting process is better. But then you don't get the benefits of a sterile pile. You get cold composting at about 40-60:1 Cold compost takes about 2 years to really finish. But you get more material and nutrients out of it. It builds the soil bigger and better, but does so slowly. This is closer to what happens on a forest floor for example, where the topsoil is built from years of leaf litter, some animal manure, and a lot of time.

 

[aart]

Good read here.
Have tried composting in multiple ways over the years, was never very successful at it.
Had the most success with vermiposting kitchen scraps.

Will share my latest endeavor, from a couple years ago.
Took all the one year old coop bedding, dry pine shavings and mostly pulverized poop, and put it in a 24" wide cylinder...was about 13 cubic feet IIRC.
Watered it as I laid it in, waited a few days testing temps with compost thermometer. Nothing.
Relayered and dumped 10 gallons of water in(I measured), it was 160°F within a day.
Good example of needing the right amount of moisture. Should have kept turning, but didn't.
I'm too lazy to compost, it takes some effort, and mass, to make good garden soil.

 

[jreardon1918]

I am a slow and steady compost person. I dump all yard waste in the run. I built a three sided compost bin that is wood pallets. Pine shavings when i clean. Kitchen scraps. Cut grass. Poop from the poop boards. The chicks empty it as fast as i can fill it. In the fall i just dump all the leaves in the run. I am going for forest floor. But under it all is a rich layer of the good stuff. Family will come in the fall and spring to fill trask cans full of good stuff for the gardens.

 

[cmom]

We don't use anything to compost in. We have piles. Everything goes in, leaves, grass, chicken poop and shavings from the coops, hay, house vegie scraps. Every once in awhile hubby turns it with the front end loader and sometimes moves it. He just moved it recently and we will be starting another pile shortly.

This is a very old picture but we still have the gardens and the compost piles are now out where the coops are.

 

[aart]

We don't use anything to compost in. We have piles. Everything goes in, leaves, grass, chicken poop and shavings from the coops, hay, house vegie scraps. Every once in awhile hubby turns it with the front end loader and sometimes moves it. He just moved it recently and we will be starting another pile shortly.

Ah yes, big piles and a front end loader would do the job
...but beyond most peoples means.

One of the reasons I don't compost is I don't generate the amount of materials in enough quantities to make a viable pile.

 

[jreardon1918]

I just took another picture. This shows the compost bin almost empty. Last fall the leaves, grass, shavings, poop filled the bin.

 

[cmom]

Ah yes, big piles and a front end loader would do the job
...but beyond most peoples means.

One of the reasons I don't compost is I don't generate the amount of materials in enough quantities to make a viable pile.

Years ago it was turning the compost with a shovel. Hubby just turned 80 and has parkinson's. The tractor is good for him.