Composting chicken run

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Has anyone used greensand to loosen up clay soil? I have a garden with really heavy soil, and bought a couple of bags of greensand to mix in. Love to hear anyone's thoughts on it.
I dumped play sand in different spots. It didn't help the drainage and after a couple of years, I had wet sticky sand in those areas.

Greensand says it's a soil conditioner and adds minerals. I'll guess it won't loosen the soil. I finally decided I needed more carbon and started dumping wood chips in the holes and low areas. Those areas are doing good after a couple of years.
 
I haven’t watched the videos, but mixing styrofoam into soil sounds like a downright horrifying idea, unless you’re looking to build a future superfund site.
Well, to be fair to Leon, he is talking about using Styrofoam beads in potting mix in his grow tubs. Not to be plowed into Mother Earth per se.

After watching that video and hearing about how he uses Styrofoam to amend his potting soil, it got me wondering why we don't hear more about it. I did some quick research on the internet and discovered that nobody recycles Styrofoam. There are a number of YouTube videos where guys are making machines and other contraptions to shred Styrofoam into small balls so they can re reused for other purposes.

I called my local Menards and one can buy large bags of loose fill Styrofoam balls for insulation, or it can be purchased in large foam sheets. If you buy the loose fill ball type Styrofoam for a potting soil amendment, it comes out to about $4.17 per equivalent 3 cubic foot bag. Compare that to the $20 3 cubic foot bag of Vermiculite I used to get at Menards. I guess Leon was right about the cost issue.

Better yet, I might try making one of the contraptions that attach to a cordless drill. I could shred the "garbage" Styrofoam one gets in packing material and use that as an amendment in the potting soil. That would be free and keep that much Styrofoam out of the landfill. Sounds like a win-win.

@Red-Stars-in-RI, Are you concerned that adding Styrofoam to a potting mix might lead to a toxic growing environment for the plants? I have not heard of that, but I would think Leon might have warned about it if he had that concern. I certainly do not want to add anything to my planters where I grow food that Dear Wife and I will be eating.
 
Has anyone used greensand to loosen up clay soil? I have a garden with really heavy soil, and bought a couple of bags of greensand to mix in. Love to hear anyone's thoughts on it.
Never heard of greensand. Most gardening people on YouTube videos that I have watched recommend breaking up clay soil with good, natural, organic compost material. It breaks up the soil while at the same time provides food for a living biome.
 
Oh, yeah, gonna be a whole lotta compost going on that garden.

That soil is heavy. But FULL of earthworms. A shovel full of dirt will have half a dozen worms in it. It was part of a field of grass that has been just a field of grass for decades. Lots of worms indicates lots of food for plants, and I've had good luck growing things there.

It's strange. That soil is uphill from my other garden which is very sandy. The sandy soil doesn't have as many worms, not by a long shot. Last summer, I started seeing worms in the soil where I've been using piles (and piles, and piles) of leaves for mulch. So, progress.
 
Yes, wood chips and compost seem like a better option to keep the soil loose. There is some concern about using woodchips mixed into the top inches of the soil if you plan on planting into that soil. When wood chips break down, they rob the soil of nitrogen in the process in that immediate area. That is not good if you plan on growing something in that soil. But if you have the wood chips down in the bottom of the tub, you don't. It's the organic stuff you need to loosen up that clay soil.
Then I guess I will use organic and not worry about the others...except I think I may need to buy some wood chips if I can't find any free ones. You all are teaching me a lot!
 
Then I guess I will use organic and not worry about the others...except I think I may need to buy some wood chips if I can't find any free ones. You all are teaching me a lot!
If you use wood chips as deep bedding and if you put a chicken coop where you want a garden in 2 years, then the chickens will till, add nitrogen and you will continue to add organic to the soil by feeding the chickens. The worms and fertility will come in droves to your new garden plot.

The greensand would help if your soil is deficient. Have you had your soil tested? I haven't. I just plant and see what grows.
 
It's strange. That soil is uphill from my other garden which is very sandy. The sandy soil doesn't have as many worms, not by a long shot. Last summer, I started seeing worms in the soil where I've been using piles (and piles, and piles) of leaves for mulch. So, progress.
I live on a lake. My garden soil was mostly sand with very little worm life in it. I spent years tilling in leaves and grass clippings to add more organic material to the garden. My garden soil is much better now.

I am by no means a good gardener. However, I think all the leaves and grass clippings I tilled into my sandy garden soil has improved the garden. My soil has gotten darker every year, from the brown sand I started with to an almost black organic soil today. Now I see worms if I dig up a shovel full of dirt. Years ago, not so much. If worm life = good soil, then I too am making progress.

Having said that, I have mostly switched over to growing in raised beds, hügelkultur raised beds, and elevated planters. I have more control of the planting medium in that way and I have even better results.

I am anxious this year to see if my chicken run compost is as good as I hope it will be. I consider the chicken compost to be black gold. But the proof is yet to come. I filled up all my raised beds with my sifted chicken run compost last fall. That should give me a good start on planting in the beds this spring.
 
except I think I may need to buy some wood chips if I can't find any free ones.
It took me awhile to find free wood chips in my area. We have a county landfill where arborists dump their wood chips. They have to pay to dump their wood chips at the county landfill. However, if you want to get a pickup full of wood chips, you can go to the landfill and fill up your pickup bed or trailer for free. Nobody advertised free wood chips from the landfill, so I had to find out about it on my own.

Maybe you could get on the phone and make a few calls to your local landfill and/or recycling centers. Another option some people have is that local arborists will dump their wood chip loads at your house for free - because it saves them money for not having to pay to dump the wood chips at the landfill. But be careful what yo ask for, you may end up getting a full dump truck full of wood chips and then wonder what to do with it all.

And be careful not to get taken by some people. I stopped at a wood products place because they had some huge mounds of wood chips in their back yard that I could see from the road. I asked them if I could get a trailer full of wood chips. They said they would be happy to sell me a trailer full of wood chips for $60. I thanked them and told them I would consider it, then left. I know they have to pay to dump those wood chips at the landfill, and if they don't want to give them away, I'll just get them free at the landfill after they pay to dump them there.
 
@Red-Stars-in-RI, Are you concerned that adding Styrofoam to a potting mix might lead to a toxic growing environment for the plants? I have not heard of that, but I would think Leon might have warned about it if he had that concern. I certainly do not want to add anything to my planters where I grow food that Dear Wife and I will be eating
Hey @gtaus...I guess in potting soil my only concern would be disposal. How do you get rid of styrofoam-polluted potting soil? I guess the landfill. I wouldn’t be TOO concerned with the styrofoam making a unhealthy for you or your plants.

Now styrofoam in regular soil sounds like an environmental issue...that styrofoam will stay in the soil, or worse, blow or wash into waterways, places where animals eat them, etc.
 

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