Composting...

[salshep20]

Im saying slow down to 70-100 pecent humidy and 94 degrees

South carolina weather is no joke why do you think the native americans were so dark

 

[TJAnonymous]

I don't ever sift my compost... I figure that's more material that can break down over time and continue to provide nutrients, air, etc... That being said, when I say "materials," it's usually things like leaves, acorn hulls, etc... Not waste materials like chicken poop, horse poop, etc because that would be too hot for plant roots. I *DO* generally scan through the pile and look for grubs. #1) my chickens love me for it, and #2) No point in introducing more trouble that I already have in the garden.... I don't care so much about nightcrawlers....but big, fat, white grubs, ick....

 

[Sally PB]

but big, fat, white grubs, ick....

Whenever I work in the garden or compost, I have a "bug bucket" at hand. Grubs, wire worms and other icky things go into the bucket with a little bit of dirt. When I'm done, the bucket gets dumped into the chicken run, and I say, "Bug snack!"

The chickens make short work of them. Free protein and pest control, all in one!

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

In many cases I don’t sift my compost, but where this is to go on the lawn I probably will. Stuff for flower beds or raised beds, probably not.

The flock got a lot of earthworms during the sifting. I don’t want to wipe out the population, but there are so many in the compost the flock can eat their fill.

 

[gtaus]

I don't ever sift my compost...

I know some people don't sift their compost. I think it matters how you use the compost. I always sift compost for mixing seed starter mix, for mixing with top soil in the raised beds, and for making soil blocks for plants. But if you are going to use it as a top mulch, then I suppose it would not have to be sifted.

When I bought compost in bags at the big box stores, I always sifted it out because I would often find bits of garbage metal, plastic, and wood in the compost. I don't want anything in my gardens or raised beds that can stick or poke me while I'm out there working. Of course, now that I am making my own compost, I am not worried about metal or plastic garbage in my product.

But I still sift my compost before I use it. I have a 1/4 inch screen insert for seed starting and soil blocker mixes, a 1/2 inch screen insert for mixing compost and soil for the raised beds, and the sifter has 1/2 X 1 inch screen without any inserts and that is good for top mulch. I suppose the top mulch would not have to be sifted at all, but I do anyway.

In many cases I don’t sift my compost, but where this is to go on the lawn I probably will. Stuff for flower beds or raised beds, probably not.

Also depends on what your compost is made up of because you don't want to be throwing uncomposted material out on the lawn - and then just have it all sucked up into the mower. I also throw all my kitchen scraps into the chicken run compost system, so it's possible to come across a steak bone or two that has not broken down yet.

FWIW, when I use my cement mixer compost sifter, I get about 1:1 ratio of sifted material and "too big" for the screen material. In other words, by the time I fill up my 6 cubic foot wagon of sifted material, I have the other wagon filled with 6 cubic feet of material that did not sift through the screen.

The fine compost that is screened out by the shifting process is great for the starter mix, etc... The other wagon of rejected material could easily be used as top mulch. However, I usually just throw it back into the composting system for another go around.

It takes me about 10-15 minutes to sift out 6 cubic feet of compost - depending on how fast I fork the material into the sifter. Last year I timed myself on the compost sifter and figured out that I was "saving" myself about $60 per hour sifting my own compost rather than buying the equivalent volume at the big box store. Other benefits are knowing what is in my homegrown compost and being able to use different screens depending on how fine I want the end compost product to be.

Of course, the biggest advantage, for me at my age, is that using the cement mixer compost sifter is just so much easier on the back and body then when I did everything manually.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

@gtaus - what size screen do you have on your screener? I use 1/4 inch hardware cloth.

Might be that I’m sifting more broken down compost…but I’d estimate we had more like a 10:1 ratio of sifted to remnants.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I know some people don't sift their compost. I think it matters how you use the compost. I always sift compost for mixing seed starter mix, for mixing with top soil in the raised beds, and for making soil blocks for plants. But if you are going to use it as a top mulch, then I suppose it would not have to be sifted.

When I bought compost in bags at the big box stores, I always sifted it out because I would often find bits of garbage metal, plastic, and wood in the compost. I don't want anything in my gardens or raised beds that can stick or poke me while I'm out there working. Of course, now that I am making my own compost, I am not worried about metal or plastic garbage in my product.

But I still sift my compost before I use it. I have a 1/4 inch screen insert for seed starting and soil blocker mixes, a 1/2 inch screen insert for mixing compost and soil for the raised beds, and the sifter has 1/2 X 1 inch screen without any inserts and that is good for top mulch. I suppose the top mulch would not have to be sifted at all, but I do anyway.



Also depends on what your compost is made up of because you don't want to be throwing uncomposted material out on the lawn - and then just have it all sucked up into the mower. I also throw all my kitchen scraps into the chicken run compost system, so it's possible to come across a steak bone or two that has not broken down yet.

FWIW, when I use my cement mixer compost sifter, I get about 1:1 ratio of sifted material and "too big" for the screen material. In other words, by the time I fill up my 6 cubic foot wagon of sifted material, I have the other wagon filled with 6 cubic feet of material that did not sift through the screen.

The fine compost that is screened out by the shifting process is great for the starter mix, etc... The other wagon of rejected material could easily be used as top mulch. However, I usually just throw it back into the composting system for another go around.

It takes me about 10-15 minutes to sift out 6 cubic feet of compost - depending on how fast I fork the material into the sifter. Last year I timed myself on the compost sifter and figured out that I was "saving" myself about $60 per hour sifting my own compost rather than buying the equivalent volume at the big box store. Other benefits are knowing what is in my homegrown compost and being able to use different screens depending on how fine I want the end compost product to be.

Of course, the biggest advantage, for me at my age, is that using the cement mixer compost sifter is just so much easier on the back and body then when I did everything manually.

I use compost for many different uses... We usually add 4-5 wagon loads to the garden and till it into the soil. I also mix it with top soil and use it in raised beds and tire planters. I also added fresh top-dress compost to my strawberry beds each spring. I didn't filter any of this... Eyeballing it I'd say 75% is black compost dirt, 15% are leaves which haven't decomposed, and the remaining 10% is other debris like sticks, bark, acorn caps, partially decomposed gum tree balls (which I hate... I try to pull them out), and maybe a few stray feathers that haven't fully decomposed. As I mentioned before, I scan through it just to check for grubs which I find frequently.

 

[Ashtralana]

You're going to get a lot of different advice since everyone sets it up differently.

I use 80-gal(?) plastic bins (the 2 black things on left) for the sake of neatness and to keep pests out. I alternate bins each year, so while one sits and breaks down, the other one is getting filled. For my browns I keep bags of dried leaves in the greenhouse, so I always have a lot on hand.

For large amounts of compost a set up like this wouldn't do, but I don't need THAT much compost each year.

View attachment 2943385

Me and my husband are new to composting and we have a black bin like that too.

 

[gtaus]

@gtaus - what size screen do you have on your screener? I use 1/4 inch hardware cloth.

Might be that I’m sifting more broken down compost…but I’d estimate we had more like a 10:1 ratio of sifted to remnants.

My shifter barrel has 1/2 X 1 inch wire. I also have 2 inserts which I can use to get finer compost - 1) 1/4 inch hardware cloth and 2) 1/2 inch hardware cloth.

I sift my compost after about 6 months, so there is a lot of uncomposted material towards the top. Of course, the deeper I dig down into the chicken run compost, the more broken down the material and then I would get a better compost:remnants ratio. If you are getting 10:1 compost:remnants, your compost must really be aged and/or broken down. I have so much compost now, that maybe I could really get a high ratio this year on the lower material in the run.

BTW, my chicken run compost was about 18 inches deep last fall before the snow. Judging by what I see these days, it looks like the material has broken down to maybe 12 inches. Looking forward to harvesting some of that compost this spring after everything dries up a bit.

 

[gtaus]

I also added fresh top-dress compost to my strawberry beds each spring.

I planted my first strawberry bed last year. So, I think I will top-dress that bed with some chicken run compost that filters out into the remanent wagon (the stuff too big for the sifter screen).

Just remembered, the other thing I use the remanent wagon compost is in the new build hügelkultur beds. I will be making at least 2 new hügelkultur beds this spring and that unfinished compost works great as filler as the organic layer on top of the wood stuff.