COMPOSTING

[monkeybirdfarms]

I've been reading up. I've learned just as axis said, leaves are not a good source of nitrogen. In fact they may use nitrogen in their decomposing process. As of now I put chicken bedding, used to be straw but switched to pine chips, chicken manure , a great source of nitrogen, lawn clippings, table scraps and my used coffee grounds. I haven't wet the pile, untill about an hour ago, but will do it from now on as needed. I've been slacking on bringing the coffee grounds down to the compost box but it does get a daily does of chicken manure from my daily "fast cleans" usally about a feed scoop full or so.
I just built a second compost box and filled it with alternating layers of grass clippings and leaves. Ill up the nitrogen in the second box tomorrow when I do my daily chicken fast clean. A friend of mine raises horses and he is bringing over a couple old feed bags of horse manure for me later today. I think that will be a huge boost to both boxes

 

[AxisOfBeagles]

I've been reading up. I've learned just as axis said, leaves are not a good source of nitrogen. In fact they may use nitrogen in their decomposing process. As of now I put chicken bedding, used to be straw but switched to pine chips, chicken manure , a great source of nitrogen, lawn clippings, table scraps and my used coffee grounds. I haven't wet the pile, untill about an hour ago, but will do it from now on as needed. I've been slacking on bringing the coffee grounds down to the compost box but it does get a daily does of chicken manure from my daily "fast cleans" usally about a feed scoop full or so.
I just built a second compost box and filled it with alternating layers of grass clippings and leaves. Ill up the nitrogen in the second box tomorrow when I do my daily chicken fast clean. A friend of mine raises horses and he is bringing over a couple old feed bags of horse manure for me later today. I think that will be a huge boost to both boxes

I use two compost bins so that while one 'finishes' I can be adding material to the other.

Couple thoughts while reading your post -
Manure is great stuff but take care that you give it a long time to compost.
Also, those chips, shavings, and coffee grounds are great carbon material but are not nitrogen sources as much as they are carbon sources. Think 'green versus brown'.
Grass clippings are a great green source, but get mucky real quick unlessyou addplenty of browns. Those leaves come in handy for that.

I wet mine down every week in the dry part of the year or whenever it looks to be drying out. You dont want it soakng wet but the composting bacteria need a little moisture in there to do their thing.

 

[monkeybirdfarms]

I agree with everything you said and couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks for the advise.

 

[Dreyadin]

Autumn leaves are carbanceous, not so much a very good source of nitrogen. For nitrogen, think green.

Couple questiona for you: what green material have you been adding? And second, do you ever wet the compost?

You might need to add some green, nitrogen material. You may also need to moisten it occassionally.

^^^ What Axis said. lol (still wanting to see your compost boxes! I just have plain old piles, but that is what works for us.) Need a thread about grape vines, wines, & compost... hint, hint...

I would add:

For (N)itrogen, think *fresh* greens & fresh manure. (example: grass freshly cut has higher nitrogen than if you let it dry out.)

Think of water as temporary glue- it helps nitrogen stick to carbon until the microbes can break it down. If it dries out.. the "glue" is gone and nitrogen escapes. Water is H2O... it doesn't add nitrogen- just a little bit of it helps keep nitrogen in a pile. (Exception- rainwater which has trace amounts of nitrogen- especially during lightening storm. The raindrops will grab a little nitrogen in the air on it's way down. This is also why your lawn & garden green up better after a rain but plain irrigation doesn't produce the same result.)

The *pile* needs to be damp- not just the outside- the whole pile. This is why it gets turned. You are moving moisture into the middle as well as new food and air for the microbes. Essentially you are feeding, watering, and airing out the microbe city so they can thrive and do what they do- reproduce & decompose things. The population is highest in the middle as the inside is more protected and the fastest decomposing microbes need heat.

So turning.. depends on temperature & moisture. If they run out of food/air/ or water (or temps get too high).. the population begins to decline- and other microbes take over that are slower at the job.

This is hot composting. If you get picky about it- you can make finished compost in several weeks. If you're less diligent- it will still break down- it just takes longer.

(Really lazy gardening... in the fall part of our pile we toss in tomatoes that turned & pumpkins/squash that went bad before they could be fed to the birds. Tons of leaves get mixed in. It is not a hot composting pile as winter is about to kick in, it is not enclosed, and well.. we are lazy. Every year my husband forgets- pulls compost from that pile and spreads it. Then we spend the next few months dealing with millions of tomato & squash seedlings. My neighbors love it- free heirloom tomato plants & squash. I grow over a dozen different kinds- so you never know what you're going to get. They don't care.. and wander over with buckets & shovels and help themselves. Squash get picky- but if you are gentle and keep roots minimally disturbed of the seedlings- they transplant fine.)

 

[Dreyadin]

Link to Cornell C:N materials table

2nd column.. balanced ones are in the 20 to 30 range. The lower the number the higher the nitrogen content.

Shavings are super high carbon.. so it take a lot of nitrogen materials to get them to break down. The size of the chips as well will determine how slow/ fast they break down.

 

[AxisOfBeagles]

I promise - I have pics coming!

One item we're not mentioning here: chickens. My bins are built right outside the chicken pen and they have free access to it during daylight hours. They dig and turn it, poop in it, and shred the leaves / shavings to aid in decomposition. All while getting some great feed and possibly other health benefits (as suggested by Ussery and others).

To my experience (and I am every bit as lazy!) chickens make composting faster and easier.

 

[AxisOfBeagles]

Here are some poor pics (iPhone) of the compost bins. The bins are apx 5 x 5 x 5, with hinged gates on the downhill side that allow me to get in even with the 4' wide tractor bucket. What I was trying to show is how the bins are situated next to the chicken run, with chicken access ramps and all.
These were taken late yesterday ...

And last, if you can actually see anything, this shows the bin on the right with compost that is finishing, and the one on the left that is still being accumulated.

 

[sarahr0612]

yes I've been adding water occasionally and I add left over green from the fridge and grass after I mow.

 

[chickengirl1193]

I started a compost pile in my large chicken run that I have been adding used bedding and table scraps to, and my hens love it, they pick through everything. but I am a bit apprehensive about adding used coffee grids to it because I dont want my girls eating the coffee. if I bury it enough will they not be able to get to it? this is my first year composting so I would appreciate all advice and suggestions

 

[AxisOfBeagles]

Whats your concern with coffee grounds?

I've seen where some people on the forum are concerned with acidity, others with lack of nutritional value, others with caffeine - but it's not like you are feeding them a diet of coffee. If the grounds arepart of a compost heap,the chickens will be eating lots of stuff. Maybe even a little coffee- but I've yet to see any hard evidence that those small ampunts of coffee grinds are in any way