COMPOSTING

[chickengirl1193]

Okay thank you. I just thought the amount of caffeine wouldn't be good for them but I guess in such small amounts it will be fine. thanks!

 

[gameandmore]

how about composting with worms? i was looking into maybe starting a compost bin this year.

 

[Dreyadin]

Just put the grounds right into the garden. We were getting at least 1 heaping wheelbarrow full every day for a few years. The only issue that comes up is if you incorporate a large amount in an area (several inches worth mixed into the soil at once) it can actually start hot composting in ground.... and.. if you are using as much as we were- on hot summer days the garden smells like a Starbucks.

Much of the caffeine & acidity is removed from the grounds when you brew coffee. The small size lets you just rake it into the soil. It will break down fairly quick... it only has about 2% nitrogen. It will temporarily add some loft, but it won't make much of an impact on pH as it is pretty close to neutral.

Mine didn't get into coffee grounds.. but I do have 2 weird hens that will help themselves to an unattended mug of coffee.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vermicomposting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Easy.. I've had them going in everything from a plastic coffee can.. plastic shoe sized storage box on up to multiple 20+gallon rubbermaid bins for over 12 years.

You should make a thread for it...and I think there may be a few already going.

 

[JesNflock]

I started a compost this past summer and now I have the biggest worms I've ever seen! My chooks don't really care much for the worms but they do really enjoy the other yummy bugs they find in there. It ends up being a win-win for us I guess...They eat the bugs and leave the worms for my plants

 

[CrzyMexican]

Hello all, I'm brand new to the whole Self-Sufficiency thing but im diving head-first, what im here to ask is this, I have a very large roof and a small stream running behind my house in a very rainy region of Italy. I want to compost for a new garden im digging up it will be 15x20. In order to keep costs down for water, i want to design some sort of rain catch system, but also a solar powered pump system to run water to the chickens after i filter the water and also to the garden. Where should i start and what's best way to go about it?
ANY IDEAS?

 

[AxisOfBeagles]

Rain water catchment tanks are a great idea. When I lived in New Zealand, everyone had them. Just get it high enough that you can gravity feed to your garden - assuming you have enough elevation differential on your property.

Here in california, rain is scarce for most of the year so I don't use rain water catchment, but I did go solar many years ago. Not sure what the economics are like over there, but for me isolating solar to just the well pump was inefficient. Instead I put a large array of roof mount panels on the house and feed that into the grid, reducing my grid power consumption to near zero - despite numerous agricultural pumps. You might want to get a solar engineer to give you some professional advice based on your needs and the economics of solar where you live.

 

[chickengirl1193]

Hey guys I have a compost question. My pile has just started to smell, its kinda like a rotten smell and im not sure if this is good or if I should be adding something. Its also giving off heat like crazy. We got over a foot of snow yesterday and its all completely melted around the compost in 10 degree weather

 

[AxisOfBeagles]

That sounds like a high nitrogen compost - you might want to add some carbon material; raked up brown leaves work well. Hot can be good, but smelly isn't so great.

Because I add the chicken manure to my compost, I like to ensure that it takes at least 3 months to finish, so I tend to add quite a bit of brown material - mostly leaves from the deciduous oaks and fruit trees. Some folks like their comport to turn over faster - but if it gets too hot and fast, it can smell pretty bad.

 

[chickengirl1193]

I added some hay, ill add more carbon materials tomorrow. Thanks I think that happened cuz I just cleaned out my coop and my brooder where I had 8 chicks so in the last few weeks lots and lots of.chicken poo was added lol

 

[PimentoPlymouth]

Im thinking about starting a compost in my run and was wondering what is the best way to do it and if I start it soon will it be ready to start using in the garden this year. I use pine in the coop and have plenty of grass and leaves I can put it if needed. How much should I layer it up should I start slow or pile in it? Any helpful advice is appreciated.