Hot composting with chicken bedding and garden waste

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All of this heat is really messing with my ability to read what stage the compost is in again. This morning batch 1 had climbed back up to 47 deg C. Either batch 2 is heating it up, or then it's still cooking. The fact that it was +25 at 9 in the morning already doesn't help either. Now at 11, it's +28. The past week has been the hottest since 1961. Really freaky weather. Next week it should cool down a bit, so I should be able to get a more reliable picture of what's going on in the compost. I think I'll wait until then before emptying out batch 1. It would be nice to get it down to 30-35. Also, I think I may be a bit spoiled when it comes to these temperatures. I think most people would consider 47 deg C a pretty hot compost.
 
The neighbor was moving his pumpkins from pots to a raised bed, so I gave him some compost from batch 1 to sprinkle around them on top of the soil. We shall see how they do.
 
vehve said:
That's the way to do it! Good luck with your composting. In about a week you can say "Honey, this pile is looking very untidy here. You need to build me one of those hot composters I saw online."
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Hahahaha I think it is worth a shot though I think he would look at me as if I had lost my head... but so worth a try :)
 
Loads of steamy heat rising up from batch 2 this morning. The neighbor harvested some potatoes before planting his pumpkins, so I took the stalks and seed potatoes and threw them into the compost, they're getting started in there. I have also decided that I'm going to empty out batch 1 today, it doesn't seem to be producing heat anymore, and the heat leaking into it from batch 2 is only hindering the mesophilic bacteria from doing their work. No more food left for the thermophiles in batch 1. I also want to get worms to inhabit the pile as quickly as possible. Then I could let the chickens loose on it.
 
Okay, batch 1 has now been emptied. For all of you holding your breath waiting for the next dramatic event, I shan't keep building up suspense any longer.

First I needed to pick a spot to store the decomposing matter over the winter. This is the spot I selected.

The wire cage set me back 13 euros at K-rauta, although I later discovered that Biltema would have sold them for 10. Lesson learned for next time. The cage comes with an added benefit, that you'll see later on in the post. People use these to make puppy enclosures too, you can just combine a few and make a pretty big enclosure cheaply. It would work nicely for chicks too.

The we have some pictures of the cooked compost.





I think the pile in the wheelbarrow looks pretty nice. In the closeup you can see, that the pine shavings haven't broken down yet. I'll leave that for the colder working fungi and other organisms.

I emptied out 3 wheelbarrow loads of the stuff. Here it is in the wire cage.

I'd say it's a total of about 200 liters, or about 50 gallons for you metricly challenged.

Close to the bottom the color was more brown than higher up. There was a lovely earthy smell to it. The very bottom had been inhabited by a colony of ants, since I hadn't been watering batch 1 as much anymore.

You can see their eggs. The coarser branches I had placed on the bottom to provide added airflow had not broken down, so I decided to reuse them for the next batch.

Here's the compost after emptying, ready for batch 3 once batch 2 is ready to be left alone.

Note my trusty pitchfork, and the best shovel ever made, a Fiskars Ergo+ with coppertone finish. It has a cushioned shaft and handle. Great for digging in rock filled ground.

Then to the added benefit of using the wire cage, as mentioned earlier. For another 5 euros, you can get preshaped tarps for them. This makes it easier to protect them from too much rain, and airborne seeds. There are holes on the top that allow some moisture to pour in though. It should also keep moisture from evaporating too quickly.

It's maybe not the prettiest color, but it blends in a bit with the scenery. From a far it doesn't look that appalling.

The chickens and dogs have really done a number on the blueberry bushes.

The soil under the pile doesn't seem to be too beneficial for worms, so when I get a chance, I'm going to pick up some compost worms to throw into the mix.
 
adventerousone said:
How can you tell if your pile is too dry and how much moisture to add?
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I just go by looking at it, but a good rule of thumb is that if you grab a handful and squeeze, you should get one or two drops out of it. Other indicators are a foul smell, which says you have a too wet compost, and ants, which like the dry conditions. Often people have a bit too dry composts.
 

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