Hot composting with chicken bedding and garden waste

[vehve]

I watched this short video yesterday and it is absolutely amazing!

I'm trying to figure out a way to incorporate something like this in my situation.

Have a look see:

http://www.geofflawton.com/fe/64322-chicken-tractor-on-steroids

I'll have to check that out at some point. I saw one of his videos where they went through 10 years of a forest, starting with a field where chickens were unleashed. It's a cool concept.

 

[Bens-Hens]

I am pretty sure I saw that video too.

Amazed me.

 

[HennyPennyCO]

Regarding that home-produced, high-nitrogen liquid fertilizer:
For general fertilization of plants needing more N, dilute it 20:1 with water. Then, to about 1 gallon/4 litres of mixture add 1 tbsp (15-20ml) of liquid kelp fertilizer. It has a wonderful dark-brown color that disguises anything your neighbors might see you using on your plants. Yes, for seasoning straw bales to get them ready for planting, use the "secret ingredient" (my mother's term for it) neat with no dilution.
Regarding winter freezing of compost:
We're in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, and over the winter we continue to layer on our compost heap, 2 parts of carbon material (browns) (usually shredded leaves) to 1 part of whatever nitrogenous material (greens) we happen to have. Coffee grounds are nitrogen-rich and coffee shops here are well-used to home gardeners taking the used grounds off their hands. During the all-too-short growing season I use those nitrogen-rich grass clippings for mulch in the garden. Some of the clippings are dried for adding to the compost heap over the winter. (Perhaps someone out there has researched how much N, if any, is lost in the drying process.) When the compost heap thaws out in the spring, we mix the layers together and composting in that heap goes full steam ahead. (We're always surprised at how much decomposition has gone on over the winter.) We also start a new heap next to the old one in the spring. Layering the nitrogen/greens with carbon/browns material keeps the summer compost heap smelling good & deters unwanted insects, very important in our suburban location (especially with chickens here too!).
Regarding your winter compost box:
Love this idea and will print out a copy of your description to my helpers/adult children to inspire them.

 

[HennyPennyCO]

There is a whole litany of stuff that California does wrong. Southern California is mostly desert from Around death Valley on down. Grassy lawns do not belong here. The Water comes from Snow caps in NORTHERN California. and is pumped then conveyed by Aqueducts that are open to the air. Our bread basket the Central valley is dependent mostly on canal water. By the time the Aqueduct water reaches the end it falls short of San Diego county by several hundred miles.

with regard to California:
We should be conserving We should be planting water wise We should be xeriscaping We should be recycling water In San Diego County thy have only just recently passed legislation that allows the use of Grey water in your gardens. Only a couple of cities have set in place systems to extract water from sewage... this water is 99.9 percent pure.... this is used for irrigation. But it could also be used for drinking.

with regard to Southernmost Southern California:
We get alot of our water from the Colorado River.... In the 1800s the Colorado river used to support stern wheelers all the way to Yuma Arizona. Right now it falls short of the ocean by about 100 feet.

There is no solution to the environment. I wont get into the whole climate change debate... the effect is the same none the less. Playing the blame game is counter productive.

Water desalination will be a last choice its very expensive. and you'd never get past the EPA and the PETA people any way.

We have enough water to drink flush and bathe.... we as individuals need to address the rest as best as we can. Agriculture gets first dibs anyway...

deb "sorry to drag up my soap box"

Deb, I'm with you.
Having been raised in periodically-drought-stricken Australia, water-saving techniques are ingrained in me. (Other Aussies will know what I mean.) When I came to the US, I was appalled at the wastefulness of the US culture, and not just for water. Denver City, for example did not even have water meters! (They certainly do now.)
Denver leads the nation in xeriphytic plants/xeriscaping techniques, and there is a serious movement for "wildscaping" (using water-stingy native vegetation).
One of the biggest helps is charging HEFTY fees for water usage. People in other places are surprised with I tell them that when we first moved into this house, our first water bill (for 2 months) was US$500+. (Oh yes, it's a LOT lower now.) My daughter's summer water bill at a rental house where she had no control over the way the landlord had the sprinklers set to water, was $700+ for 2 months!
We haven't got to the point where Denver Water Dept will pay us $X per square foot to remove our lawns, but give us a few more dry years and it'll come.
I'm a water-conservation teacher at the community garden I co-lead.
Penny

 

[HennyPennyCO]

Do you need some horse poo to add to your pile? I know where you can get it by the truck load!

Scott

Just remember that manure, especially from a corral or stall, is high in concentrated salts. Compost from manure needs to be well aged.
Does anyone have knowledge about the salt content of chicken manure?

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
Welcome to BYC Penny....

What amazes me is Colorados laws about rain water.... scratching my head on that one.

deb

 

[vehve]

Welcome to BYC and the thread Penny!

One thing that helps thaw out a frozen compost is hot water bottles, something to remember when spring is arriving.

I'd like to collect rainwater and store it for watering, and grey water would be nice to collect too. But I don't really know how big the benefit of that would be, as water is something we have in overabundance here. Finland has 187888 lakes. With a population of about 5.4 million, that's about one lake per 29 people, so quite a lot of water. Karin and I consume about 100 cubic meters annually, or that's what we're billed for at least. That's pretty high in my opinion.

 

[Lacy Blues]

I'd like to collect rainwater and store it for watering, and grey water would be nice to collect too. But I don't really know how big the benefit of that would be, as water is something we have in overabundance here. Finland has 187888 lakes. With a population of about 5.4 million, that's about one lake per 29 people, so quite a lot of water. Karin and I consume about 100 cubic meters annually, or that's what we're billed for at least. That's pretty high in my opinion.

If your water bill is high, the grey water system would save you money more than anything else.

 

[vehve]

Well, the need to water is pretty much nonexistant usually, this summer was the driest in 50 years, and even then the drought only lasted for a month. Collecting rainwater would be easier to arrange. And with 100 cubic meters, the water bill comes to 400 euros annually, it would take quite a few years for the system to pay for itself. If I ever build a house it's something I'll consider though.

 

[vehve]

With all the rain we've been having, I thought I'd go hunting for some worms to add to my maturing pile. I only found 5, but I hope they'll get a breeding program going. I don't know if it's really a beneficial environment for them to live in, but lets hope so.

Here are my new pets:


Oh, and batch 3 has started cooking now. It's only at about 28 deg C above the pile (ambient temperatures being around 15C), but it's putting out a noticeable amount of heat. I found some moldy cheese (I mean really moldy) and some expired meat products in the back of the fridge, so I threw them into the pile too. It smells of pizza in there now.