Hot composting with chicken bedding and garden waste

[HennyPennyCO]

The fruit pulp sounds wonderful. We had one of our canning people add her tomato sludge to the compost heaps at the community garden in the summer and it was a definite earthworm attractant. They loved it! It broke down very rapidly in the compost as I think the fruit pulp would. I'd think you'd want to mix it through well to get the best advantage.

 

[HennyPennyCO]

Yes, definitely go for the coffee grounds. Sorry, but I can't recall the actual N content of the grounds. At our school/community garden it's a very acceptable alternative to manure (which we're not allowed to use for health department reasons).
We've been back to warmer days and the compost has thawed out again. I picked up a couple of buckets of coffee grounds and incorporated a bucketful into each of my heaps. Yes, I did remember to tear the filters into little strips. From my research, the grounds are tons more beneficial being put into the compost as opposed to being incorporated directly into the soil. The soil microbes love them. I also add a small quantity to my worm bin in the kitchen.
People ask if the coffee grounds are too acidic. Don't worry - the coffee drinker has already imbibed the acid and the grounds are just fine. (Which is a shame because around here we have alkaline soil and we'd love to have an easy source of acid.)

 

[Lacy Blues]

I know a woman in Reno and she adds lots and lots of coffee grounds to her highly alkaline soil. She picks it up by the bucketful from coffee shops around town. Works wonders for her.

 

[vehve]

Pine needles in the compost might help too...

 

[HennyPennyCO]

We throw pine needles in with the autumn leaves when we shred our bags of leaves. Makes a nice mixture.

Luckily I've just joined in with some neighbors who take it in turns to collect the coffee grounds of a local coffee place so I'll have a more regular supply now. I'm familiar with Nevada and its soil and adding the grounds there would be an excellent idea. Except for problems with predators, keeping chickens there would be helpful too.

 

[vehve]

I haven't been updating the thread for a while. We're finally having below freezing weather, and now the compost is about 10 degrees C. I haven't been taking kitchen scraps to it in a while though. The fridge is starting to look like I need to do a bit of cleaning in there, so I should get a nice amount of spoiled food to throw in there again. That should heat it up a bit. I think it's a bit dry too, so I need to water it some more. I still haven't emptied out batch 5, but I need to do it before we get snow. I just like having a larger mass in the box because it binds heat better.

 

[HennyPennyCO]

That profile picture sure doesn't look like Finland in December!
Glad to see you posting again.
Penny

 

[scottcaddy]

That profile picture sure doesn't look like Finland in December!
Glad to see you posting again.
Penny

maybe he was busy with little pigs across the world?
Scott

 

[vpatt]

I have an unending supply of leaves and a lot of pine shavings.......I add chicken doo and kitchen scraps. The leaves are best if you can shred them but I don't have a way to do that.

 

[Lacy Blues]

If you have a lawn mower that throws clippings out to the side, you can gather your leaves in a pile against a wall or a fence and run over them with your lawn mower a few times. Just a suggestion.