Hot composting with chicken bedding and garden waste

Date sort Score sort
HennyPennyCO said:
Hi Bamadude!
Some comments:
For bedding in my worm bin (in the kitchen because of our cold climate) we use 50:50 shredded newspapers and autumn leaves.  About once a week I feed finely chopped (& acceptable) kitchen scraps.  Note that these are all no-cost items.
Yes, you do need to add some sort of browns/carbon to your greens/nitrogen chicken poop; it's way too much N to use by itself.  Again autumn leaves (best if shredded), straw, wood chips, wood shavings, and the like.  Wood chips & shavings take a while to decompose and use a lot of N in the process.  Coffee grounds are great if you can get them but they count as N.  The coffee filters (torn up or shredded) count as browns/carbon.  I always tear up used paper towels & napkins too, provided they haven't been used to mop up something harmful.  Shouldn't have to pay for any of these items. 
Compost the items first for best results, then amend your soil with the compost.   Research the 3-bin system for composting.  The more cut surfaces on the items in your compost, the faster they break down, so chop/tear/shred/cut as much as you can.  The soil microbes like oxygen, so turning the heaps weekly is great.  They also like the right amount of moisture and heat, which is why we folks in cold climates are following verve's experimentation with his insulated bins for winter.  Not much decomposition goes on when your heaps are frozen!
Sandy soil needs the water-holding capacity that humus provides. Work on a 10-year program for soil improvement, and remember that some of the humus you add each year will be used by the plants that you grow.  
If you have the space for other methods, also research permaculture, Hugelkultur, sheet composting.  Again, you're using stuff that is free as well as stopping it from going to a landfill.  A double feel-good situation.
Another suggestion:  have your soil tested by your local university extension office.  We use CSU in Fort Collins, CO.  In addition to soil testing, they provide a wealth of science-based information for the citizenry.   

On another note:  We've had a bit of a warm spell and my main compost bin was thawed enough that I could actually get a garden fork in to turn the contents!  
Penny
Click to expand...
hi and thanks for the good info. I live in southeast Alabama so cold weather isnt an issue here. I really was thinking it could probably take 5-10 years to get our soil to where it is productive enough to call it a garden. My spot is 45 feet x 30 ft. Gonna need a whole lotta hummus.
 
hennible said:
Do you have swamps nearby Bama?
Click to expand...
we have about 15-20 acres of beaver ponds...We have a 3 acre pond that we had built. Its 26 feet deep at the dam. We stocked it "literally to the gills" with bluegill, shell cracker, largemouth bass, crappie, and channel catfish. Feeding fish commercial feed is expensive
 
Nice. I need a pond dug at the end of my creek.... I'd dig it by hand... But its 100% clay...
Can you dig some of the swampy earth up it will be full of humus and clay, I think any way... Or I'll send a ton of my crappy clay in trade for your crappy sand...
 
gig.gif
 
Best way to build healthy soil is to grow nitrogen fixing cover crops(legumes) and plants with long deep roots like daikon. ......
......never leave your garden beds bare, always something growing there.
 

Similar threads

C
    • Like
Chicken compost and the garden
Replies
1
Views
315
Red-Stars-in-RI
Red-Stars-in-RI
Sefirothe
Getting Started Composting
Replies
9
Views
1K
gtaus
gtaus
Tahai
    • Informative
    • Love
    • Like
Composting chicken litter with Mites is OK - Cooperative Extension
Replies
4
Views
1K
Red-Stars-in-RI
Red-Stars-in-RI
C
    • Like
Composting coop litter
2
Replies
15
Views
5K
akroberts1085
akroberts1085
gtaus
    • Like
  • Poll
Composting - $500 Lomi v. FREE Chicken Bucket?
2
Replies
11
Views
5K
MACCanadianCoop
MACCanadianCoop

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom