Hot composting with chicken bedding and garden waste

[vehve]

Here's an example:

Photo by Tony Hisgett, Birmingham UK.

The idea is that you attract insects to your garden, both to pollinate and to keep the pest population down.

 

[leanna1120]

Yep i'm definitely lurking! No tales to share yet as I've not composted...however I am most interested in composting! I was looking at building a system like the picture I've included. I was also trying to determine if you can keep composting through the winter months...and it looks like if done properly you can. Anyone with a similar system? Thoughts?

 

[vehve]

I haven't tried the tumblers myself, and even though it sounds like a pretty good idea, some have said that in practice they don't work that well. At least not in large scale.

In cold climates those will be useless in the winter, even my insulated box was close to going too cold. -10C is probably the coldest it could handle for prolonged stretches of time, if it gets a lot colder than that where you are, you might want about 10cm of polystyrene, or preferably polyurethane instead of the 5cm polystyrene I'm using.

@BensHens has one of those tumblers that he's used before, Ben, care to share your experiences? Ben's climate isn't comparable though, he lives in the equivalent of an oven.

 

[vehve]

Oh, but if you do try out the tumblers, it would be interesting to hear how they work in detail. I'd go with a A-frame construction though, the system pictured doesn't look structurally sound.

Now I feel like I'm being super negative again.

 

[lazy gardener]

@aart Just caught your interview, it was a nice read. I must say, I had jumped to conclusions about your gender, you're always in such a engineering mindset that I thought you were a man. Silly me.

I have to fess up to the same thought process... Art... Arthur? Any how, nice interview. I'm of the opinion, that a lot of the females on this site are not girly girls! IMO, heels and dresses are totally impractical when shoveling manure!

I wonder if gender role expectations are less discriminatory in your country than in mine?
Probably not a discussion for this board or thread.

You'd be combating/balancing adding cold air with providing oxygen this time of year I would think.
Are you still just measuring the air temp in the box or do you have a probe thermometer to stick down into the pile?
Are you still turning the pile?
Maybe add perforated pipes down into the pile to get oxygen down where it needs to be...or just poke some holes down into it with a piece of rebar.

Yep i'm definitely lurking! No tales to share yet as I've not composted...however I am most interested in composting! I was looking at building a system like the picture I've included. I was also trying to determine if you can keep composting through the winter months...and it looks like if done properly you can. Anyone with a similar system? Thoughts?

Leanna, first, welcome! I'm in Maine, and cringe at the thought of throwing anything that's compostable into the trash any time of the year. I have a compost tumbler that is SUPPOSED to be able to turn out finished compost in 2 weeks. It sits on a curved base, low to the ground, and requires hand spinning, which can't be done without the liquid oozing out of the drainage holes and coating the sides of the barrel. Also, by the time it's loaded with enough mass to generate some heat, (which it will) it's too heavy to turn without a fair amount of effort and perhaps some not very nice words, or at least some not very nice thoughts! I do like that the design you picture sits high enough that you could get a wheel barrow under it to empty it. Also, the double barrel is a necessity. But, I find that my tumbler contents are a solid lump of ice from November to early May. So, I orient it so I can get the door open, and load it up with my high nitrogen stuff through the winter. By the time it's thawed out enough to empty in the spring, it's pretty pungent. I can then mix it with some high carbon stuff, and start filling it with the right blend of carbon/nitrogen for the summer. No matter how I work it, it doesn't perform as advertised.

My recommendation: Save your money. Build a couple of bins. Get some composting worms to help you through the winter. I hear vehve and Karin are going to set up a worm bin soon! Every year, I have one or many projects going, which become a good place to dump my compostables. Often right in the garden (sheet or trench, or the base of a new bed), but this spring, all of that yummy stuff will be going into a hugelkulture bed that is taking shape (very slowly) on a newly cleared piece of land.

I agree with PP regarding the T design not being very stable in the pic. Triangles are stable!

 

[vehve]

Regarding the worm bin, Karin read about it here... the thought was not met with overwhelming joy and encouragement.

 

[lazy gardener]

They're a lot quieter than chickens.

 

[leanna1120]

Ha! @vehve Your comments are not taken as negative. I'm looking for sound advice....not fluffy make me feel good comments Sadly it seems that the old adage "if it seems too good to be true it probably is" appears to apply to the compost tumblers. Thank you @vehve and @lazy gardener for your insight regarding this. I would much rather direct my energy into a more sound composting system then limp along with something that works sometimes. In any event, would either of you recommend beginning to compost now in the winter or just wait until the warmer months?

 

[vehve]

You can begin any time you want. It just won't work as well in the cold. But when it warms up, so will the compost. Actually, if you're collecting frozen stuff in a big compost, it will probably burn pretty hot when it thaws out, since you'll have loads of compostable material that will be insulating itself once the heat gets going. Better to start now than to throw the stuff away.

 

[RichnSteph]

Human built residences for beneficial insects in your garden

Hmmm.... I don't think mine counts but I built a BSF bin to help attract the little guys/girls so that they can make feed for our chickens. We do want a bee hive one day though and I know that they'll help with the pollination and things.