Hot composting with chicken bedding and garden waste

[vehve]

Aart, yeah, that's pretty good for galvanized hardware. Nice that you can reuse the wood.

Scott, nah, still using a dodgy thermometer. This one gives yank readings as well though.

Haven't been to the tree in ages, but I'll be sure to get a pic next time we're there.

 

[Bugseye]

I hear you on seeing how much compost the pile makes and how to use it. I used part of my pile to prepare for cool weather veggies, and there's still a lot left. Guess I'll have some happy raspberries along with the rest of the beds. I think I'll transfer the rest of the pile to the garden so I can start the next batch. This is the first year I've mulched, and Im curious to see how that goes. Coop cleaning is in the queue, but today was a good day to clean the outside of the windows.

 

[vehve]

It was time for a bit of Fall cleaning in the animal housing this weekend. We emptied the chicken coop on Saturday, and the rabbit pen on Sunday. And before that, I of course emptied the compost. Wasn't as cooked as I would have liked it, but the stuff will have a lot of time to mature in it's cage, I've got a cubic foot of ready cooked compost to use before I need to dig into this new batch.

I started with basically an empty compost (I had dumped a bit of bunny bedding and the soil from four tomato pots earlier in the week). I properly wet between layers when adding all the spent bedding from the chicken coop and the bunny pen, pouring about a total of maybe 150 liters (40 gallons) of water in the bin. I also had about a gallon of kitchen stuff that had been maturing inside, ready to prime the compost. And I added some of the previous batch back in between layers. Yesterday the temp was 10C (50F) in the box, with outside temperature being about 5C (40F). This morning, even though we were around freezing all night, the bin had heated to 35C (95F) measured at the top of the bin. I think this is going to be quite a quick batch. I'm going to have to mix it a lot though, to get everything out of the heat.

Karin isn't too happy though. Apparently "the compost smells 50 feet away" or something. Silly her, that's just nature at work!

@aart Did you get around to making those lovely big piles already?

 

[aart]

Got to the old piles yesterday, to put the 'soil' into the newly fabricated raised bed/cold frame....
....think they may be useless as is tho.
Solid, dry mass of 'roots', tho now greenery growing from said roots.... maybe growing up from nearby trees.



Not sure what to do with it at this point...
.....will it continue to grow and just cause problems?
...or add aeration and organic material?

 

[vehve]

I'd mix in some organic material, turn and wet properly, and cover up to keep the sun from the stuff. That looks kinda like my tomato pots do after I shake out the soil, usually breaks up pretty quickly.

 

[aart]

I'd mix in some organic material, turn and wet properly, and cover up to keep the sun from the stuff. That looks kinda like my tomato pots do after I shake out the soil, usually breaks up pretty quickly.

Well it is all organic material ....some wood shavings in there not yet broken down too.

Was going to add some of the soil from the old garlic bed surrounding the new raised bed.....
thought I could plant some cold weather stuff in there yet this year....
.... but maybe the new 'garden bed' is really my new 'compost bin'.

 

[vehve]

Well hey, you used the term first But yeah, some greens is what I mean. As it is, that could of course provide a nice, airy framework for new roots to build upon, but I don't think the old roots hold all that much in the way of nutrients, so I'd just compost it again. Because at the moment, I'd say it hasn't really broken down that much, looks like it's been a bit too dry for that.

 

[aart]

Well hey, you used the term first But yeah, some greens is what I mean. As it is, that could of course provide a nice, airy framework for new roots to build upon, but I don't think the old roots hold all that much in the way of nutrients, so I'd just compost it again. Because at the moment, I'd say it hasn't really broken down that much, looks like it's been a bit too dry for that.

Guess we should specify brown or green

.

About the only green I have available would be grass clippings, or fresh chicken poop, I don't generate much kitchen waste, what little I do goes right to the chooks.

 

[vehve]

Just mix it in with the new piles you had? Or pee on it. Like a lot.

 

[lazy gardener]

You crack me up! Seems to be a universal cure all. Got coons in your corn? Pee on it. Compost not working? Pee on it. Starting hay or straw bale gardening? Pee on it. Got predators visiting your yard? Pee on it!!!