How to determine quality of different types of compost?

[gtaus]

I just converted a brand new cement mixer I bought on sale last week into a compost sifter. It really works great. In just 20 minutes, I had sifted 6 cubic feet of fine wood chip compost using a 1/4 inch screen. Black gold....

Anyway, I am wondering how one determines the quality of different types of composted material. Is there any list of sorts that tells you that one kind of compost is better than another, or is all organic material composted basically the same quality?

Today, I just sifted a wood chip pile that had been sitting for 1 year in a big pile in my backyard. Later this fall, I plan on sifting the deep litter from the chicken run which is made out of wood chips, grass clippings, leaves, kitchen scraps that the chickens did not eat, and, of course, chicken poo. I would think that the chicken run compost would be better than just wood chip compost, but I really don't know. Any advice on this issue would be much appreciated.

I don't currently have access to horse or cow manure, but hope to find a supply of that in the future. How good would that compost be compared to my chicken run compost? Thanks in advance for any responses.

 

[Percheron chick]

Absolutely what goes into the pile determines the finished quality of the finished compost. The composted wood chips will not be a good growing medium because it won't have the nutrients to stimulate and promote growth. It will definitely improve soil by holding water and preventing compaction. The composted run material will make a superior finished soil with adequate N, Ca, P, K micro and macro minerals to promoted a robust garden. You can always run a soil test on the finished product to see what you are working with If you are battling serious soil deficiencies.

 

[gtaus]

Absolutely what goes into the pile determines the finished quality of the finished compost. The composted wood chips will not be a good growing medium because it won't have the nutrients to stimulate and promote growth. It will definitely improve soil by holding water and preventing compaction. The composted run material will make a superior finished soil with adequate N, Ca, P, K micro and macro minerals to promoted a robust garden. You can always run a soil test on the finished product to see what you are working with If you are battling serious soil deficiencies.

Maybe I have been watching too many YouTube videos, but I thought wood chip compost was supposed to be pretty good. There are lots of people singing the praises of how wood chips break down into the best soil. And by wood chips, I am referring to the arborist wood chips that include bits of greens like leaves, not just the wood itself.

I suspected that my chicken run compost would be better because of the chicken poo and the variety of greens and browns in the mix. So I can see the chicken run compost being superior to the wood chip compost.

I live on a lake and my soil is far too sandy. I am trying to improve the soil conditions of my garden for better growth. Are the soil tests you are talking about the kind you have to send in to the local agriculture extension office or is there a good soil test kit I can use at home for comparing my composts? I don't want to have to send off samples of compost. If I can do it myself at home, that would be better.

I plant lots of things and not much happens. My plants this year did not grow very well, in general, but I did have success with my hügelkultur raised beds. I also had a half barrel that I filled up with almost 100% composted kitchen waste that had been composting for 2 years. I planted a zucchini plant in the barrel and it exploded! So, I am thinking that my native soil is not very good but I have a chance on improving everything if I can amend the soil with good compost.

 

[Acre4Me]

just converted a brand new cement mixer I bought on sale last week into a compost sifter. It really works great. In just 20 minutes, I had sifted 6 cubic feet of fine wood chip compost using a 1/4 inch screen

Pictures, please!

I suspected that my chicken run compost would be better because of the chicken poo and the variety of greens and browns in the mix.

Your chickens leave greens?? Mine devour greens from the garden!! Of course, they don’t eat a yard worth of grass clippings, but they give it a good go.

in your case, either compost will help your garden. Your garden has too much sand, so the compost is providing the organic loamy dirt. In my case, I have so much clay, I add sand to the dirt!

glad your zucchini did well!

 

[gtaus]

Pictures, please!

Yeah, I can take a few photos and share. It's raining here today, but soon. I started a separate thread elsewhere on the BYC forums about buying a cement mixer and converting it into a soil sifter. That thread did not get much attention from the community. But I went ahead anyway with the project and am glad I did. If you are chicken composting, then an automated sifter really helps. At least, for the quantity I am making.

Your chickens leave greens?? Mine devour greens from the garden!! Of course, they don’t eat a yard worth of grass clippings, but they give it a good go.

I dump bins full of fresh grass clippings in the chicken run at least once a week. The kitchen scraps get thrown on top of the clippings. My chickens eat almost all the kitchen scraps, but things like melon rinds/skins, onion skins, meat bones, and such are leftover and just disappear into the deep litter of the run.

in your case, either compost will help your garden.

Thanks. I'll probably mix the wood chip compost with the chicken run compost when I amend the garden soil. I am looking forward to seeing how much that chicken poo helps.

 

[Acre4Me]

Yeah, I can take a few photos and share. It's raining here today, but soon. I started a separate thread elsewhere on the BYC forums about buying a cement mixer and converting it into a soil sifter. That thread did not get much attention from the community. But I went ahead anyway with the project and am glad I did. If you are chicken composting, then an automated sifter really helps. At least, for the quantity I am making.



I dump bins full of fresh grass clippings in the chicken run at least once a week. The kitchen scraps get thrown on top of the clippings. My chickens eat almost all the kitchen scraps, but things like melon rinds/skins, onion skins, meat bones, and such are leftover and just disappear into the deep litter of the run.



Thanks. I'll probably mix the wood chip compost with the chicken run compost when I amend the garden soil. I am looking forward to seeing how much that chicken poo helps.

Looking forward to photos! The compost pics i posted earlier in this thread are what we have. The chickens get tossed greens, etc, but we are not specifically composting in the run.

 

[Sally PB]

I think of compost as "slow" or "fast." Fast is stuff that is broken down, was mostly greens and dried stuff and chicken poop. Slow is stuff that still has a way to go like oak leaves and wood chips. Fast gives nutrients to the soil right away. Slow makes great mulch to keep down weeds and hold moisture, but will give nutrients to the soil over time.

I use piles of oak leaves spread out to keep the weeds down in the squash bed. I make a hill of finished fast compost where I'm going to plant the seeds. I haven't had to weed the squash since the beginning of July.

 

[gtaus]

I use piles of oak leaves spread out to keep the weeds down in the squash bed. I make a hill of finished fast compost where I'm going to plant the seeds. I haven't had to weed the squash since the beginning of July.

I have raised beds in my garden. This spring I put down a layer of wood chips about 2 inches deep between the raised beds. There was minimal weed growth this year in the pathways. So that was a great success.

My raised beds did not produce very well, and I wonder if my pathways are maybe more fertile than the raised beds. Another couple of weeks and I will be pulling everything out of the raised beds. Then I plan on filling them up with my sifted compost and topping it off with deep litter from the chicken run as a mulch. Then just let everything winter over in the beds. Next spring, I'll probably till/cultivate the material in the raised beds before I plant.

The compost pics i posted earlier in this thread are what we have.

I don't see any pictures yet in this thread. Maybe you posted them in another thread? Would be nice to see what you intended to post either way. Thanks.

 

[Sally PB]

Oh yeah, gtaus, wood chips on paths are great! I have some raised beds too. After the wood chips have broken down a bit and the weeds are starting to come through, I put what was on the path up on the raised bed as mulch. Wood chips do a lot of different jobs in my garden.

 

[gtaus]

Oh yeah, gtaus, wood chips on paths are great! I have some raised beds too. After the wood chips have broken down a bit and the weeds are starting to come through, I put what was on the path up on the raised bed as mulch. Wood chips do a lot of different jobs in my garden.

That is a good idea. Thanks.