I have never had a compost bin

[ruthie]

A very nice neighbor planted to much sweet corn and told me I could have what I wanted. Well I just froze 40 quarts of corn, but I didn't know what to do with all the husks and cobs. So I went out to the shed and got 4 wooden pallets that I found on the side of the road. I put one on the ground and wired the other 3 together and placed them around the one on the ground. I put all of the husks and cobs in it. My question is what do I do now? Do I need to water it? (It rained last night) Is this a good start? or should I use another type of waste? Well I guess that is 4 questions

Thanks for the help

 

[Grammahen]

That’s a great start! Nice job for recycling pallets too. Now just start adding to it. I scrape my roosting drop boards every morning and add that which includes a bit pine shavings. I also put in all my scraps (except meat) from my kitchen. (Although the chickens get first bids) When I weed my flower gardens and the chickens are done having their fun with that too, I throw them in there. Soon you will have great compost!

 

[ruthie]

I let my girls out this morning and the first thing they did was head right to the compost bin. I didn't know if all that corn would be bad for them, so I put them back in their run. They are mad at me I can hear them scolding me from inside the house.

 

[Ridgerunner]

40 quarts. WOW!!!

I'd suggest going to the sister forum, TheEasyGarden at the bottom of this page and do a search on compost. You'll learn a lot.

You can approach it different ways. You can get technical, try to balance carbon and nitrogen, turn it, keep it moist, get it up to temperature, and really work it. Or you can throw the stuff in it as you get it and it will eventually turn to humus; it will just take a lot longer. Or do something in between. I use the word humus because some purists get upset if you use the word compost for something that does not get up to heat. I said you could get technical. Either way, humus is rotten organic matter that is great for your garden, flowers, shrubs, trees, lawn, or anything you want to grow and it can greatly reduce your contribution to trash dumps.

Corn cobs are high in carbon and low in nitrogen. I think husks are also but not so much out of balance. Grass clippings add nitrogen and speed the process up. That is as technical as I am going to get.

You've already had good luck getting all that corn, so I'll just say great post!!

 

[Uppity Peon]

Nice! I did the same thing but with no pallet for a bottom, just the sides. The compost is one of the chickens' regular stops.

You should keep the compost from drying out, and it's good to turn it and churn it to get the air into it. And if you get a lot of rain like we do in the winter, you might want to cover it before the rain leaches away all the good nutrients.

 

[ninanonna]

I think it's fabulous that you're entering the world of composting! As ridgerunner said, you can get really technical; however, even if you choose not to get technical you need to know a little about balance in the bin or it will begin to STINK!

In composting you have to add brown matter (carbon- think coffee grounds, wood chips, dirt, raked leaves) and green matter (nitrogen- think vegetable waste and grass clippings). Strive for a 5:1 brown to green matter ratio. You can go higher on the brown, but if you get more green you will get stinky goo. Also, avoid adding meat or dairy products (eggshells are a great addition, though!).

Here are two helpful websites:
http://www.plowhearth.com/magazine/compost_how_to.asp
http://www.plantea.com/compost-materials.htm (this one has a list of 163 things you can compost).

 

[ruthie]

Thanks for all the help. I have an old shed with a dirt floor that was used for rabbits. It is full of droppings, I thinks I am gonna go shovel up a bunch to add to the bin.