I need composting help!

[BabyGotQuack]

Hello all! I’m needing some composting help. I’ve been “composting” for 2 years and still can’t seem to get the hang of it. I really don’t know what I’m doing even though I’ve bought and read a book on it.

Today I got out to start cleaning up the garden. As you can see in my pic of I have 2 piles of leaves and then a pile of old tomato and pepper plants (I still have corn stalks I need to rip out). I also have probably 3 huge wagon fulls of duck bedding (pine shavings). I have those 2 composting bins to use that you can see in the pic. What can I do with all this?? I need green stuff in it right? What would be good to add? I need all the help and advice I can get!

 

[Sally PB]

I need green stuff in it right?

"Green" stuff is the stuff with nitrogen, "brown" stuff is the stuff with carbon. But duck poop is also a good source of nitrogen, even though it's not green.

Do you have an area you can fence off, say, 4'x4'? That's about the right size for a good compost pile. Fencing it off, or any other containment, helps keep it in a pile. Three sides with an open front is the easiest to work with. Mine is made of cinder blocks, with an open front. I three bins, side-by-side.

Put down a layer of leaves, then a layer of poop. Sprinkle some dirt over it. Repeat until:
You're out of materials
The pile is about 3' high.

Water it with a hose until it's good and wet. "Like a wrung out sponge" is the usual description. That actually takes at least 10 gallons for that sized pile, if not more. If it's too dry, the microbes and bugs and worms won't work their magic.

The dirt is to inoculate the pile with the microbes. The bugs and worms will find their way in.

I did not forget about your vines. They will take a long time to break down, unless you can chop them up somehow. You could put them all on the bottom of the pile and figure they might be there for a while. It can take several months for this all to break down.

Or, you can do it this way:
https://deepgreenpermaculture.com/diy-instructions/hot-compost-composting-in-18-days/

The caveat is that it's a lot of physical labor, because you have to turn the pile every other day. That introduces oxygen and gets the process kickstarted.

My three bins allow me to do it this way easily. The far right bin is the "collection bin." When I have a good pile in there, say most of a cubic yard, I fork it over into the middle bin. I let it sit for 4-5 days, then fork that over into the left bin. Two days later, back to the middle bin. Back and forth, getting some good arm muscles, and then in about 3 weeks, I have compost. It will have chunks of stuff that aren't quite done (like viney stuff), and that just goes into the next pile. Meanwhile, the right hand bin is collecting stuff, and if I want to start a new pile, I get some weeds or rake up some thatch or leaves. I always have lots of chicken poop.

 

[NatJ]

It's a much better alternative to trying to apply straight rabbit poop to the garden. It is acidic and will burn up the plants.

Are you speaking from experience, or from reading it somewhere?

Because everything I've read says rabbit droppings ARE safe to apply immediately, unlike most other kinds of animal manure.

https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/bunny_honey_using_rabbit_manure_as_a_fertilizer
Here is one example of a page saying that rabbit manure can be used directly, with no composting needed.

(It is fine to compost rabbit droppings, just not as necessary as for most other kinds of animal waste.)

 

[Ascholten]

That's a good problem to have though. If I had my way they'd drop about 100 trucks off here. The entire back yard is crap, Id love to just bury it all under 6 inches of mulch and then plant on it what I want, where. Let the girls dig wherever they do, going after the worms and inevitable treats. It's all behind a fence. Front Yard - Prissy Wissy for the HOA Nazi's. Back Yard (Behind the Fence) - Do NOT TOUCH my red neck swamp hillbilly hangout dammit !! I got Treez, I got BEEZ, -- I got a FISH, it's A Coy in a Dish, I got Chickens, and Berries for Pickins, and I got Plants, and also Fire Ants We have Garlic, and Tarlic, and Peas in a Pod, and Taters all clustered in a muddy ole clod. There's a boat, and a moat, and some poop from a goat. There's a kitchen, for bitchin, and a trailer for hitchin, and if you mess up, a first aid kit for stitchin !! It may not be pretty, it may not stand out, but come for a visit, generosity is what it's all about.

Once I die, I couldn't care less about the 'resale value', oh you need to put in a sprinkler system, umm NO, the greedy never say hello unless they need something next of kin, can worry about that

aaron

 

[Percheron chick]

View attachment 3026773


I filled one compost bin with all new stuff (leaves and duck bedding) but left the other empty so I can try @Sally PB mixing tip and just move it back and forth between bins. Then the rest of the leaves I just have in the wagon for now until I can make some kind of bin or something for all the extra leaves. And I really wanted to get some compost going since I have so much stuff to put in so I didn’t put any of my vines or stalks in yet so that’s what the far right pile is.

The problem with doing the back and forth flip method this time of year is the pile doesn't heat up to decompose. Check the temp first. You want it between 140-160 for optimum and fastest decomposition. It will break down at lower temps but it will take a lot more time. The other problem is the design of the bin. Unless you can pull the top off, you'll flip it once and be over it. Are the sides vented to allow air flow? If not take a 3' piece of PVC. Drill holes every few inches. Drive it into the middle of the pile. That design is great for a fill and forget it or when you have rodents.
I have enough area that I can have a dozen compost bins. Originally I just dumped it into a walled off area. Was far from the chickens and coyotes started picking them off when they wandered up there so I built one closer to the coop encircled with cattle panels. Worked well and the holes were the right size for chickens. Moved and built a 3 bin wooden pallet set up. Looked a little too hillbilly for me and found free black plastic pallets on CL. Black helps absorb heat, the holes help aerate the pile, orderly.. Throw a pallet on top and you can keep animals out. Perfect for the chunky high volume waste

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

If you have a meat thermometer, you can make that work.

Just give it a good wipe before you check to see if that Turkey is done or not.

 

[DramaBrahmaMama]

Are you speaking from experience, or from reading it somewhere?

Because everything I've read says rabbit droppings ARE safe to apply immediately, unlike most other kinds of animal manure.

https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/bunny_honey_using_rabbit_manure_as_a_fertilizer
Here is one example of a page saying that rabbit manure can be used directly, with no composting needed.

(It is fine to compost rabbit droppings, just not as necessary as for most other kinds of animal waste.)

Experience. My kids shoveled out from under the hutch and applied to my ground crops, zuchs and squash, and the next day they were wilted down. So, I asked my grandmother about it and she said it needs to be completely dried before application, and she would generally cut it with something else like straw before spreading it out.

 

[NatJ]

Experience. My kids shoveled out from under the hutch and applied to my ground crops, zuchs and squash, and the next day they were wilted down. So, I asked my grandmother about it and she said it needs to be completely dried before application, and she would generally cut it with something else like straw before spreading it out.

I suspect quantity makes a big difference. Most articles skip details like "how much"

 

[BabyGotQuack]

I’m not planning on adding it straight to the garden just because they aren’t in a hutch with a wire floor. They use a litter box so it has the pine pellet bedding and whatever hay they drop and didn’t want that stuff put straight into the garden. So I will be putting it in the composter. But thanks for the info!

 

[Ascholten]

Rabbit poop, may be safe but if you are shoveling from under a hut, it's probably piss laden too, and THAT will burn your stuff up, all that urine /ammonia. Poo ok, mix, too hot.

Aaron