I need composting help!

[gtaus]

Lots of talk about wood chips, just want to mention that Paul Gautschi, in his Back To Eden videos, calls "wood chips" something other what most people think of the words wood chips. I think most people hear the words "wood chips" and think of chipping up branches and trees. All wood. Even better, if the arborist has chipped up all the green leaves on the branches along with the wood. That's what i look for. I can get those kind of arborist wood chips for free at our county landfill.

According to Simeon (formerly Swedish Homestead) on YouTube, who actually visited the home of Paul Gautschi, he says that when Paul Gautschi talks about "wood chips" he is really talking about wood chips, with chipped up leaves, along with other green organics, and chicken and other animal manure all mixed in. That is a big difference in the type of "wood chips" he puts down on his gardens, etc... Essentially, Paul's idea of wood chips is closer to what most of us probably would call unfinished compost.

Obviously, if you intend on making great soil with wood chips, you can see where all the organic greens and animal manures are going to super charge the composting of the wood chips. Wood chips, by themselves, take a very long time to break down, probably years, depending on where you live. If you add all the greens and animal manure, then you are talking about making soil in a much shorter time. I use wood chips in my chicken run compost system, along with tons of grass clippings, leaves, and weeds from the lawn and garden, plus all the chicken manure and spent bedding. Most of my wood chips break down in about 1 year in that mix.

I think it's important to understand why Paul Gautschi has such great success with using wood chips (because it's basically an unfinished compost in his case) compared to a number of people on YouTube and elsewhere who lay out a ton of wood chips (no greens or manures mixed in) and seem to have little to no success.

Hope that little background helps some people just getting into using wood chips and how to use them.

 

[gtaus]

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.

How does someone from Jacksonville, FL have so much hillbilly attitude?

 

[Alagirl]

That's why, where I live, I would not be tricked into paying for a chipdrop. I know the arborists have to pay to dump their wood chips at the landfill. So, I am doing them a favor, and saving them money, by allowing them to dump wood chips at my house.

I have heard that some places the contractors attempt to get the home owner to pay for a chipdrop. I would not agree to that in principal, but also because I know they have to pay good money to dispose of their chips at our landfill.

Some businesses are all in for the money. I can understand some of that. Before I found I could get free wood chips at our county landfill, I stopped into a wood business that had mounds and mounds of wood chips behind his place. I asked him if I could load up my trailer with some of those chips. He said, no problem and that he would only charge me $60 per load!

I smelled a rat and he smelled someone who did not yet know that wood chips could be had for free at the landfill. I thanked him and told him I would consider it. I left and never returned, but I could see someone willing to pay for his "garbage" wood chips if they did not know any better. Knowledge is power.

I only use grass clippings from my yard, because I know I don't use any chemicals or sprays on my grass.

I don't use a grass catcher. I should get one I guess. Would work on the billion leaves I get every year as well.

 

[Alagirl]

You can specify if you will take larger logs or not, as well as what species of wood you absolutely refuse, otherwise it's the luck of the draw, in my experience.

I've never paid. The more I read here about others' results, I feel really lucky that my location seems so attractive as a dumpsite for the arborists.

Geez. I'm definitely very lucky when it comes to chips.
The other night when I got home from work, I parked in my usual spot in front of the chip pile, and noticed a big dent taken out of it. Did a neighbor help themselves? I glanced around the neighbors' front yards, but didn't see any evidence of new mulching. But if a neighbor did help themselves from my pile, I don't mind, especially after hearing that some of you folks didn't get good results from chipdrop. I live on a larger property at the edge of town, and the houses up the street are semi-suburbia - so if they need chips from my roomy driveway that has room for a pile whereas theirs don't, they're welcome to take what they need. I'll just request another chipdrop when I run out. I like all my neighbors, and want to encourage them in their gardening endeavors. Maybe I'll put a "free" sign on my chip pile. like I did last year when I put out some tomato plants, and most of them were taken.

let me know when a house comes up for sale!

 

[NatJ]

I don't use a grass catcher. I should get one I guess. Would work on the billion leaves I get every year as well.

If you let the clippings lie on the lawn, they fertilize the lawn. There's nothing wrong with that, unless you specifically want to collect the clippings for some other purpose.

 

[gtaus]

I don't use a grass catcher. I should get one I guess. Would work on the billion leaves I get every year as well.

I have one riding mower with the grass collection bins on it all the time. But I dump all my grass clippings into the chicken run so the chickens can eat what they want, scratch and peck through everything looking for bugs, and the majority of the clippings will end up being composted.

In the fall, I run my lawn mower all the time mowing up the leaves. Maybe as much as every other day. I have learned that the trick to my yard and my leaves is to go out and mow the leaves every few days. If I let too many leaves fall on the ground and pile up, then it is just too hard to mow them up. Again, I dump all bins full of leaves into the chicken run. No raking leaves for me.

 

[Ascholten]

How does someone from Jacksonville, FL have so much hillbilly attitude?

There's plenty of rural around here. Farm land, good people living a simpler more fulfilling life. Well there used to be... every day it seems they are cutting down acres and acres and putting up $%#$%T^ amazon warehouses and the crappy McMansion subdivisions.

I actually like living simpler. People out in the country are friendlier, and more genuine IMO. I was born and raised south side of shi^cago, never to return if I can help it. Came down to Jacksonville in the 90's with the Navy and been here ever since. Well I did one tour with the Hydrofoils down in the keys but jax otherwise. Besides how can you turn down fishing on the river and bringing home a cooler full of fish shrimp and crabs??

Aaron

 

[gtaus]

Besides how can you turn down fishing on the river and bringing home a cooler full of fish shrimp and crabs??

You can't. Love to hear about people finding a better path in life. Sounds like a nice place you have there.

 

[Ascholten]

You can't. Love to hear about people finding a better path in life. Sounds like a nice place you have there.

I try to keep it a nice place, try to keep it welcoming for people who aren't douches. Heck, I am in some other forums and have extended offerings often, come on over, lets share a cup of coffee, ill cook some steaks and if you want to hang the night lets go fishing. id be willing to do that here too. I mean how else are you going to meet new people and make friends if you are not willing to at least meet upsomewhere?


Aaron

 

[gtaus]

Just posted a thread on Harvesting my Chicken Run Compost - Black Gold!. Added some pictures of my setup to help visualize how I make compost. It may be of interest to some.

I clipped a few comments from this thread that might have some cross talk with the thread I just posted. Would love any feedback on the other thread if you have some thoughts on my composting system.

I need all the help and advice I can get!

Well, you can see my chicken run composting system in that thread. It has other info you might find useful.

I think the keys are to break things up into smaller pieces, and keep it all moist.

Yep, I let the chickens break down my chicken run compost.

Screen it if you can to just get smaller brokendown pieces.

I added a picture of my cement mixer compost sifter. I have different sized screens depending on where I want to use the finished compost.

What's wrong with wood shavings? You don't want processed or treated lumber of course but mulched trees work wonders, and the worms love them too. I find it a great aggregate for my composts.

I dump my wood chips and shavings into the chicken run. The chickens mix it into the compost. And the wood chips/shavings break down in a year, or less, depending on your mix of litter and where you live.

Research this -- How long does it take wood to make dirt ? Have you ever worked in a garden or flower bed with wood chips . I wouldn't put a wood chip in my worst enemy's compost , garden soil or flower bed . Home centers can use it for a filler but i ain't buying it .

It takes about 1 year for my chips to break down in my chicken run compost. My compost sifter will reject larger, uncomposed pieces and I throw them back into the run for more time processing.

there are many books on compost. Just remember that it happens in nature without a precise mix.

Yep, I just dump everything into my chicken run and let the chickens mix it all together. It seems to work for me.

The older stuff from the middle/bottom of the pile tends to be well-composted and I can use it directly in my garden and mix it with finished compost to fill beds.

I pretty much screen all my compost with my cement mixer compost sifter, but certainly I could use it as top mulch without any worries. The lowest layers are mostly finished compost and could be used in the soil.

I am reluctant on the grass clippings. but I need a lot of stuff

I bag all my grass clippings and dump them in the chicken run. I posted a picture of a huge mound of grass clippings that I dumped into the run. The chickens will have that pile leveled out in no time. Grass clippings are one of the main ingredients in my chicken run composting system.

Maybe I will try to expand my compost making expertise (never been really good @ it) to using the tree chip stuff (good amount of green stuff in it) and make more compost for the "Rancho".

Well, my solution was to let the chickens do almost all the work. They love it, scratching and pecking through all the stuff I dump in the run. It's in their nature.

I don't use a grass catcher. I should get one I guess. Would work on the billion leaves I get every year as well.

Well, I hope you can see how valuable grass clippings are to making compost. In my final picture, you can see one of my raised beds that is topped off with my chicken run compost 1:1 with topsoil. The bulk of my chicken run compost is from all those bags full of grass clippings and leaves I mow up during the year.

Well, I hope my new thread may be useful to someone. Let me know if it was helpful, or not. Thanks.