What do ya'll think about composting?

[Tala]

Quote:
yeah that.

After my chickens get done, there's not much LEFT in the compost except poop and sawdust litter

And even if people tell you to, do NOT put meat in your compost bin; almost everything else is fine; do some reading. I think Mother Earth News online has some article on it, too.

Funny, the only reason that I know of to not put in meat is to avoid attracting critters like raccons and dogs to go through your pile. Meat DOES compost just fine and dandy, although I have no idea why you would NEED to compost it. I have dogs and chickens for that!!!!

But whatever floats your boat.​

 

[KDbeads]

My compost heap is enclosed on 3 sides with scrapped pallets that weren't salvageable for anything else. Last heap filled most of our planter beds this year!

Everything goes in it. EVERYTHING. cat litter (we use pine pellets), dog poo, chicken poo, picked over grass clippings the chickens don't want, the few scraps the cats/dog/chickens won't eat, leaves, pine needles, weeds....

This new heap we just started did have a bit of a strong smell to it at first but I added a few sprinklings of a product my mom sent me called Compost Maker and it's mellowing out now. Also added some grub worms and earth worms to it.

 

[Mattemma]

I am a lazy composter which means I just have piles all over that break down.I finally have a pile that is ready to go,and let me tell you the material is going to be loved by my plants.I might actually start turning my compost so I have more material faster. One quick thing to do,and I see my elderly neighbor do,is just dig a hole and put in your scraps.

 

[Royd]

Quote:
Quite often, since I do raised bed gardening, and my beds are never permanent, I dig a trench, for the walkways, throwing the dirt into the beds...I'll fill the trench with leaves...The next year, what was in the trench, becomes part of the bed.

 

[patman75]

Your compost will not smell if you have the correct amounts of nitrogen and carbon. Chicken manure is great nitogen for compost piles.
If you want to speed up your composting or want to keep it out of sight for your neighbors you can use a black garbage can and drill a bunch of drain/ventilation holes in. The heat from the sun on the back garbage can will speed up the composting.

I just use piles because I have too much compost. I have 2 or 3 piles going.

Last years pile that is ready to use this spring.
Winter pile of veggie-fruit scraps, chicken manure, leaves and perannial grasses.
And soon to be pile #3 the chickens deep litter + new veggie & fruit scraps from this summer and fall.
Repeat

 

[andalusn]

We decided to purchase a bin already put together by a local source that sellls bins, worm etc. My husband figured by the time we purchased, cut and assembled the bin and had to pick up the tub of worms anyway it was worth the little extra for their time and labor

My local source is Northwest Redworms I am going to start another bin of the European nightcrawler .. they work the dirt longer and a litlte finer than the redworm. With a garden as large as ours we could use the castings too

You can mix the two types together if you wanted.

Another garden compost bin can simply be made from square wire mesh fencing. The cuttings need air to also help them break down and its easy to turn with a pitchfork or you can simply pick it up and turn it over depending on how you make it. There are many sources on the internet and videos on the topic.

 

[Moabite]

Ahhh compost... It is the easiest thing in the world. If it isn't growing, it is composting. Your job is to decide how fast you want it to compost. I live in the desert and the hardest part about gardening is maintaining ground moisture. I mulch my garden with about 4 to 12 inches of leaves, alfalfa, grass clippings, coffee grounds, egg shells, moldy bread, any thing else that is organic and not to chunky (no dog poo either) and avoid greasy things. I usually never need a compost pile at all, just throw it all down in the garden ( aka: No Till Method). My garden dirt is black, moist, and full of worms. The dirt out side of my garden is dry sand and fine silt with weeds. My garden is clean, and weed free and I only need to water every 3 or 4 days in the heat of the summer. I even get all of my neighbors leaves in the fall, and all the used coffee grounds I can scrounge from the coffee shops (over 500 LBS. this spring) At this point, I don't so much care about what grows in the garden, but I love to work in that dirt!

 

[yotetrapper]

I have a compost question!

I shovelled all my deep litter from my coops into a huge compost pile a couple weeks ago. It smells pretty rank. Also, turning it seems quite the chore, I imagine it would take several hours to turn the whole pile.... Does it need to be turned? Also, this is almost ALL chicken manure, rotten straw mix.... Do I cover it? Let it rain on it? Seems kinda dry now... If I need to turn it, what's the best method for tuirning a large amount of it?

 

[Boyd]

Quote:
pitchfork. You don't turn it quite so much as aerate it

yes much turning and raking and such is done. To keep the smell from being quite so rank you need to add some browns and some greens...... Leaves and clippings/garden/kitchen scrap. Avoid any meat or oil unless you want flies.

 

[Monk]

Early pics, it's in use now, no mess, no smell...