Extreme Composting

Forerunner · #**2461** 05/21/13, 12:18 PM

You could always just prune those tomatoes back to a manageable size.....

Oswego · #**2462** 05/21/13, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forerunner

You could always just prune those tomatoes back to a manageable size.....

Told my Wife this morning that I was going to prune them and try to root the cuttings, might make a late crop when the others start to slow down.

Forerunner · #**2463** 05/21/13, 02:37 PM

That may bring us to your next potential problem.

Every year, I hear stories of all the local tomato crops slowing down and then petering out altogether come mid-late summer.

My tomatoes go strong right up until the first freeze that is hard enough to overcome my efforts to shield the trellises with tarps........ sometimes as late as mid-December.

Oswego · #**2464** 05/21/13, 05:15 PM

With our brutal summer heat I'll plant my tomato plants from the pruning in the shade.
Already in the 90's and will be HOT through half of September. I think thats why tomatoes die back down here. Or could it be the seed folks planned for them to die early so we would have to buy more seed for fall crop.

Back on topic, read where potatoes and tomatoes must be rotated to not have diseases, so can old potato and tomato plants be put in compost pile. Will MicroHerd and heat take care of that or will I not be able to use compost made partly of tomato/potato plants on my potato and tomato plants next year?

Forerunner · #**2465** 05/21/13, 05:18 PM

If you've got good, hot piles, you'll do fine adding in tomato and potato vines.
The microherd rules.

Just see to it that any questionable matter gets buried deep enough to heat and retain moisture enough to maintain that heat.

Oswego · #**2466** 05/21/13, 08:25 PM

Used the frontend loader bucket to make deep trench in pile to bury potato plants from harvested taters. Must have been hot enough, paint bubbled on bucket.

michelleIL · #**2467** 05/22/13, 07:50 AM

I have an awesome source of grass clippings behind my neighborhood, and every few days I go back there with my granny cart and trash can and fill up and put this on my garden space. Fore,,,you haven't seen the nice garden space I have yet! It is glorious, unless you saw it on fb. I have begun this year to put said grass clippings around my seedlings and over my other spots in the garden to burn out the weeds, and get the soil ready for seeds. I don't know how successful this will be, but it is a step up from previous efforts and I'm hoping it will reduce my need to water every day in the heat of summer. Not up to it, especially since the trash can I'm using for collection of rain water is already starting to empty out!
I have a corner of the bottom of the garden I'm thinking of setting aside for compost, won't be a forerunner pile, but better than nothing! Will be mostly grass clippings, and *maybe* some leaves.

Forerunner · #**2468** 05/22/13, 08:02 AM

Any organic matter that you can lay between rows will conserve moisture, suppress weeds and promote slow-release soil fertility.

I'll beat the pundits to the punch.., be wary of grass clippings from lawns that have been sprayed with the nasty.........

michelleIL · #**2469** 05/22/13, 10:29 AM

I don't know where they come from. I'm choosing to chance it!

CesumPec · #**2470** 05/22/13, 12:41 PM

It may have been dumb luck on my part, but I've never had problems with grass clipping residual herbicides. I pick up curbside bags of grass clippings. I know people say don't do this, but I found that 4 - 6 inches of grass clippings matted down pretty tight and discouraged 4 legged visitors in my trench compost piles and a thick mat around the maters eliminated weeding chores for most of the summer.

michelleIL · #**2471** 05/22/13, 06:56 PM

Hey fore, you think if I put black plastic construction garbage bags over my pile of grass clippings and poke holes in the plastic it would help my pil break down without getting too hot and melting the plastic? And would it indeed speed up the composting process of the grass clippings?

Forerunner · #**2472** 05/22/13, 11:08 PM

Nope, but it would make fantastic silage.

Best to mix that fresh grass with some carbon and let the pile breathe.

katy · #**2473** 05/22/13, 11:51 PM

Once that green grass has turned brown, is it then carbon ?

Forerunner · #**2474** 05/23/13, 07:50 AM

If fresh clippings are left to dry in the sun, mucho nitrogen is lost, BUT, then you will have a more carbon-rich addition to the pile, if carbon is what you lack.

I'd rather see folks mix fresh clippings with sawdust and save their nitrogen, but if grass is all you got, you can still make good compost by allowing it to dry some before you pile it up.

Some of the best stand alone compost stuff I've seen came from a lawnmower bagger that had been running over grass, leaves and dried up weeds.

Yummy.

michelleIL · #**2475** 05/23/13, 02:55 PM

OK, so this may sound far fetched as all get out, but I kid you not...a cow projectile crapped into my garden space!!! I'm astounded, and some is only a foot away from a tomato plant I just planted not too long ago. I covered this reeking mess with some clippings from the house, veggie and such, and then I thres a covering of grass clippings on top of that! One of two things could happen...I could lose the tomato plant, or I could have the awesomest plant EVER! We shall see!

MullersLaneFarm · #**2476** 05/24/13, 12:22 AM

For those of you in northern IL (or southern WI or eastern IA or western IN) that would like to meet up with infamous Forerunner, plan to come to the 9th Annual Homesteading Weekend

My garden doesn't compare to his gardens ... my compost is non-existent to his ... but he loves me anyway

(cuz I make him look good! LOL!)

Oswego · #**2477** 05/29/13, 02:24 PM

With the temps in the 90's and expected to stay there the duration on the summer it will take me longer to shovel out my new load of cow manure and mix it with new load of sawdust. I probably will do a little early before work and again just before dark as many days of the week as possible.

Saturday am I went to the dairy farm for two large bucket loads of fresh manure. Their equipment had been down for several days and had just been repaired. the concrete pit was full of WET manure and they only had about one big bucket worth of semi dry stuff. I got them to mix enough of the wet with the other to get me two bucket loads. Because it was wet my tires were complaining and liquid goodness was dripping through the bottom of the trailer. I took it slow and was going about 45 mph down the 4 lane. I noticed the motorcycles were coming up behind me and quickly changing lanes to pass. Several of them made some animated gestures at me as they went by. I don't think it was the smell that affected them as much as the dripping hitting the road and spraying them and their bikes.

CesumPec · #**2478** 05/29/13, 03:56 PM

Some people just don't appreciate the value of poo

am1too · #**2479** 05/29/13, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oswego

With the temps in the 90's and expected to stay there the duration on the summer it will take me longer to shovel out my new load of cow manure and mix it with new load of sawdust. I probably will do a little early before work and again just before dark as many days of the week as possible.

Saturday am I went to the dairy farm for two large bucket loads of fresh manure. Their equipment had been down for several days and had just been repaired. the concrete pit was full of WET manure and they only had about one big bucket worth of semi dry stuff. I got them to mix enough of the wet with the other to get me two bucket loads. Because it was wet my tires were complaining and liquid goodness was dripping through the bottom of the trailer. I took it slow and was going about 45 mph down the 4 lane. I noticed the motorcycles were coming up behind me and quickly changing lanes to pass. Several of them made some animated gestures at me as they went by. I don't think it was the smell that affected them as much as the dripping hitting the road and spraying them and their bikes.

should not tail gate.

am1too · #**2480** 06/01/13, 01:57 PM

Well my pile sure is not dry now. What a storm!