Extreme Composting

Just kidding, we need millions more Compost Kings

I picked up 6 tons of manure today. I don't think that qualifies me as compost royalty but perhaps I might be granted a knighthood...the order of the turd.

I have tons and tons of carbon stockpiled and needed the manure to get at least some of the piles started cooking.

We had a Circus come to town for a couple of days this week. They left town at two am Friday. I was out next to where they had been early Friday and notice a twenty foot roll off dumpster with steam rising from it. Also had a strong manure/urine aroma drifting through the morning air. Seems the Circus had been required to put all elephant manure and bedding straw in a separate dumpster than the rest of their trash.

I called the # on side of roll off and asked if they wanted to save some money by dumping it closer than the landfill and no dump fees.
One hour later it was dumped on my 5 acres.

Do y'all realize how large an elephant turd is.

Now this is extreme composting.

Congrats, Oswego.

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“I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” Barry Goldwater.
III

The circus people are camped out for the winter in Hugo, OK. Just a might to far to get elephant turds.

Well, color me green with envy! Great score!

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Je ne suis pas Alice

http://homesteadingfamilies.proboards.com/

Buddy of mine used to go to the zoo in Springfield, MO and get a trailer load of what he termed "ZOO DO."

Really liked it for his gardens!

Hmm.... Wonder if he's still gleaning the wild kingdom gold, or if someone else could go and ask for a trailer load (or two)....

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Je ne suis pas Alice

http://homesteadingfamilies.proboards.com/

Interesting article in Acres USA magazine last month. It pretty much pooped on the idea of municipal composting, mostly because they try to rush the process so much that too much of the good stuff gets vaporized.

Pros are that it diverts material from relatively scarce landfill acreage so it might be worth it to the municipality for that, but as a soil amendment, the author was not impressed.

The main thing lost early in composting is nitrogen. That's why plowing under green matter may recover twice as much as when composted. Phosphorus and potassium are generally not lost into the atmosphere since their gasification temperatures are much higher than any pile can produce.

Martin

........hence the practice of installing a carbon barrier to contain heat and nitrogen, whilst eliminating odors and the occasional uncooperative cow leg.

__________________
“I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” Barry Goldwater.
III

Question for the composters out there what would the carbon to nitrogen ratio be for green wood? Say Siberian elm. I have a bunch chipped up and was wondering what to add if anything. Please note leaves were still attached to branches at chipping time.

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"Safety Third" Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs)

That one is impossible to determine. Although you can probably figure the green leaves to have at least 1% nitrogen, the wood is too variable. The thicker the branch is, the higher the carbon content. You'll get some heat if the pile is big enough but the wood bits will all be virtually intact when it cools. If you have access to cow or horse manure, add about 10% of that or 10% fresh grass clippings. Keep it working and moving and the wood will break down unless you've got some bigger dry pieces in it. Any fresh branches that I have is run twice through a mulching/bagging mower. Then it's ready for the tumbler and will almost vanish after a few months of daily turning.

Martin

My last batch of compost from the wood chipper went from raw to dirt in about 2 months and i added weeds to that. Nice and hot but it was apple, apricot and peach branches and i turned it every week. This one i will try to mix in some grass clippings as I shred.

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"Safety Third" Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs)

The leaves of those trees are very high nitrogen even when dry. Their green twigs and branches are also high. Adding grass clippings would make the C:N ratio even better for rapid decomposition. I find that to be very true even with just the Compostumbler turned daily. The woody material isn't always chewed to desired oatmeal consistency but few big chunks remain when the batch is dumped.

Present batch was too high in carbon when started due to drought conditions resulting in no grass clippings available. Took off when the lofts were cleaned and had that good stuff plus some culled pigeons. Now has been warm for a month and presently cooking a couple of squirrels which were competing with me for the walnuts. Still could use one more good heat cycle before dumping it but there will be plenty of green material from the garden cleanup.

Martin

Wow 96 pages and now I feel as if I know you all. Lots of good info. Thanks. I remember looking up this thread after talking with a guy who runs a tree service. He dumps lots of wood chips about a mile from me. I asked if he was willing to drive the extra mile to dump at my place to save on his space. He pushes them up a couple times a year and burns them. What a waste! He did say I can haul all he has on his lot. So thats the good news. The not so good news is I can't find a close enough manure source. There's a hunt club next to me who would likely be happy to have a place to dump the harvest leftovers. So adding another iron to the fire. Now I'm going to have to fix my old F350 and haul chips. If only that old broken down stake body had a dump. Guess I'll make a drag like I saw here to pull the load out.

This will work hand in hand with the rotational grazing pastures I am currently setting up.

Thanks for all of your input its been a great help.

Forerunner quite inspiring I have about the same amount of land as you but its all timberland. Or was until recently. Now turning it into my dreams after living here off grid for the last five years. Also the book Ten acres is enough was a good read.

Larry
A World Away

Good to hear from you, Larry. )

Don't sweat that superb carbon source.
I'd rather have 10 times too much carbon on site than ten times too much nitrogen, any day. Carbon will wait for nitrogen.
Nitrogen, pretty much, don't wait fer nobody........

__________________
“I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” Barry Goldwater.
III

thanks forerunner,

Its amazing the changes you have made in your place. I thought I was crazy trying to compost an acre garden plot. But now know I'm just small time. How's the hydro power project coming? We also need more pictures here. My future garden space is still in trees at the moment. They are supposed to start cutting next month. Moving the garden from the top of the hill to the bottom, hope it helps. I plan to build my piles either right where I want the garden or more likely just up hill from it. Since I doubt it will be ready for use next spring.

Larry
A World Away

Q. I have ~20 fairly large piles (50' ft diameter, 10' high) of slash, pine tops mostly that are about 1.5 years old. Most of the stuff in the piles are 3" diameter. It was too much to chip so it has just sat there. I want the stuff to compost down a bit faster.

I have brought in about 25 tons of manure to put on these piles, added a few dead critters, communed with them every chance I get, and added some dirt as well. But that little bit of manure gets lost on these piles fast. With only about a ton of manure per pile and unchipped wood, nothing is happening as far as heat.

Would you suggest I just give up on all but one pile and put all my N sources into one pile? Going forward I can get about 8 tons of manure / month to dump on these piles.

In your case I would say nothing helps like good ol plain dirt. Pine seems to rot fairly fast on the ground. Black jack and post oak do the same. Small stuff is gone in 2 years or less. I ran my brush hog over everything 2" and smaller. Couldn't find any of it in a year.

BTW least I forget my horse stall cleanings is already sprouting grass where I also covered it with an inch or so of sand. The part I didn't cover with sand is much greener than where I didn't spread it. And it sure has soaked up the water as hoped.