Extreme Composting

Oswego · #**3261** 03/25/14, 06:45 AM

I came across an acre of finely ground egg shells 4 ft high. Its for the taking but not in small quantities. If he has to meet someone there to unlock gate etc then he wants them to take at least a dump truck load or more each time.
Would it be worth it to pay for the hauling, about 30 miles, to have a pile to add to piles.

myheaven · #**3262** 03/25/14, 06:55 AM

Qswego is your deficient in calcium? If it is eggs shells are wonderful fertilizer. I save mine all winter to either give to the chickens or add to the garden. See I could use it on my pasture. We are void of calcium here.

Forerunner · #**3263** 03/25/14, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oswego

I came across an acre of finely ground egg shells 4 ft high. Its for the taking but not in small quantities. If he has to meet someone there to unlock gate etc then he wants them to take at least a dump truck load or more each time.
Would it be worth it to pay for the hauling, about 30 miles, to have a pile to add to piles.

That's a lot a eggshells!!

I'd spread em like lime if my soil needed sweetening.

They wouldn't need to go through the piles.

Any odor in remaining that you can detect ?

Oswego · #**3264** 03/25/14, 08:38 AM

They came from an egg factory that makes dried eggs. A man rented some land and had them hauled to it for a long time, don't know what his intentions were. He quit paying rent on the land, moved on, and the landowner wants them gone. They are finely ground. The top 6 inches has crusted over and underneath the crust it looks like dry white beach sand.

I know I could have one pile for calcium supplement for my chickens and I know i spread out in acid soil it will go to neutral but not past neutral. Looking for benefits of adding to compost is it worth the expense to pay to have some hauled.
I did read where it was good to add to worm beds it said worms have a stomach like a bird and use some grit to grind up what they eat and they love to munch on eggshells.

What PH do the microbes in compost like? Maybe use it to add after compost has finished or like FR said, spread in acid soil that needs to be less acid.

Forerunner · #**3265** 03/25/14, 08:43 AM

The worm bed idea might be a good one.....feed 'em a little at a time.

Using them for chicken grit/calcium supplement would be a win/win.

If the grindings underneath that crust are bleach white, the more reason not to put much in the piles. Calcium and nitrogen don't play well together.....

But.....if it was me, I'd have several tandem truck loads, at least, dumped in an out of the way place to draw upon for years.....

I would also use the stuff as a side dress in the garden for plants that are into that sort of pH enhancement.

Oswego · #**3266** 03/25/14, 08:52 AM

I think I will check on a 40 yard roll off dumpster, have it offloaded and picked up when I fill it up with tractor. Have it dumped on my property to use for a while.

It might could even be used in my fish pond if water is too acidic.

With all those uses maybe I should get two dumpster loads.

I bet the deer would come to it to munch on also.

Forerunner · #**3267** 03/25/14, 08:57 AM

The stuff certainly has value, and multiple purposes.

I don't see how you could go wrong taking in a quantity, 'specially if you've got the space......

Allen W · #**3268** 03/25/14, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oswego

I came across an acre of finely ground egg shells 4 ft high. Its for the taking but not in small quantities. If he has to meet someone there to unlock gate etc then he wants them to take at least a dump truck load or more each time.
Would it be worth it to pay for the hauling, about 30 miles, to have a pile to add to piles.

I wish that was close to me I have some ground that could use it.

Oswego · #**3269** 03/30/14, 05:46 AM

I have not had time to pursue the chicken egg score but I did get my working pile turned yesterday, added a few items and piled it back up again.

Just posting to unstick the thread, seems to get stuck for a week with no posts every now and then

Forerunner · #**3270** 03/30/14, 09:41 AM

This thread is like a quality-constructed compost pile.

It can sit unmolested for lengths of time and just improve with age.

Dixie Bee Acres · #**3271** 03/30/14, 08:18 PM

You say calcium and nitrogen aren't good play mates?
I have been throwing egg shells on my compost pile, is that not a good idea?

Forerunner · #**3272** 03/30/14, 09:14 PM

I doubt anyone would turn you in for it......but you'd do better to crush those shells and give them back to the chickens.....or sprinkle them around your legumes/fruit trees, grapes, etc.

Eggshells will break down in the compost, kinda.... and you'd never notice a difference, but the scientific compost gurus recommend against any overt matrimonial relationship between calcium and nitrogen (kinda like throwin' a Taurus and a Scorpio in a boxing ring).

Now the question might be... "What if I already have too much N in the pile ?"

DEKE01 · #**3273** 03/30/14, 10:37 PM

I think egg shells in the compost is just fine in any normal amounts a household is going to generate. When I was composting on a suburban lot, all my egg shells ended up as worm food in the garden. I didn't grind them up, but they always disappeared. All things - of plant or animal origin - in moderation is a pretty darn good rule for composting.

I agree with FR's comment on scientific gurus. There exists some mathematical formula for making perfect compost in an optimum time to produce the optimum balance of NPK and micro nutrients. But as it applies to those of us who want to improve our soil, IMO, it is a big so what. You have to go way crazy with some particular feedstock to upset the natural processes of composting in a big way or to produce compost that isn't going to be good for your soil over the long run. Too much or too little water is going to be a typical concern for most composters. Too much calcium, probably not.

Oswego found 4 acre feet of egg shells and that is certainly a different story unless he has scores of acre feet of compostables to mix with it. If I had access to that much egg shell, I would mix it with dumper loads of peat, sludge, and what ever seed I wanted to broadcast. Then spread it with a lime spreader over my fields.

Dixie Bee Acres · #**3274** 04/02/14, 08:58 PM

Hey Forerunner, I saw this and thought of you.

http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/grd/4404575972.html

Forerunner · #**3275** 04/02/14, 10:09 PM

Oh, yum........ reasonably priced, too.

palm farmer · #**3276** 04/03/14, 07:04 PM

got a wild hair to expand the pile a bit

Shoestringer · #**3277** 04/04/14, 11:34 AM

Alright, it is finally Springy enough to get new piles going. I have been doing a little reading up and gone over this thread. The favourite method here seems to involve large piles, not necessarily of layered materials, usually an animal carcass, and turning only if necessary but probably with a front end loader.
What is your real practical experience? I own a fork and shovel (I know many started that way). Lots of carbon in old straw, hay and winter bedding pack, and some cold composted material from last year to incorporate.
In other reading, I find people recommend piles about 3-5 feet cubed. Also, turning every 2-7 days, depending on the source. That sounds like work to me, but I will be happy to do it if it works.
I have only cold (or warm, at best) composted before but have gardens to build and land to improve now, so I want to get off on the right foot.

Forerunner · #**3278** 04/04/14, 11:44 AM

Mix your materials well, whatever they be, in the initial piling.

There are several pile constructions that are tried and true.

The enclosed compost pile, bordered with wood, earth, strawbales, concrete, etc.;

The long windrow of eight to ten feet height and width....or of greater dimension if you've the equipment;

Or, large conical piles, which reduce air and sun exposure in arid and hot climates where you'd want to conserve moisture and prevent leaching of nitrogen.

I use all three, and, so long as there is initial heating and a general C/N balance, not too dry or wet, you'll have useable compost in 6 months and great compost in 12....

Shoestringer · #**3279** 04/04/14, 12:38 PM

This is without regular turning, correct? I can build quite a large pile, if I don't have to move it around so much. I could likely work up a pile about 7' high by 7' deep and 36' long, up against my barn foundation wall, on the western side.

Forerunner · #**3280** 04/04/14, 01:13 PM

You shouldn't have to turn a good, working pile until time to apply, unless you really want to be a purist, turning the uncomposted shell in for weed seed and pathogen elimination.