Extreme Composting

Chatted with a friend last evening. Mentioned composting and she laughed and said she was probably the only one to add their vacuum cleaner canister content on the mulch pile. Hey, why not?

Nope, she's not, Ken. I've been doing it for years.

Clean out my hairbrush? In the compost.

Groom the dogs? In the compost.

When I would shear my sheep before they died, the dung tags? You guessed it.

If it will break down, it goes in the compost.

ok i have a 2 fer if anyone cares to add opinion

is municipal(sludge or no sludge in it either if it makes a difference) considered organic? can it be re added to a compost heap to eleminate any dioxins or other stuff. should it be re composted or aged in a home made heap?

if i built with chicken manure/litter what ever comes from the large egg farm in the next town and hit it with grey water or black water as built.. would it hold the moisture enough to work. this is not nessicarily a dry area for the most part will it hold enough moisture or will i need to water it or check it.

is it better to incorperate a limited supply of compost or just lay planting bed width rows what 3 foot and plant into it and disc it after the season? i know this is a varied answer there would be more of a need to incoperate if the ground was likely to hard packor ddidnt hold any water.. but i am wondering if the soil is "ok" consitancy.

thanks again

Some 'cides are long lasting even after the appropriate hot composting cycle. Clopyralid , which is an active ingredient in Confront, comes to mind and there are a couple of others as well. There aren't many that can survive a good hot compost cycle but there are a few.



Lloyd

P.S. Snowed overnight, still can't play in the 'post!

I have been lurking on here for a time, but figured I would come out of the closet and introduce myself. I see a couple of familiar faces from other sites on here. I have 9 acres of ground here in West Central Ohio. My composting is NOWHERE near what FR and Mudburn are doing, but it is more than adequete for my needs. There is a riding and teaching stable up the road who used to throw all their stable cleanings into a DUMPSTER! if you can believe it. That was before I started parking my high-side trailer up there. Now they call me whenever it gets 3/4 full and I go pull it home and empty it out. The village brings me 5-6 loads of leaves every fall, and the tree trimmers bring me a load whenever I ask them to. Besides that I spread about 60 loads of manure on the place with the spreader every spring, and a few more loads throughout the summer and fall. My garden soil has such fine tilth that you can sink into it to your knees if you're not careful.
I recently made a small (55 Gal) compost tumbler in order to make potting compost. I am building a small greenhouse this summer so that I can start my own tomatoes, peppers, and cole crops next year. I do it in my living room window now, and I am constantly moving them about.
Anyway, I've learned a bit on here already and expect to learn more as time goes by. I just wanted to say hello and thank you.

i saw a lovely 'invention' compost tumbler i dont recall if it was one of the people here or somewhere in my other travels. where they used 55 gallon steel drums horizontally and car axles and a electric motor to drive many drums. quite a contraption not rivaling the monster piles of compost but looks like it would make a substantial amount faster

My compost tumbler is a simple one. A 55 gal plastic barrel with a hatch cut in the side. I screwed blocks of wood and tincans at random spots inside it to agitate the compost as it tumbles. I fill it about 2/3 full of manure, hay, leaves, straw, etc. I close the hatch with duct tape (it's like the Force; it holds the universe together) and then just roll it whenever I go to feed the chickens or walk past it. every week I flip it end for end. It works, and it's cheap. I probably should empty it and start another batch.

300 imperial gallon tanks actually

Video tumbler in action

Do some larger windrows as well

Makes for some nice 'post



Lloyd

wow, just wow you guys are great, gives me new ideas on sources for my composting.

Thanks FR and Mud



p.s. blame my mom for turning me onto this site and this post.....lol

HEY TIM question for you. Can a bear cat type grinder, grind mass quanities of news paper and/or cardboard if its dry? I know you attempted to grind leaves when you had yours but they were wet and kept jamming. Have you ever attempted?
We are composting our first dead animal dh was will to this time. we have our first pile built and have 3 more to go with pasture cleaning. We (no longer just I) are so excited to compost this year.

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I'm so done here.

I do believe a feed mill of that type would grind just about anything that's dry.
The leaves did fine until the moisture level came up toward the inside of the pile.

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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

I may have mad e the score of a lifetime. A friend works at the paper mill and they give the lint away after its dried. Id have ot take at least 180 yards to get it free and delivered free. Its been certified by deq to be free of chemicals to.

Hmmm. You need a sale barn.

__________________
“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

taylor...i am SO jealous.......mostly because it's FREE which is even better than cheap..and I like cheap.....

What does 180 yards of lint look like? how thick is it? what kind of fiber is it made of? How will you compost it? PICS!

Be sure to incorporate lots of rainwater in your respective operations.....

.....and, yes, pics are nice.

__________________
“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

OH taylor you are one lucky person. I have alll the liquid manure I could ever dream of free and delivered I just need the carbon to marry it to.
Looks like our area is going to stop the free recycling program (possible not cemented yet) so people are going to be tossing alot of paper. I want to try the bearcat grinder to grind it up and add the manure to it. Not to mention paper is great mulch and ok bedding .

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I'm so done here.

MG 180 cubic yards is 15 big 10 wheeler dump trucks full. or 4.5 of the big dumpsters like WM uses. Its impurities from cardboard and new print pulp. It ll be a 4 week wait now Im still building a spot to drop it. I will mix it with a skid steer and add some poultry barn litter about 20 yards and about 15 of horse exhaust.

Its pretty wet when they dump it. I know a place nearer that may be willing to drop me a load of it.


I recently cleaned up an illegal leaf and grass dump on a friend place about 14 years worth of his 5 neighbors dumping their leaves and such on his lot. Its great stuff lots of bits of bag in it but where I dumped it the slope drain is dark green. GOt 10 yards of the stuff. Im wanting to use it in a raised bed for my carrots.

Screen it. All the bags bits and trash will be on one side of the screen.

I have a small screener I built now working on a larger one for my topsoil and compost.

Sorry for the cross-post but thought perhaps I'd get a quicker response on the extreme composting thread.
My thread is here... Compost disposal of goat: Safe for vegetable garden?

Sad post for me. Our 9 year old pygmy goat was euthanized a few minutes ago. Broken jaw, anemic, and neurological symptoms most likely due to some sort of cancer. We had been nursing him for over a month now and it was time to let him go.

The vet saw my compost piles and suggested composting as the easiest form of disposal. Our typical piles are about 10' diameter and 6-7' high consisting of sheep and chicken bedding, household scraps, leaves, and (seasonally) fresh cut grass. I just seeded a new pile and its time to empty the animal stalls so we will have a hot pile shortly.

I know the body will compost fine but wanted to make sure that the resulting compost is safe to use on our vegetable garden. I haven't taken core temp readings (will from now on) but when I turn new piles they're usually smoking quite a bit and very hot to the touch. Should temps be high enough to kill anything of concern? He's about 50-60lbs as a frame of reference and we turn with our IH454 w/ front loader.

Hoping for some quick and knowledgeable responses.... thanks for the help.