Extreme Composting

Click on JDog's pic for the video.

Heritagefarm asked me some time ago to video the bone grinding operation, and here it is....hopefully better late than never.

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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

Forerunner has ALOT more toys than most of us!

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You are confined only by the walls you build yourself.

The only thing that keeps me from having more compost than him is a dump truck. I should picture what is available to me to make every green with envy. They haul it out in 48 ft dumps twice a year for a week or more at a time. And that doesn't count 100,000 yards of ground up and mixed pile that they have at the sametime. If I remember I'll get some pictures nextime I go. I get it at about 7 yards at a time.

And you should see their toys!

According to my data, bonemeal has a N-P-K ratio of 4-12-0. By the 55 gallon drum, you're getting a lot of good phosphorus for your soils!
Did I hear correctly...that is an ordinary feed grinder?

It is an old Bearcat mill. I understand they built those a little extra heavy duty, but I don't think there's such a difference that any mill wouldn't do the job.
The operation certainly doesn't phase the knives nor the horses turning the mill.
For reference, my knives look to be a quarter inch by 2 inch flat stock with no special shaping to the business edge.

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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

have you ever tried to grind bones in a heavy duty chipper shredder?

That would certainly break them down, but not quite small enough to suit me.
Given my experience with chipper/shredders, the bones and dirt clinging there-to would be really hard on the knives.

Tub grinder is where it's at. Just throw in the whole cow, and a few dozen dirty tree stumps for good measure.

"Know-what-Ah-mean ?" Ernest

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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

Great thread.

I was just referred over to this forum from a guy who who posts a lot about his homesteading efforts.

Ive just done some minor gardening in my life thus far and am excited to learn more about composting.

Aside from this thread, any recommendations on a few key books I should be reading?

welcome jotobo
I am of the opinion you'll find all you need right here in this thread.

Happy composting!!!

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Trisha in WA
Visit my blog @
Diamond Belle Ranch

What else does a man have to do in his short time here on earth than build soil and feed people~Forerunner

Forerunner, thanks to you, I am lusting after this...

http://hickory.craigslist.org/grd/2673528582.html

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http://www.lindsayfarmonsilvercreek.blogspot.com/

I'd recommend Fletcher Sims - compost, Rodale handbook of compost, and guide to on farm composting by NRAES. Throw in some light reading of Albrecht's papers on soil chemistry and follow up with Kinsey's - Hands on Agronomy.

That should get you a good start !

SO, I guess you all will really appreciate this: In addition to the horse manure I am finding all around my place that neighbors want to be rid of, I have found a huge supply of produce from a couple produce markets. They have dumpsters full of great stuff for the animals and whats questionable or down right bad goes into one of the two piles I have going.

So now I have a great supply of sawdust, produce and manure...I should have new soil yet!

But, I am starting think I need a large trailer/wagon and a small compact tractor. THere are lots of things I cant get because I dont have access to the larger means of transport...

That looks big enough to throw a couple of cows in!

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You are confined only by the walls you build yourself.

So THAT'S what happened to Ernest T!!

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Thanks man.

I just picked up the Rodale book.

A much easier place to find this than a random bandsaw is any local auto shop. Thier brake lathe makes perfect metal shavings, and they will HAPPILY let YOU dump them out, cleanly, and take them away!

Couldnt there be a danger of asbestos doing this?

I just read all 44 pages, and this is somewhat inspring. I'm going to college in a couple years, so no major soil fertility building, but I did add 6 inches of horse poo to the back garden a few years back, and the soil is the nicest my mom has know it in the 20 some years she has lived here.

They dont use Asbestos in brakes really anymore. THey are all Semi-Metallic and the better ones are Ceramic, so no.

Read through this entire thread, and it was enough to get me to register just to say thank you.

Now, Forerunner, I gotta tell you that you're a serious jerk. I went to bed last night thinking about spreading HUGE piles around, growing massive amounts of corn followed by massive amounts of leafy greens, followed by huge maters, taters, and every other kind of garden goodness. My mouth was literally watering thinking about chowing down on fresh picked fruits and veggies.

Nope, I don't like you at all. Go p*ss on a pile or something!

Seriously though, this has been a very inspirational thread. Now I just gotta go find me some land where I can start building some soil.

Thank you so much for sharing, you're a real treasure.