Extreme Composting

Gosh, NTY.....you made me blush.

Sweet dreams, now.

It's funny...... after I woke up and got moving on this endeavor, I couldn't stop wondering why I hadn't been moving in this direction with such intense focus, all along.
There really is not much else needs doin'.

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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

You just made his day.

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Well, I cleaned out the sawmill of their sawdust today!

I have been mixing my compost with a combination of dry leaves, green kitchen scraps, egg shells, and a little aged manure with shavings. I have been using a homemade barrel tumbler, but I cannot get it hot. Is it the tumbler? I know that Forerunner does not like them, what is the problem with them? Does their design not allow the heat to build up?
Just want to know before I get rid of it and put the compost in a pile.

JD........Why didn't you post that in the Holiday Drawings - FREE 1-year Subscriptions to Backwoods Home sticky like you did the bone grinder video ?
















Seriously though, I'm proud'uh'yuh.
I wish more armchair composters would take initiative like you did.
Give yourself a gold star.

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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

You need the mass of a larger pile to give the thermophilic bacteria their preferred environment. The tumbler will do a fantastic job mixing the material, but you'll need to build a bigger pile....seeing to adequate moisture content, then get back to us in a few days. You're blend sounds heavenly.

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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

Awe shucks and I even got to see FR himself, THERE , the compost KING, when I went to get their last load. WOW, what a day!

"Is it the tumbler? I know that Forerunner does not like them, what is the problem with them?"

SURE he likes them, he crawls inside mine all the time, and makes me crank the handle REALLY fast for REALLY long periods of time, ALL the time!

A month latter I am finally getting around to posting about building our compost pile. First we hand raked the leaves were they were the heaviest in our yard. We loaded them onto our old plow truck.





The next day I went over to the township "compost pile" (they burn it when it gets to big). I hauled home a trailer load of mostly grass. The deck on the trailer is 8 X 25'. It was hard to get to because most of the summer grass had been burnt, and the leaves were piled in-front of what grass there was. The leaves a re pile about bumper deep, but I have fun with the suburban getting to the grass. I use a pitch fork to load the trailer. I piled this grass on top of the leaves that we had raked the day before.



Next we rented a riding mower with a leaf vacuum. I spent one very full day mowing and dumping the leaves and grass from the 5 acres that the wife has us mowing. Dumping didn't work so well, I dug the leaves out of the trailer with a potato fork. This was a mix of leave and some green grass.



We ran the garden hose over it for about an hour to get it moist. I hoped that mother nature would provide more water, but she didn't. I pushed the pile together with the old plow truck.





We found on dead raccoon on the highway, so we haul it home. To amuse her 4 year old boy I name the coon Stinker, and we buried him in the pile. Every time we go out to the pile he sakes about Stinker. We tried to get a pick-up load of manure but the farmers near us had all cleaned up for the winter and spread their manure already.

I used the plow to stock pile some carbon that I liberated from the side of the road.





I leave for about a month for work, the wife tells me that the pile is steaming on some mornings, but I get home and the pile seams dead. It is very dry. No steam. It doesn't appear that anything has started to break down.

I run the garden hose for a couple of hours. I borrowed Dads compact tractor and turn the whole pile. I am surprised at how dry the pile is inside. A few days later I watered it for a couple of more hours again. Barrow the tractor again to turn the pile once more. I lift a bucket load up about half-way; then I get off the tractor and walk to the pile and feel it. IT IS HOT! YEAH!

It was probably hot the whole time I was home but didn't know it until I dug into the middle of the pile. The place were it was hot is were we buried Stinker. I can not find Stinker in the pile. Realizing the pile is low on nitrogen I put table scraps and dog poop into the pile. The neighbor will put their dog poop in the pile also. Living in the country, I would have never guessed that I would be shoveling dog poop, but the dog is old and don't want to walk out of the yard. I hope someone will clean up after me when I am old.

Yeah, the irony...... those logs I was delivering will be the sawdust you pick up next week.

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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

Sounds like a very politically incorrect and totally socially dysfunctional family, Studhauler. Yer gunna ruin that boy for the socialist welfare state, providing him with that hands-on proactive spirit.

Let that be a lesson to all of yuh....... moisture and nitrogen. Don't come home without 'em.

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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

*gestures discreetly toward JD and whispers*

She's really weird.

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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

And I'm sure you happily oblige him!!

Spinning around in a compost tumbler comes in 2nd only to running around in tight little circles shouting 'wooohooo!'

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http://homesteadingfamilies.proboards.com/

Even more than a good compost pile, thats my goal.

We may be related.

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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

How often should a pile be turned for best results in a short amount of time? How long does it take to make compost in a tumbler & and how often does it get tumbled?

Thanks

I find that my piles decompose quick just being built in good balance and moisture.
I don't turn them if they're working.
The only times my piles get turned is when I'm moving them elsewhere for some reason, or when I know I stockpiled a mass with a high N or a high C content, and time and material have finally allowed for building a more balanced pile.
From the materials you described collecting and using to build your piles, if they are heating well, I'd say leave 'em be.

As for a tumbler.....no one who is serious about compost should ever get within several yards of one. Some of us more experienced and confident types do joke around about them on occasion, poking the occasional fun at those wet behind the ears enough to actually have made such a purchase......

I think God intended compost to be piled.

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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

WOW this was amazing thank you forerunner. My hibby and I just started a compost pile. We have a small garden and we deal with sand and clay also. I am like a dog with a bone and i do things without letting up. I even have the neighbor saving her scraps for me. Now make no mistake my compost heap started a few days ago with a lil bit of horsey poop and some kitchenscraps mine is a mole hill NAH an ant hill compared to yours...I covet your dirt Forerunner....Thanx again for a great story I LOVED IT

The BEST part of being spun really fast is that the vomit will be compostable too.

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You are confined only by the walls you build yourself.

Its strange how a subject like this can be so captivating. I started reading this thread Saturday and it took until Sunday night but I read it all the way through as well as going off on some side links along the way.
Always talked about making compost but never got started, after seeing this thread I have to do something if for no other reason than to have an excuse to come back to this thread.






What is all the white stuff in the pictures? Have not seen anything like that here in SE Alabama(15 miles from Fl) other than cotton picking time.