Extreme Composting

bama · #**1421** 02/12/12, 06:11 PM

I am proud to report that i broke into the pile this morning and there is steam! Lots of ants in the top layer, but there is progress!

Bluegrass2001 · #**1422** 02/27/12, 12:32 AM

Total greenhorn question. BTW Forerunner I read Lori's blog for years until she stopped *sad face* so big fan here. Also Mudburn I would LOVE to visit your homestead. We are up in the Louisville area but moving one county over.

Now for my greenie question: Has anyone here ever encountered "killer compost"? The horse poop that has the killer chemicals? The land we are buying has barn full of older (3+ years), spongy horse poop. We were really excited by this but want to make sure that it is ok to use in our first pile.

Thank you for any help! I will be bugging you again soon!

Kat

Forerunner · #**1423** 02/27/12, 04:51 AM

I never met a horse turd I didn't like.

Unless the manure you've stumbled onto was from some super-charged batch of race or show horses, I doubt there'd be ANY problem. If I were in your position, and knew that the manure was tainted, I'd compost it separately, in such manner that I was assured of a long heat, and leave it sit an extra year. Then from what I understand, it would be good to go just about anywhere. Hot compost neutralizes just about everything, to some large degree or another.

I envy you your proximity to Mudburn. He has a building project I'd not mind touring, let alone the horticultural endeavors.......

Forerunner · #**1424** 02/27/12, 05:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bama

I am proud to report that i broke into the pile this morning and there is steam! Lots of ants in the top layer, but there is progress!

How is that pile doing now, Bama ?
Did those ants ever get cooked out?

I'm in the midst of the annual winter sale barn manure glut, but, it's been mild enough, and even dry enough, a lot of the stuff is coming home already steaming from being piled in their concrete bin.
I'll still need to add carbon to much of it, come spring, and then have some remixing to do. Thank God for whoever threw together the front end loader.

NorthTexasGuy · #**1425** 03/01/12, 07:48 PM

I have opportunity to get somewhat large quantities of tree service woodchips and feedlot manure. I know the woodchips make a somewhat harsh carbon source, but my supply of old hay is depleting. About how long could I expect a compost pile of only woodchips and manure to break down and become compost?

BTW - I put together a pile three days ago ~ 8ftx12ftx4ft of old hay and manure and it starting steaming yesterday. On the advice from Rodale's old book I put down a backbone of cardboard and old weeds ~ 1ft tall to start the pile and stacked old hay on either side of it to let the bottom breath. This is my first real compost pile and to have it steaming after two days sure felt good.

Kyle

Forerunner · #**1426** 03/02/12, 01:52 AM

I'd be honored to have massive quantities of wood chips for the carbon base.......

Figure a year if you get good heat. There will be a few chunks left after that, but they'll be pretty benign in the soil.
Sounds like you built your pile right.
Burying a mess of weeds and cardboard is gratifying twice..... makes a great bed and eliminates a mess, otherwise.

A foot thick base of wood chips will do exactly the same things.....absorb nitrogen, facilitate drainage and let the pile breathe....

Now you just need to go bigger.

NorthTexasGuy · #**1427** 03/02/12, 04:35 PM

Forerunner,

Thanks for the input on woodchips. I would prefer to use something that would breakdown in six months, but that's what's available currently.

Bigger is definitely on the mind. I can tell that once this pile is finished it won't go very far between the garden and all the fruit trees. I'm blessed with good soil currently with a fair population of earthworms. Because of that I don't add any commercial fertilizer or pesticides, so compost it is.

From what I have read healthy vigorous plants are the key to reducing pest infestation, so the compost will help in that regard as well. I'm expanding the garden to include about 3/4 ac total. I built that pile with a pitchfork in an afternoon after gathering material that morning. The feedlot loaded me up with their skidsteer and I pushed the hay to the pile with a tractor/boxblade then assembled the pile with the pitchfork. Surprisingly the pitchfork wasn't the bad part - It took way too long to get enough hay with the boxblade.

I'm about to go crazy for the lack of a loader tractor.

Between my grandpa, dad, and myself we have 5 tractors. Only one is mine and it's an old 24 hp kubota. I'm only half owner, so I can't sell it. The two big Fords have loaders, but they have hay spears. I think I could put an old skidsteer or backhoe to good use if I could find one priced right. I also have to convince my wife that that I need to use funds to buy yet another tractor. I'm not sure she appreciates the amount of compost needed and the effort of putting a large pile together with a pitchfork.

Kyle

bama · #**1428** 03/02/12, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forerunner

How is that pile doing now, Bama ?
Did those ants ever get cooked out?

I'm in the midst of the annual winter sale barn manure glut, but, it's been mild enough, and even dry enough, a lot of the stuff is coming home already steaming from being piled in their concrete bin.
I'll still need to add carbon to much of it, come spring, and then have some remixing to do. Thank God for whoever threw together the front end loader.

not so good. still smells nice and earthy, but it cooled and they moved in deeper. impatiently waiting for some green stuff to grow enough to throw in there.

Forerunner · #**1429** 03/02/12, 08:45 PM

Hmmm.

I'm thinking that a five gallon bucket of cow pee would just do the trick......

Forerunner · #**1430** 03/03/12, 07:52 AM

I feel your pain, Kyle.......
I have two thoughts in re your dilemma....no, make that three.

1. A loader with a bale spear can be readily converted to a loader with a bucket, IME.
2. There is a certain romance to be experienced, building a compost pile on a peaceful afternoon/evening....with nothing but a pitchfork in your hands and your bare upper torso glistening with the sweat of honest labor....
3. Your wife just needs to witness you in the act of #2.....
That alone may bring her around to;
A. Appreciate the value of compost (among other things), and;
B. Understand the necessity of a loader tractor.

You see, as men, it is our responsibility to bring all aspects and details to work together, not at all unlike the conductor of a world class concert performance.
During the first rounds of practice, the awful screeching, whining, banging around and carrying on can be unsettling to the uninitiated.
But, with diligence and patience, the music begins to surface from within the maelstrom.

There is no worthy endeavor that can long withstand the vigorous onslaught of a determined man.

Mickey · #**1431** 03/03/12, 09:53 AM

Hmmm, now I'm wondering just how that 5 gallon bucket of cow pee figures into this beautiful romantic interlude.........................

Forerunner · #**1432** 03/03/12, 10:30 AM

Oh...... that was for Bama...... merely a suggestion for boosting nitrogen, moisture (and, if used fresh, temperature

) in the pile.

I can see a young couple holding hands....making their way from the milking barn, fresh bucket of pee in the man's other hand, then pausing for a long, romantic kiss just before he pours the pee lovingly over the pile.

Honest.

Just so long as they don't drink raw milk, of course!!

Mickey · #**1433** 03/03/12, 11:32 AM

EEEWWWWWW

Poor Lori

Coloneldad5 · #**1434** 03/03/12, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forerunner

2. There is a certain romance to be experienced, building a compost pile on a peaceful afternoon/evening....with nothing but a pitchfork in your hands and your bare upper torso glistening with the sweat of honest labor....
3. Your wife just needs to witness you in the act of #2.....
That alone may bring her around to;
A. Appreciate the value of compost (among other things), and;
B. Understand the necessity of a loader tractor.

I think just the smell of the manure pile lingering about you as you go to give you wife that romantic kiss along with a nice explanation as to how she'd be missing out on this romantic aroma if you had a tractor with a front loader to do the work.

bama · #**1435** 03/03/12, 12:59 PM

I think foreru nner just wants me to video myself, a city girl, trying to catch said cow pee in a bucket. Lol i can see it now, and it would definitely not be a pretty sight, but worth tons of chuckles!

Forerunner · #**1436** 03/03/12, 02:42 PM

Oh, fiddlesticks.

A cow has better aim than you might think.
That, and, a five gallon bucket makes for a big enough target.

But such video would be a nice addition to the thread.

Mickey · #**1437** 03/03/12, 04:37 PM

Ummm, apparently bama such a video would be like "porn" to Forerunner

Forerunner · #**1438** 03/03/12, 07:39 PM

Alright.

That does it.

Coloneldad5 · #**1439** 03/05/12, 10:42 AM

Now here is something to get your composting dreams going.

"Fishermen to remove 40 million pounds of carp from Utah Lake"

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148...cid=featured-4

mudburn · #**1440** 03/05/12, 11:30 AM

I am in complete sympathy with Forerunner -- he is such a romantic sap.

Cow pee in a 5-gallon bucket is a beautiful and romantic thing, evoking images and feelings of contentment and aesthetic well-being as two lovers stroll hand-in-hand to the compost pile, leading up to true communion, the climax of the moment, when the bovine urine rushes forth to saturate the pile, leaving a sense of satisfaction and that all is well in the world.

Who can't see the beauty in that, the primal perfection of the moment?

I'm convinced that cows are romantic creatures. They are so generous with basic fertility resources, gladly sharing them with those they love. The sheer magnitude of the amount is evidence of their sympathy for composting and their devotion to those who have truly caught the vision Forerunner has endeavored to share with us.

I need some quiet time to let the beauty of all of this sink in. I can feel the love.

mudburn