Extreme Composting

Now just look what you've started?? tsk tsk tsk
bama!! Save yourself while there's still time!!

LOL!!!!! y'all are too funny!

but it has apparently cooled off again. just not enough mass. the ants are back. grrrrr!

I found a new source of pile chow yesterday. I went to the local high school FFA barn yesterday to buy some of the young chickens they are raising and while I was there they were showing me some of the steers the kids are raising.

One young lady was cleaning out all the shavings and manure from her steer's stall and I asked what they did with it. She showed me a pile out back where it was all deposited and said it was free for the taking.

Since I always carry a scoop shovel and a pitch fork in the truck just in case I stumble across an unexpected bounty, I loaded the truck and am going back for more this afternoon.

One thing I enjoyed seeing was the fact that even though school was out yesterday, There were several kids busily taking care of the cattle,cleaning the barn and caring for the chicks. No one was forcing them to be there, but they were doing it on their own instead of playing games or whatever else.

Pile chow....

Free for the taking.....

Always a scoop shovel and pitchfork in the truck....just in case....





We must be related !!


Ditto on the sentiment, seeing youth actively engaged in productive reality vs. the alternative.

__________________
“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

OK, having coveted Forerunner's piles I had to start my own. I'm clearing 2+ acres of Florida jungle to create room for fruit trees and a garden. In the adjacent woods, I'll eventually have pig and goat pens that will provide the next round of clearing and additional pile inputs. So far the piles are just chips except for Rocky Raccoon and Penelope Possum, critters which gave their all in the name of compost along the road near the farm. The piles also have had numerous additions of a nitrogen rich solution which my male helpers add with their wand applicators. Don't worry, no pictures of that.

What I started with, Florida Jungle:

A load donated by the neighbors:

Chipped brush and trees:

Stuff that won't fit through the chipper and will be used as ultra mulch or Huglekulture:

Nice! Looks like you are making good progress on that jungle.


... And I covet your wood chipper.

I found it on Craigslist. It is a late 70s Asplundh reject with an industrial version of a Ford straight 4, I think basically what was in Pintos and Bobcats. It took a bit of work to get it running well but it is doing fine now. The worst part is not knowing the chipper model number so it is difficult to find parts.

I'm hoping that after I get new knives that it will cut smaller chips for better bedding and composting.

Get a different screen.

Okay, I do not have a chipper shredder, even a small one to make carbon. Have lots of woods and potential wood chips. Is it even reasonable to think that you can use a home model chipper to make enough compost for a couple acre garden? If not, what size, model would you need and (I hate to ask) but, what would you spend on something large enough?

As another option: What industries around would have shredded material in bulk for sale or free?

I have even been thinking about no tilling the gardens as seen in that back to eden movie but, how to cover a couple acres several inches thick with wood chips? Sigh

What about mulch bales of hay that are several years old as carbon? I am talking 4'x4' round bales?

__________________
If it was easy, anyone could do it.

Always try to be the best but never think you are the best.

Old hay may be your best option. It's often cheap and plentiful.
They say there may be a weed seed issue in old hay.
But I figure, if I'm gardening/growing food....I'm pulling weeds.

That said, weeds are a great source of carbon/compost.

On the chippers, I found it to be not cost effective, but largely due to available carbon in the area from other sources.
A chipper is not a bad investment in my estimation.
I still have my Finnish made Valby..... takes an 11 inch log and can pull down a 165 horse tractor if I set the hydraulic feed too high.
Cost new, several years ago, was 11,500. Now I bet they're closer to 15,000.
A reasonable, self contained lighter industrial model can be had from 3-7,000.
Ebay ain't a bad place to educate yourself.

__________________
“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

It doesn't have a screen. I've found a friend of a friend who works on these things for landscaping companies. He's going to get me some new knives and I'll ask him to look to see if this had a screen long ago.

A small home sized chipped can be frequently found on CL for under $400. But at a sub-10 HP, I wonder if you would spend more time cutting stuff small enough to get it thru the chipper that it wouln'dt be worth it. I really don't know.

Your local town dump probably has free chips to haul away. Near my home in Virginia, the dump even has a hopper that you drive under, turn on a conveyor, and it loads your truck for you.

I took a class a couple years ago on large animal composting for a way of disposing of on farm animals that expire for what ever reason. We were told to use sawdust and make a 2 foot thick bed and then lay the animal in place and cover with at least 2 feet of saw dust all around the animal (top and all sides). This works well as I dispose of our chicken waste from processing meat chickens each year this way but, getting saw dust is getting tougher as the saw mills sell the saw dust anymore to the wood pellet manufacturers. The last I bought was $350 per tri-axle load.

Since reading through this thread, I was wondering if using mulch hay wouldn't give the same results. It would still be carbon and allow for the little bit of airflow required. I could build a pile out of one or two round bales and use the same covering rates. What do you guys think?

__________________
If it was easy, anyone could do it.

Always try to be the best but never think you are the best.

Definitely.

Dry hay, especially, works great to soak up dead critter juices and get the heat ball rolling. Moist hay will be fine, as well, but I'd open up any really wet or slimy stuff and let it air a bit so it doesn't ferment.

Due to the greater loftiness of hay compared to sawdust, you might use three feet all around rather than two.

__________________
“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

Well, what I found out from a composting facility from the next county was they charge $10 for one cubic yard of un-screened mulch, $15 for one cubic yard of screened mulch and $20 for one cubic yard of screened compost. I could haul about 2 cubic yards in my trailer and maybe another one in the truck bed (Nissan Frontier). I may check into the cost of hiring a tri-axle and finding out how many yards they could haul in one trip. That may be cheaper over the long haul considering what fuel costs are now. I have not been to their facility but, would estimate it to be around 20 miles one way. What do you think?

__________________
If it was easy, anyone could do it.

Always try to be the best but never think you are the best.

Will they let you load it for free? My local compost yard does.

Forerunner, based on your advice I have increased my compost pile size. It is now about 5x5 thanks to all the free manure/hay I want from a local farmer. The manure is a mixture of goat and horse with shavings and hay mixed in. Now I am back to a hot pile!

I have no idea as yet, but I can ask.

__________________
If it was easy, anyone could do it.

Always try to be the best but never think you are the best.

I would think that there are free sources of compost materials nearby. A few yards of bought mulch are prob just fine for your average suburban home trying to dress the flower beds. But to get a significant volume of compost ingredients for a big garden or acreage would not be financially justifiable IMO.

You can check with local restaurants, grocers, mills, food processors, horse farms, breweries, distrillers, all have good stuff they need to get rid of. I know the problem with restaurants and grocers, they will often agree to seperate out food wastes but they need to know they will have a reliable hauler that picks up on scedule every few days.

Forerunner - this is your thread. What do you think of starting either a new thread or adding to this one with everyone replying with an original source of compost materials? The goal being to help people expand their vision of what and where they can find for free or near free composting inputs.

Rules, copy the list and add to the bottom and it has to list both the type of supplier and material the poster has actually used. For instance, from my own history:

Numerous horse farms - manure and bedding
Town dump - free mulch
My farm - wood chips from clearing trees
Florida SR 40 near Ocala - road kills
Suburban homes - bagged grass clippings and leaves set out for garbage pick up