Extreme Composting

Forerunner · #**1661** 06/27/12, 03:50 PM

You might use the loader to get the bulk of the material out onto firm ground, and the box blade to spread from there. Keep the tractor weight off the bed where that material has been piled, as best you can, cuz it's gunna be wet and begging for compaction under there. Let that area dry out some before tilling. You could even leave it a little rough....the weeds will still come if they are there, and then till and level it all at the same time, when dried out.

Compaction (not to mention ease of leveling, even in soggy conditions) is why I am particularly fond of a bulldozer to spread the material.
Incidentally, I finally was afforded the opportunity to upgrade from my Case 550G to a much horse-y-er 850G.

ca2devri · #**1662** 06/28/12, 07:32 AM

Thanks forerunner... that's good advice. Maybe spreading now when things are very dry would be a good idea. In fact, the pile itself seems quite dry even. Ok, maybe I deserve a couple days off work to get this done?

I can just see my wife's expression when I tell her I need to buy a bulldozer!!

Chris

Forerunner · #**1663** 06/28/12, 07:35 AM

*whispers*

Just tell her you want a little one.....for now.

Silvercreek Farmer · #**1664** 07/10/12, 08:06 PM

My wife had a watercolor commissioned for our 8th anniversary. It turned out great! Best of all, it has me forking compost!

Extreme Composting - Homesteading Questions

Extreme Composting - Homesteading Questions

Forerunner · #**1665** 07/10/12, 10:42 PM

Ya'll look like Bruce Holman's "Down on the Farm" cartoon from the Mother Earth News early days.

Coloneldad5 · #**1666** 07/21/12, 03:08 PM

I'm bummed. I have finally finished with the military adventures and made it back home but my expectations are being shot down.

I'm finding harder than initially anticipated to find material. While there are several dairy farms in the very close vicinity pretty much all make use of their "by-products" themselves and I am unable to really get much of anything other than an occasional small pick up load. Not anything like the large scale composting potential I had hoped for and somewhat need for my new spread.

I am contenting to look into other possibilities. Unfortunately too many around me already fully appreciate the potential of compostable organic material. I might have to range a bit farther out but as I am limited in my hauling ability this also limits my ability to get decent quantities of material.

I am a bit anxious as I am planning on putting in some grape plants next spring (after killing off 10 plants from my attempt this year) and I want to do as forerunner did and just dig a 2 foot wide trench to put composted material in as the grape bed. i don't plan on going as deep as he did, but only about 2-3 feet deep.

While I do have decent soil where I'm at I do have problem of the soil being a bit more towards the alkaline side which can be hard on some plants. Thus doing some serious composting will only help it in my estimation.

Forerunner · #**1667** 07/21/12, 04:55 PM

Don't give up.

I can't imagine that the fever has caught on to the extent that you can't find adequate material somewhere close. There's always the option of taking on a little livestock and double benefitting from that venture.

I do suppose the drought has added some interesting challenges of its own....

MOgal · #**1668** 07/21/12, 06:25 PM

Colonel, it's fair season here in Missouri with all the livestock shows. If that's the case in your area, check with the fair manager before the event about when they do clean-out of the barns. The exhibitors are required to keep their pens/stalls free of soiled bedding so it could be a real bonanza for you. I don't know if it's still the case but there was someone with a loader to fill trucks and trailers for folks at some fairs I attended. You might even be allowed to get materials during the fair if you are willing to load yourself and be neat about it.

Good luck and welcome home.

Silvercreek Farmer · #**1669** 07/21/12, 08:25 PM

A little load of carbon...
Extreme Composting - Homesteading Questions

Doesn't look like much but probably clocked in at over a ton.

CesumPec · #**1670** 07/21/12, 08:34 PM

And Silvercreek even recycles pallets in the process

Silvercreek Farmer · #**1671** 07/21/12, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CesumPec

And Silvercreek even recycles pallets in the process

Funny you say that! I actually started out trying to get rid of around 25 pallets that were past their prime ( previously used for a pig pen which turned into the garden in the background). We went to one of the county dump stations they told us they could not take pallets there and we would have to go to the landfill halfway across the county. Well, as long as I was there, I wasn't leaving empty handed! Ended up having to bring 5 of them back home to hold the mulch in place, but was worth it! Actually got the tarp to line the pallets and cover the mulch off of the guy in front of me at the scales!

MOgal · #**1672** 07/22/12, 02:20 PM

I didn't know there was such a thing as "past their prime" pallets. Once they have adequately fallen apart, the nails/staples are easier to find they become stove wood at our house. Or I put them at the bottom of new raised beds to trap moisture. Not sure of the spelling--hugelkultur?

We lucked out on 30+ not long ago through Freecycle. Had to make two trips to get them all and, bless DH's heart, he gave up sleeping in that Saturday morning to go get them. A bunch went under this year's hay, some we'll cut up for mini-pallets in the house over concrete floors and, yes, a few will see the wood pile.

Good load of stuff, SCF!

Copperhead · #**1673** 07/22/12, 02:45 PM

Now ya know, MOgal, if you sift a large magnet through your ashes, you don't have to pull all those nails and staples

Just Teasin'

MOgal · #**1674** 07/22/12, 04:18 PM

I tried that with both an old compost sieve and with the magnet. It only took one nail to get my mower tire. Won't guarantee that was the source but a flat's a flat and it happened right after I'd spread ashes on the yard.

Good tip though, thanks.

Silvercreek Farmer · #**1675** 07/24/12, 10:06 PM

I have patched/plugged so many tires due to nails/screws in my relatively short driving career, that I am not taking any chances on my ability to collect all the nails from burnt pallets.

Forerunner · #**1676** 07/25/12, 08:35 AM

I wasn't gunna say anything further on this, but after letting it stew overnight, I felt compelled....
Burnt nails rust to powder fairly quickly, but not quickly enough to avoid being a problem for a year or two. If I know I have a few nails in my ashes, those ashes go around fruit trees, under grape arbors, or in the woods, close to and just uphill from my main garden, where rain gradually brings the potash (and iron) down where it's needed, without the nails.

I just hate wasting a resource.

Another option, if you have bigger, hot compost, is to bury those ashes deep in the pile, where they can't dissipate the surrounding nitrogen, and let the moisture and acids in the pile work on those nails a little more.

Nothing is easy, it seems, and folks will just have to determine for themselves if the effort is worth the nutrient value.

Copperhead · #**1677** 07/25/12, 08:04 PM

Thanks for chiming in, Forerunner. I'm turning forest into pasture. I just toss my ashes across the fence into the paddock where the cows, goats, pigs, horse, chickens and turkey kindly incorporate them into the soil. Right now, the grass is coming in nicely in the top half of the paddock, but the bottom half needs help.

Yeah, with all these helpers, I don't drive over the area. Shoot, I don't even till my garden anymore: That's Pig Work! However, my wife is kinda mad at me. Seems that with the horse and cows grazing the yard, the grass doesn't get high enough to mow anymore. Shame about that!

Forerunner · #**1678** 07/25/12, 09:09 PM

Dude......

Bummer.

KaiserW · #**1679** 07/26/12, 12:19 PM

forerunner this thread is fantastic, infact this thread is what inspired me to sign up for HT.

as soon as we sell our current home we'll be composting on a larger scale.
right now we live in a tight neighborhood and use a small composter and a small bin.

keep up the good work!

am1too · #**1680** 07/27/12, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MOgal

I tried that with both an old compost sieve and with the magnet. It only took one nail to get my mower tire. Won't guarantee that was the source but a flat's a flat and it happened right after I'd spread ashes on the yard.

Good tip though, thanks.

Get one of those magnet sweepers and mount it to the mower.