Extreme Composting

I_don't_know · #**1741** 10/10/12, 01:51 PM

[QUOTE=Forerunner;5857784]I dare say that a "commercial" use of compost in place of "commercial" fertilizer would be exactly what I like to see as a result of this thread.

It seems there are enough big time composers on this line to form a coop. Organic Compost would probably sell well in the cites.

Thanks for a great sit.

http://www.govdeals.com has a lot of equipment up for auction for those who want to go big time like you.

I_don't_know · #**1742** 10/10/12, 02:42 PM

I have a couple of questions. I have about 15 acres of clay some of it is the regular red stuff but some of it is white, and very hard, the trees and bushes are small and space How do I get the compost deep enough in to the clay to plant fruit trees?
Second question. There is a 600’ long hollow running through the property that is drainage for 300+ acres. If I dam the hollow and lay in a number of drain lines through the dam to a pond on the lower side, how big a pump would it take to pump the run off “tea” up the 100’ to the top of the hill to water the garden and trees on the slope?
Any input will be appreciated.

Forerunner · #**1743** 10/10/12, 02:51 PM

The question of getting the compost to the roots is reasonable enough.....just dig a hole as big as you can stand to dig and lay in your special blend.

As for the compost tea reservoir..... that could go in any number of directions.
Pump size would depend more on how many gallons per minute you'd like to transfer, rather than how high up the hill you need to go.
I've always been a monumental fan of gravity, and my experience with pumps is rather limited. I'd get with an irrigation company and see what they say about size requirements and what might be available to handle compost tea that might have an occasional twig or dead frog coming through.

CesumPec · #**1744** 10/10/12, 03:37 PM

exclude the dead frogs and what not with a a double or triple layer basket over the intake. For our irrigation from the pond, we use an old milk crate which is weighted to float about 2 feet under the surface, inside that a layer of 1/2" hardware cloth, and inside that a layer of fine mesh screen. We shoot the water through typical yard type pop up sprinklers and it is rare that they get clogged.

As far as pump size, you know you need to pump to handle a 100 ft "head" (the vertical distance) and now you need to know how many gallons you want to pump. How big is the garden and how many gallons/minute to irrigate? Here's a link to calculate for you

Pump Power Calculator

scroll down to the Imperial Units portion and enter the GPM and the 100 foot head, leave all other inputs as they are and then hit calculate. You'll probably find that a 1/4 to 2 horse pump will do the trick depending on how fast you want to irrigate. Go with the lower horse model and you can power it with solar and just let it run for hours. Or let it run when ever the sun powers and fill a tank at the top of the hill.

But a word of caution, there is compost tea which can mean lots of things such as what you describe, simply the leachate/run off from a compost pile but it is not the same as actively aerated compost tea which uses sugars and compost and air to create a highly aerobic microbial stew used to fertilize and act as a mild organic pesticide.

Another way to get the compost tea you describe is simply pile the compost at the top of the hill and let nature / rain / gravity take its course.

I_don't_know · #**1745** 10/11/12, 04:59 AM

The "compost" is the top soil run off from the 300 acres out behind me, it gets a bit mushy, we try and make sure the smaller kids get puled out before they go under, also it floods out the folks across the street in a heavy rain. I have a very strong allergy waist and the neighbors are not particularly fond of having to swim out to their living room.
The more I think about it, man what a headache, the better I like the idea of just moving the dirt up the hill and let nature do the job. I could wear a safety harness and it the tractor starts to go under I can pull myself out, unless they make a tractor that floats. LOL
Back to business. How much fruit would I need in the pond side to make a good tea?

Forerunner · #**1746** 10/11/12, 05:14 AM

Know, umm...... bear with me, here, but I just gotta ask.....

Have you been puffin' da cheeba ?

I_don't_know · #**1747** 10/12/12, 08:07 AM

from forerunner "Know, umm...... bear with me, here, but I just gotta ask.....

Have you been puffin' da cheeba ?"
I don't smoke unless I get really mad! If the question sounds silly keep in mind my name is "I_don't_know" because I don't. The closet I ever came to a farm was watching my dad punch out a horse when he bit him on the hand, then he grabbed the horse by the ear and explained that was not nice. He then went back to feeding the horse grass. I guess the horse understood. He stood there and ate the grass real nice. He also kept a close eye on my dad.

Forerunner · #**1748** 10/12/12, 09:45 AM

HA!!

The only broken bone I've ever had still sticks out of the back of my hand kinda funny.

I was 19, in the process of shoeing an extremely unruly horse who finally pushed my patience over the edge. I punched him in the most immediately available portion of his body, which happened to be his hip bone.

Nice.

Well, if it a relatively complete lack of experience that plagues you, in re agricultural pursuits, then my recommendation would be to skip messing with that large draw going through your property, for now, and just build and use some reasonable sized compost piles up on the flat, and go from there.

I don't know that it is your responsibility to assure your neighbors a swim-free living room experience, regardless of the weather, anyhow.

CesumPec · #**1749** 10/12/12, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I_don't_know

The "compost" is the top soil run off from the 300 acres out behind me, it gets a bit mushy, we try and make sure the smaller kids get puled out before they go under, also it floods out the folks across the street in a heavy rain. I have a very strong allergy waist and the neighbors are not particularly fond of having to swim out to their living room.
The more I think about it, man what a headache, the better I like the idea of just moving the dirt up the hill and let nature do the job. I could wear a safety harness and it the tractor starts to go under I can pull myself out, unless they make a tractor that floats. LOL
Back to business. How much fruit would I need in the pond side to make a good tea?

OK, I like the idea of trying to dam the top soil laden run off, but unless you've got a tractor, I'm not sure how to get the job done and no telling how long it will be before you've got useable land.

As far as using fruit to make actively aerated compost tea (AACT), use good idea. but you need an air bubbler and several pieces of rotten fruit in a 5 gallon bucket to get good AACT. 5 gallons of AACT will cover probably a couple of hundred sq ft when misted on the plants, but much less when used to irrigate a dipper full on each plant. If I understand you correctly you are generating literally tons of water so your recipe would have to be doubled a thousand times over but you don't need that much AACT.

I have a backhoe and if i had the set up you describe, I would dam the hollow and then scoop the accumulated silt when it is relatively dry. Put it in my dump trailer and spread it out anywhere I wanted more dirt.

Mickey · #**1750** 10/12/12, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forerunner

Know, umm...... bear with me, here, but I just gotta ask.....

Have you been puffin' da cheeba ?

What is "cheeba?"

Forerunner · #**1751** 10/12/12, 08:06 PM

Oh, not to worry.....it has nothing (well, pretty much nothing) to do with communing with the pile.

It does so warm my heart, knowing that there is still some semblance of innocence in the world.

Mickey · #**1752** 10/13/12, 10:28 PM

Okay, I'm not sure what to make of your response, but again I ask, what is "cheeba?"

Forerunner · #**1753** 10/13/12, 10:31 PM

It be a euphemism for smokin' herbs.

CesumPec · #**1754** 10/14/12, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forerunner

It be a euphemism for smokin' herbs.

that doesn't make any sense. I've heard of drying herbs, but why would you want smoked thyme and parsley?

Forerunner · #**1755** 10/14/12, 09:33 AM

"Smokin'", in the above context, is more of an adjective than a verb.

Mickey · #**1756** 10/14/12, 12:31 PM

OK

I've never heard it called cheeba before

Forerunner · #**1757** 10/14/12, 12:46 PM

I'm down with the lingo, see.

*envision appropriate rap music in the background*

I_don't_know · #**1758** 10/15/12, 10:12 AM

I have heard it refereed to by a number of different names but in JH when they tried to talk me into smoking I was busy making loaded dies (made them for $0.27 each) I had no need to buy and burn up little sticks. I always have been on my own track.

Silvercreek Farmer · #**1759** 10/19/12, 12:46 PM

Just broke into a year old pile of wood chips this week. Pure black gold! I couldn't believe how well it had decomposed given that I didn't really add much nitrogen or turn it. I'm using it for a garden expansion and plotting on how I am going to get my next load of wood chips...

Forerunner · #**1760** 10/19/12, 05:41 PM

My experience is that a batch of chips with a lot of leaves mixed in will go ahead and break down fairly quickly. Clean chips will last for some time, especially if they come fairly dry.

You don't have access to any horse or other livestock manures out there in lovely NC ?