any "expert composters" out there?

[pinkfox]

we practice deep litter for the hens, gets cleaned out fully twice a year, late fall clean out goes directly into the raised beds and left, we also add any fall leaves weve collected at that point and our last mow of the season goes right in...it all gets left and tilled under in the spring.

throughout the year all small branches, grass clippings none meat kitchen scraps, none seeding weeds and our spring coop clean out, that sits all season wiht the occasional turn and then gets dumped into the beds in the early spring about a week before planting.

i tried to go the 'managed' compost route, following all the rules, getting my ratios right ect...and just confused myself more, so now i do the dump everything direct on the dirt in fall and till well or dump everything into a big bin and turn it once ina while lazy girls method lol

if your going the grass route mabe try mowing with a bagger and then dumping it in a smaller space to dry then on the next mow put all of it in the compost bin...

but the dump everything in and cover in dirt/till well method seems to work well for me lol

 

[sunsaver]

patandchickens, if i didn't live so far away, i'd be more than happy to come clean out your paddock for you!

 

[sunsaver]

patandchickens, if i didn't live so far away, i'd be more than happy to come clean out your paddock for you!

 

[sunsaver]

Sorry, bad connection again.

 

[patandchickens]

And here I thought you were offering to do it for me *twice* LOL

I'd be more enthusiastic about it myself if I didn't have ample horse and chicken compost already, and if it didn't have so much straw in it as to be a matted-together semi-structural mess that's awful hard to disassemble with a mere fork. I suppose if I ignore it long enough it will mostly disappear but that seems like such a waste

Pat

 

[Gardentree]

Wow! It's been awhile since I checked up on this post and I can't believe all the responses I got! You guys all rock!

I like the lazy route, and i'm sure i'll have a couple going that way, but as this is still new for us, my OCDness is coming out in my desire to master the art of composting. I'm sure at that point the excitement will wear, as i'm already turning my compost pile by hand almost twice a week. I claim it to be good exercise, but secretly I realize i'm crazy for expending that much work...

~gd (i'm curious what that stands for, by the way): good call on the mowing in strips! what a novel idea! That way, at least some of the nutrients i'm pulling out of the fields gets put back in. I felt it wasn't a very sustainable solution to continually bag and remove the clippings without any nutrient replenishment whatsoever.

and thanks to everyone else! I've pretty much gone on snoop patrol driving around the area stopping and introducing myself to everyone with a horse, to see if they needed to dispose of their manure, plus scouring CraigsList for folks needing it disposed of. We just got chickens (going the tractor route), so that may help a little -- not to mention helping to get rid of an apparent cornucopia of slugs... little buggers... so score twice! ]

keep on keepin' on! time to go seed our third round of carrots!

 

[~gd]

Wow! It's been awhile since I checked up on this post and I can't believe all the responses I got! You guys all rock!

I like the lazy route, and i'm sure i'll have a couple going that way, but as this is still new for us, my OCDness is coming out in my desire to master the art of composting. I'm sure at that point the excitement will wear, as i'm already turning my compost pile by hand almost twice a week. I claim it to be good exercise, but secretly I realize i'm crazy for expending that much work...

~gd (i'm curious what that stands for, by the way): goosedragon, When I worked I was a boss and some what of a
SOB according to those that worked for me, they nicknamed me the Dragon but when I tried to use it for posting on the Internet the name was always already taken so I added goose because geese were my current interest (it should have been gander to reflect my gender) by the time I found this board it was geting long to type so it became ~gd good call on the mowing in strips! what a novel idea!That was started so my geese could select the age of grass to eat, 3days after mow was their fav. That way, at least some of the nutrients i'm pulling out of the fields gets put back in. I felt it wasn't a very sustainable solution to continually bag and remove the clippings without any nutrient replenishment whatsoever.

and thanks to everyone else! I've pretty much gone on snoop patrol driving around the area stopping and introducing myself to everyone with a horse, to see if they needed to dispose of their manure, plus scouring CraigsList for folks needing it disposed of. We just got chickens (going the tractor route), so that may help a little -- not to mention helping to get rid of an apparent cornucopia of slugs... little buggers... so score twice! ]

keep on keepin' on! time to go seed our third round of carrots!

 

[Veggie PAK]

I have a one-year-old blog about in-city back yard organic gardening in which one post is dedicated entirely to my composting area. You might find it very interesting. The address is: http://backyardorganicvegetables.blogspot.com/2011/02/evolution-of-my-composting-area.html

I am a committed composter as the materials are all around my neighborhood and others. In a four month period, I composted 2,047 pounds of coffee grounds from Starbucks. Yes, during the first year I weighed the materials that I put in my compost from outside sources. I didn't count my own grass clippings, and I try to turn my compost every three days. That way I can get several cured batches in a year. My composting area is NOT the typical one. I view compost as the lifeblood of my organic garden.

The day before every trash day as I go about my business, I pick up fresh bags of grass clippings for the nitrogen and mix them with my leaves as the carbon. I have collected over one hundred bags of leaves from curbside pickup and have them stored in an enclosure. The only leaves I don't take are elm and walnut as they are reputed to inhibit plant growth. I just look at the leaves through the bags before I take them to make sure they're not either one of those. I suspect that given enough time, even those might be okay to use.

Good luck with your composting!