Composting Questions

[tortoise]

We have two composts. A kitchen compost in a black plastic bin, and a "poop pile" where I dump rabbit urine, poop, hay, as well as leaves, occassional yard clippings, etc. I have about 15 rabbits, so it is a lot of rabbit poop and hay!

My parents always had a compost pile that never did anything. In a decade, there was never usable compost.

So I went out to turn the compost pile because there was some smelly wet stuff on top.

Holy balls! That pile was black and STEAMING in the inside! I've never seen anything like it! (I guess that is what is called hot composting?)

What do I do to maintain it? Can I turn it too often? If I dump fresh pop hay on top, and then pile the stuff from the edges on that every day. Then spread apart the pile to it has a flat top, aerate the middle and cover the middle part from the sides again once a week?

Is that too much messing with it? I'm just so to see compost working. I've ALWAYS had a compost pile, and I've never seen it work before!

One more question - if I change from hay to wood chips this winter (for litterboxes), am I going to screw up the pile? If I use hay AND a little wood chips, would that mess it up?

 

[big brown horse]

"Holy balls" lol, I'm soo stealing that one!

Ummm, I do compost everything around here even old hay and wood chips mixed together with horse/chicken and sheep poop, plus all of my kitchen scraps. I do it in one big compost pile. I let the chickens do most of the (daily) mixing and churning and I still get nice, rich dark compost underneath.


Disclaimer:
I'm not a compost expert though. Although, mine seems just fine with my lazzie faire approach.

 

[SKR8PN]

My compost pile starts every fall with a HUGE pile of finely ground up leaves and some grass clippings mixed in. I let that set all winter, and start adding grass clippings, garden and weed stuff, kitchen waste(no meat) and anything else green. Once during the summer I will turn it with the front end loader. Every fall, I drag the contents out and spread it on the raised beds and the garden, and begin with a fresh batch of leaves and grass clippings. The stuff on the bottom of the pile is BLACK and smells wonderful!
That is ALL I do for my compost pile!

 

[lorihadams]

I use wood shavings for the ducks and chickens and I piled everything in the pile with the kitchen scraps and the chickens and ducks stayed in it. I never really got "compost" either but when I go to turn it I had worms for days! Big Fat Juicy night crawlers. My kids went nuts. I want to have a nice big compost pile too but do I need to mix in some hay, grass, and leaves with the wood shavings?

 

[pioneergirl]

I dump everything (non cooked/greasy) in my pile. Straw with horse manure, buckets of rabbit manure (this has a little water added), chicken manure, kitchen scraps, egg shells, coffee grounds, and even when I had some kits die at birth, they went in, too. I turn it about every couple weeks, sometimes longer because I forget to add that to my list

The plan is to use it once I till under the garden. I'll till it under, add the compost, then turn it again. I'll then let it sit for the winter.

P.S......I'm hoping my little potbelly pigs will help with the tilling!!

 

[valmom]

I have a horse poop pile, and with that (or any compostable material, I would think) the key to getting compost as opposed to black rotted things is aerobic action. When it goes anaerobic it rots. So, turn it as often as you want. Apparently in a small pile it stays aerobic better because the oxygen can penetrate the pile to a certain depth ( a foot or two?). In a big pile you have to turn it to get oxygen in.

Aeration is the key! They even sell a pricey system to run pipes under and through a pile with fans to keep air in it. Makes compost faster, apparently.

http://www.o2compost.com/

 

[lorihadams]

Anybody use barrels?

 

[BriteChicken]

I really want to try that idea! and flip it to help compost it...

 

[ducks4you]

My parents always had a compost pile that never did anything. In a decade, there was never usable compost.

After one decade it should be dirt.

Is that too much messing with it? I'm just so to see compost working. I've ALWAYS had a compost pile, and I've never seen it work before!

If you really have the time to turn it, do so. I never have enough time for anything like that, and all I did with my 2 1/2 foot high, put on the garden last winter compost, was to till it in the garden some before I put in the raised beds. I haven't had to fertilize my garden at all, and I haven't had to water very much, at all this year.

One more question - if I change from hay to wood chips this winter (for litterboxes), am I going to screw up the pile? If I use hay AND a little wood chips, would that mess it up

You won't screw up the pile. Pine shavings in my horse's cleanup from the stalls piles took about 5 years to decompose. It won't hurt anything you grow if you use it in your compost.

 

[Lady Henevere]

What do I do to maintain it? Can I turn it too often? If I dump fresh pop hay on top, and then pile the stuff from the edges on that every day. Then spread apart the pile to it has a flat top, aerate the middle and cover the middle part from the sides again once a week?

One more question - if I change from hay to wood chips this winter (for litterboxes), am I going to screw up the pile? If I use hay AND a little wood chips, would that mess it up?

You could turn it as you said, or you could just leave it. Sounds like it's doing great without any help, and as others have mentioned, things will compost on their own without too much work. When you need some compost, dig around and find what's done, take it, and pile the rest back up. Wood chips won't mess it up, but depending on the size of the chips, it may take longer to compost down to crumbles.

Anybody use barrels?

I do. They are definitely easier in terms of turning and getting the finished stuff out, and DH prefers them because they look neater than a pile. They can get heavy and hard to turn, but overall they are pretty easy to use. I have two barrels so one can be "cooking" while the other one gets filled.