composting

[Trying2keepitReal]

One goal this year at our homestead is setting up a functioning compost area. I have been looking at plans for squares and round/cylinder types. I like the "looks" of the cylinder but how do you turn the mixture? I also saw and liked a strawbale structured one, but wondering if it will invite more mice/rats/etc? Any helpful tips, wish you would have knowns, etc would be welcome. I have never composted before as I have always just gathered from our local farm but now with my own chickens I figured I might as well try.

**My plan is to add worms as well once it gets started.

 

[Britesea]

I'm lazy. I made several bins using concrete blocks with gaps for air. Fill one up and let it sit. Occasionally I throw some water on it if it seems dry beyond the top (no turning). When one is full, I start the next. It generally takes about a year for them to finish this way, but it works for me.

 

[Chic Rustler]

compost is life here. i use a few pallets screwed together for my pile. i also trench compost in the garden. or sometimes ill just throw the scraps in the garden while the chickens are in there.

 

[Okiepan]

All I do is fill the tractor bucket up with after product's from the horses and cows, and chickens , I then pile it up to "cook " occasionally work the bucket by turning it , and after a while 1 year I have great compost for the orchard and cold frames .
We use the chicken by products and fill big totes with 15-20 lbs of poop add 100-150 gallons of water and make chicken tea which is an amazing fertilizer.

 

[Chic Rustler]

length of time to finished conpost depends on the way you run the pile. a hot compost pile (search youtube for it) will finish in a few weeks. i use a cold pile and when the bin gets full i start filling the other bin. the next spring i enpty the bi that filled and keep filling the other bin. 2 bins seems to work well for me. it probably gets watered every couple months or so. i dont really mess with it much.

 

[flowerbug]

another simple way is to just bury stuff and then you won't need to do anything with it again. it isn't as fast as hot composting but nature will sort it out eventually. this is what i do with almost all of my garden debris and any extra organic materials i can come across and it fits in with my low-till garden regimen.

the downsides are that it will not get hot enough to destroy weed seeds and the few bits of some garden weed roots that i have to either isolate (dig down deep enough and put a layer of cardboard or some newspaper over it) or bury it deeply enough that it won't resurface or i just get it again when it does try to come up.

the upside. i have layers of organic materials stashed away in some gardens that have been down there for years and once in a while i dig them up as i'm going through the garden space and they get mixed in more with the rest of the garden soil. these areas also act as worm refuge spaces for the times when it gets too hot, cold or too dry. oh and yeah, a lot less messing around. i only dig that once and then the next time i'm digging in another area until i rotate through the garden space.

 

[NH Homesteader]

We compost sheep manure and leftover hay but we’ve had pigs for several years so they’ve been getting all our food scraps. We’re butchering all the pigs soon so I’ve been thinking I need to figure something out for the scraps.

 

[Trying2keepitReal]

so much to learn. I thank you all for the tips and information, keep it coming. My books, graph paper and pencils are coming out this weekend. Planning 2 bins (had to compromise with DH), my gardens and 2 more coop projects for spring.

 

[The Porch]

very informative. How long does it take, generally speaking, for it to cook down enough to be used? and how many do you get started 1 or 2?

Like on the new property, I won't have any ready to use until maybe fall, at the time I'll be adding a winter feeding to the garden. So if I am able to get all the new garden ready by no later than April 1 I am going to have to truck in cow or horse poop to turn in with the soil of the new area.

So I am going to be starting at least 3 piles to hopefully be used in the fall, and have 3 more started in Oct to be used in the spring of 23

 

[Trying2keepitReal]

You can double dip and use the compost bin as a water heater. It’s on my to do list.

Hmmmm...this I didn't know, more research tomorrow