Has anyone ever tried to do a large pile. I realize it's 500:1 so far I added a good deal of fresh horse manure. Would u think adding lime will help to speed up the process. I would like an idea of how long it might take. I also have been adding kitchen wastes as well. I just need to place some of my large pvc pipes so it can get more air since it seems to get compacted when wet.
I added the fresh manure in early December so I am hoping with the temps slowly going up maybe I can start turning the pile and get it cooking again. When I added the manure it cooked for a week or 2 then cooled off. I am guessing part of it was because of the cooler temps.
I will add grass when it starts growing
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rainbowgardener
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Sawdust and manure is a good combination of brown and green. The problem is that both are fine textured and tend to compact and exclude air. Do you have any way to turn this pile or fluff it up?
If not consider running some pipe with holes in it
https://prepforshtf.com/wp-content/uploa ... t_Tube.jpg
through the pile to encourage air circulation
If not consider running some pipe with holes in it
https://prepforshtf.com/wp-content/uploa ... t_Tube.jpg
through the pile to encourage air circulation
Yes in fact I was going to add my pvc pipes but I don't want to take up a lot of room and have to wait 2 years or longer before its composted. I just don't have the room.rainbowgardener wrote:Sawdust and manure is a good combination of brown and green. The problem is that both are fine textured and tend to compact and exclude air. Do you have any way to turn this pile or fluff it up?
If not consider running some pipe with holes in it
https://prepforshtf.com/wp-content/uploa ... t_Tube.jpg
through the pile to encourage air circulation
I am debating on trying to sift out the manure and toss some of the sawdust.
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ElizabethB
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We had a huge live oak removed in November. The stump was ground. The remains of the grinding have reduced by 2" or 3". With the warmer weather the decomposition will speed up. I have plans for the area so I will be adding fully cured horse manure, bags of leaves from last year, cured compost and grass clippings. Just layering will test my patience so I will use a small cultivator/tiller to mix things up.
Lime will only increase the pH. You may need to use some because the manure is acidic. Ammonium Nitrate helps speed up the decomposition but has an adverse effect on microbes and earth worms.
I would not add lime until the decomposition is complete and a soil test has been done. Don't prescribe amendments without a diagnosis..
Good luck
Lime will only increase the pH. You may need to use some because the manure is acidic. Ammonium Nitrate helps speed up the decomposition but has an adverse effect on microbes and earth worms.
I would not add lime until the decomposition is complete and a soil test has been done. Don't prescribe amendments without a diagnosis..
Good luck
After 5 straight days of rain ending Friday night I was very limited as to what I coukd do around the garden. So I scooped out a lot of mostly sawdust and tossed it over the fence into the woods.
It might have been perhaps 8-10% of the pile.
I saw some encouragement, down low in the pile were earthworms. I decided not to add lime.
On the other hand higher up were the very large ants, and a multitude of other insects.
It might have been perhaps 8-10% of the pile.
I saw some encouragement, down low in the pile were earthworms. I decided not to add lime.
On the other hand higher up were the very large ants, and a multitude of other insects.
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ElizabethB
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Yeh I tossed those in, but since I have such a high amount of carbon I am not sure that's a good idea.ElizabethB wrote:If you are not in rush to use the product just let Mother Nature do her thing. Worms at the base are great! Since you tossed some just stir up the base. Can you get your hands on any leaves from the fall? That would be great tossed in.
Good luck
I have a huge stockpile of shredded leaves. I am going to use it as mulch for my Tomatoe, peppers, and okra. Then the rest will be to build new compost piles. The most difficult thing is finding grass that has not been treated with herbicides. It's still a good 4-6 weeks before that happens.
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rainbowgardener
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Greens usually seem easier to come by than browns. Check the greens/browns list at the top of this section. You can get tons of used coffee grounds from places that sell coffee (unfortunately suffers from the same fine texture, tends to pack down problem), kitchen scraps, maybe kitchen scraps from restaurants if you have an "in," dumpster dive the grocery stores, pulled weeds, garden trimmings. Once spring gets going, I usually have bushels of pulled weeds.
Horse manure is a low nitrogen source even straight from the corral. Mixed with bedding, it requires a very long time to decompose. The University of Illinois (LINK) says horse manure has a carbon to nitrogen ratio of "20:1 to 25:1." By itself, that puts it very close to the 30:1 considered best for composting.
I realize that I'm in a very different environment than Alabama but I was once out walking in the forest and stopped when I found that my feet were in sawdust. Looking around, I saw that I had walked onto the site of a small sawmill. There were trees growing up through a few boards of what was left of an old building, just a couple yards from where I was standing. A few old boards above the brush with the trees - the building had collapsed. And yet, there was sawdust still on the soil surface. Brush and trees were beginning to grow through it as well but after how many long years?
Steve
I realize that I'm in a very different environment than Alabama but I was once out walking in the forest and stopped when I found that my feet were in sawdust. Looking around, I saw that I had walked onto the site of a small sawmill. There were trees growing up through a few boards of what was left of an old building, just a couple yards from where I was standing. A few old boards above the brush with the trees - the building had collapsed. And yet, there was sawdust still on the soil surface. Brush and trees were beginning to grow through it as well but after how many long years?
Steve
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ElizabethB
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A great source of FREE greens is your local produce market and locally owned grocers with a produce department.
They will gladly give you produce trimmings. I have gotten boxes and leaf bags full for free. I did have to cut the trimmings into smaller pieces to speed up decomposition but it was well worth the effort.
Something else to add to your sawdust pile/compost is rabbit manure. It is a cool manure and be used fresh. Query rabbit breeders in your city. If you bring a bucket and a shovel they will be more than happy to let you scoop the poop. I visit one breeder who has frequently tried to give me lop eared rabbits. No thanks. I don't want to care for the animal - I just want the poop.
Good luck
I have dumped the remains of last years leaves and every thing in my compost bins on the remains of the stump grinding. G is out of town his week but next week the yard will be mowed and the clippings gathered to add to the berm. I have arranged with my sister to pick up a trailer load of aged, fully cured horse manure. I will also get a trailer load of compost from the Parish compost facility. Tilling all of those ingredients together with the rain and rising temperatures should result in a hot mess that decomposes fairly quickly.
Of course I add kitchen scraps and coffee grounds daily. I have been working in G's office cleaning it up and have several bags of shredded paper. I have not used shredded paper in composting so I am thinking of very thin applications between other ingredients all tilled in together. Last year my neighbor used a thick layer of shredded paper as mulch in her vegetable boxes. She soaked the paper as soon as she layered it down. It seemed to do a fairly good job as a mulch - weed control and water retention.
They will gladly give you produce trimmings. I have gotten boxes and leaf bags full for free. I did have to cut the trimmings into smaller pieces to speed up decomposition but it was well worth the effort.
Something else to add to your sawdust pile/compost is rabbit manure. It is a cool manure and be used fresh. Query rabbit breeders in your city. If you bring a bucket and a shovel they will be more than happy to let you scoop the poop. I visit one breeder who has frequently tried to give me lop eared rabbits. No thanks. I don't want to care for the animal - I just want the poop.
Good luck
I have dumped the remains of last years leaves and every thing in my compost bins on the remains of the stump grinding. G is out of town his week but next week the yard will be mowed and the clippings gathered to add to the berm. I have arranged with my sister to pick up a trailer load of aged, fully cured horse manure. I will also get a trailer load of compost from the Parish compost facility. Tilling all of those ingredients together with the rain and rising temperatures should result in a hot mess that decomposes fairly quickly.
Of course I add kitchen scraps and coffee grounds daily. I have been working in G's office cleaning it up and have several bags of shredded paper. I have not used shredded paper in composting so I am thinking of very thin applications between other ingredients all tilled in together. Last year my neighbor used a thick layer of shredded paper as mulch in her vegetable boxes. She soaked the paper as soon as she layered it down. It seemed to do a fairly good job as a mulch - weed control and water retention.
With all the leaves that I have it would be so much easier.
I roast my own coffee beans, so it's no problem getting grinds where I buy
My green beans.
Last year I dedicated one of my compost piles to just lots of grinds and leaves.
I was using 2-3 five gallon buckets full of grinds for probably 6-8 weeks. Then I started adding kitchen wastes thru the fall and early winter.
With the high acidity of our soil I am concerned with that great amount of coffee grinds. I sent a soil sample in this past fall and added the pelletized lime that was recommended. I have read several articles on composting some say it's a myth that the composting neutralizes the ph. Not so sure that's true with this experiment
I roast my own coffee beans, so it's no problem getting grinds where I buy
My green beans.
Last year I dedicated one of my compost piles to just lots of grinds and leaves.
I was using 2-3 five gallon buckets full of grinds for probably 6-8 weeks. Then I started adding kitchen wastes thru the fall and early winter.
With the high acidity of our soil I am concerned with that great amount of coffee grinds. I sent a soil sample in this past fall and added the pelletized lime that was recommended. I have read several articles on composting some say it's a myth that the composting neutralizes the ph. Not so sure that's true with this experiment
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toxcrusadr
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How long it will take all depends on your brown:green ratio. I have made compost with sawdust or wood shavings as an ingredient in just a few months time.
Doubtful the manure you added in December has much if any ability to heat it back up. If the sawdust is still clearly there and not decomposed, add more greens and mix well. Otherwise the answer will be "a looong time."
Doubtful the manure you added in December has much if any ability to heat it back up. If the sawdust is still clearly there and not decomposed, add more greens and mix well. Otherwise the answer will be "a looong time."