I started my first compost,any pro tips?

Farmer88 · Mar 19, 2021

You're good. Throw in whatever you want if its far from the house now. Exclude large sticks but small twigs are helpful. Any material raked off the forest floor will have lots of micro nutrients. Clean out and burry deep invasive plants to allow your natural ecosystem florish. Do not put plants or weeds that have gone to seed into the pile. Burn them instead.

Keep it covered. Start another section of pallets in a year or when the first becomes two thirds high. When you want to start a new pile or a bigger pile, add material from the oldest pile to the new to innoculate with your cultivated bacteria.

Michigan.Out.Of.Doors · Mar 19, 2021

Farmer88 said:
You're good. Throw in whatever you want if its far from the house now. Exclude large sticks but small twigs are helpful. Any material raked off the forest floor will have lots of micro nutrients. Clean out and burry deep invasive plants to allow your natural ecosystem florish. Do not put plants or weeds that have gone to seed into the pile. Burn them instead.

Keep it covered. Start another section of pallets in a year or when the first becomes two thirds high. When you want to start a new pile or a bigger pile, add material from the oldest pile to the new to innoculate with your cultivated bacteria.

Thank you,Its in the woods but it's literally a 15 second walk from my house lol,so all that stuff I cleared from the floor to make the compost was good stuff?well the woods behind my house are untouched other than animals going through so I'm sure there will be enough nutrients in the leaves and other material,there's old dead logs that are rotting and falling apart into wood chips,would that be okay to add?

Farmer88 · Mar 19, 2021

Michigan.Out.Of.Doors said:
Thank you,Its in the woods but it's literally a 15 second walk from my house lol,so all that stuff I cleared from the floor to make the compost was good stuff?well the woods behind my house are untouched other than animals going through so I'm sure there will be enough nutrients in the leaves and other material,there's old dead logs that are rotting and falling apart into wood chips,would that be okay to add?

Yes. Grab it all. Smaller parts are faster to break down in the pile. You will need higher nitrogen sources if you use too many wood chips. Things like bird manure.

ezenzyme · Mar 19, 2021

Right now my two compost projects are worms. I have four bins just ye average old plastic totes with some holes drilled into it and i make my bedding with old potting soil and news paper then feed them kitchen scraps minus citrus, chili, garlic, and onions no meat diary or bread. They rock out and digest my deposits in around ten days, they super love mushy nasty old stuff, like a old melon or pumpkin. Every few months its time to harvest, really easy just put a milk crate of new bedding and food on your bin and in a week or two they will all be up in there.
My second project is a large pile of goat!! Round here theres a sweet lady who loads us up with goat for only 20 bones, we have about 2k gal piled up now, four feet high five wide and eight long right now. The energy from the decomposition makes the center of the pile pretty hot on its own, you dig a foot into it and its steaming and hot. I have been watering reg, dumped a tub of worms into it(but they disappeared??)). Dumped a few trash bags of Veg i dumpster dived from natural grocers into the pile.
EM has been sprayed all over everything to help establish a hefty bennie community.

Farmer88 · Mar 19, 2021

ezenzyme said:
Right now my two compost projects are worms. I have four bins just ye average old plastic totes with some holes drilled into it and i make my bedding with old potting soil and news paper then feed them kitchen scraps minus citrus, chili, garlic, and onions no meat diary or bread. They rock out and digest my deposits in around ten days, they super love mushy nasty old stuff, like a old melon or pumpkin. Every few months its time to harvest, really easy just put a milk crate of new bedding and food on your bin and in a week or two they will all be up in there.
My second project is a large pile of goat!! Round here theres a sweet lady who loads us up with goat for only 20 bones, we have about 2k gal piled up now, four feet high five wide and eight long right now. The energy from the decomposition makes the center of the pile pretty hot on its own, you dig a foot into it and its steaming and hot. I have been watering reg, dumped a tub of worms into it(but they disappeared??)). Dumped a few trash bags of Veg i dumpster dived from natural grocers into the pile.
EM has been sprayed all over everything to help establish a hefty bennie community.

I also use goat in my piles. There are mushrooms growing up where thier bodies are.

Goblinkiller · Mar 19, 2021

Dont know if its been mentioned but Coffee grounds is also good to go. Just dont mix in too much at a time because its acidic.

Michigan.Out.Of.Doors · Mar 19, 2021

Goblinkiller said:
Dont know if its been mentioned but Coffee grounds is also good to go. Just dont mix in too much at a time because its acidic.

Oooh really,that works out good cuz I love coffee lol

Michigan.Out.Of.Doors · Mar 19, 2021

ezenzyme said:
Right now my two compost projects are worms. I have four bins just ye average old plastic totes with some holes drilled into it and i make my bedding with old potting soil and news paper then feed them kitchen scraps minus citrus, chili, garlic, and onions no meat diary or bread. They rock out and digest my deposits in around ten days, they super love mushy nasty old stuff, like a old melon or pumpkin. Every few months its time to harvest, really easy just put a milk crate of new bedding and food on your bin and in a week or two they will all be up in there.
My second project is a large pile of goat!! Round here theres a sweet lady who loads us up with goat for only 20 bones, we have about 2k gal piled up now, four feet high five wide and eight long right now. The energy from the decomposition makes the center of the pile pretty hot on its own, you dig a foot into it and its steaming and hot. I have been watering reg, dumped a tub of worms into it(but they disappeared??)). Dumped a few trash bags of Veg i dumpster dived from natural grocers into the pile.
EM has been sprayed all over everything to help establish a hefty bennie community.

Dang dude sounds like you know what your doing,I've got a guinea pig that eats lettuce,carrots,grapes and all that stuff,eventually it goes bad so I think I've got a good supply of food for it,ice also got a old.pumpkin that's been rotting outside,I guess I could throw that in aswell

Farmer88 · Mar 19, 2021

Goblinkiller said:
Dont know if its been mentioned but Coffee grounds is also good to go. Just dont mix in too much at a time because its acidic.

Used coffee grounds will have around 6.9 - 7.1 pH, relatively neutral. Fresh ground coffee will be closer to 6.0 and is a good acidifier for pH amendment though it's slower than sulpher.

Michigan.Out.Of.Doors · Mar 19, 2021

Farmer88 said:
Used coffee grounds will have around 6.9 - 7.1 pH, relatively neutral. Fresh ground coffee will be closer to 6.0 and is a good acidifier for pH amendment though it's slower than sulpher.

Ooh that works amazing

Farmer88 · Mar 19, 2021

Michigan.Out.Of.Doors said:
Ooh that works amazing

Coffee grounds are top teir input for vermicomposting. Talk to your local coffee shops and gas stations. You can usually leave them a bin to throw used grounds into and you can pick up the bins weekly. This can also be done at restaurants, hotels, schools and prisons. It reduces thier waste cost and gives you relatively free inputs.

Michigan.Out.Of.Doors · Mar 19, 2021

Farmer88 said:
Coffee grounds are top teir input for vermicomposting. Talk to your local coffee shops and gas stations. You can usually leave them a bin to throw used grounds into and you can pick up the bins weekly. This can also be done at restaurants, hotels, schools and prisons. It reduces thier waste cost and gives you relatively free inputs.

Oh good idea, personally my compost isn't that big yet but I usually do a daily pot of coffee so this should be enough to suffice

Farmer88 · Mar 19, 2021

Michigan.Out.Of.Doors said:
Oh good idea, personally my compost isn't that big yet but I usually do a daily pot of coffee so this should be enough to suffice

If you live in a neighborhood you can also set up a food scrapping program in your area. Same concept give everyone who is interested a bucket and on, lets say Wednesday, have them leave it out for you to pick up and return like the trash man. Not only will this greatly increase your compost inputs it allows you a greater ablility to develop organic relationships with the people nearest to you. Added bonus you grow a crop that is basically currency.

Farmer88 · Mar 22, 2021

Just threw a whole deer in mine.

Homesteader · Mar 22, 2021

Eliot Coleman's old videos are great for beginners to composting (or winter greenhouse gardening in the NorthEast.) Old videos but they still ring true.

I started my first compost,any pro tips?

I started my first compost,any pro tips?

Farmer88

Michigan.Out.Of.Doors

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ezenzyme

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Goblinkiller

Michigan.Out.Of.Doors

Michigan.Out.Of.Doors

Farmer88

Michigan.Out.Of.Doors

Farmer88

Michigan.Out.Of.Doors

Farmer88

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