Compost Question

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by Spidermonkey, Oct 29, 2012.

  1. Spidermonkey

    Spidermonkey Junior Member

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    Hi Everyone,

    The soil in my garden is pretty poor so I'm trying to get a compost pile going as I would like to make a reasonable amount of organic nutrient rich material for my veggie beds. I have a work farm but it is only a small one and I would like to get things going on a larger scale and aquire the experience.

    My problem is I have access to plenty of brown material: Hay, sawdust from the chook coop, carboard and newspaper. What I don't have enough of is the green nitrogen rich material. I am keeping food scraps, weeds (that havent gone to seed), chook manure and I have bought some cow manure, but I still cant get my pile to heat. The local produce store is selling lucerne bales that look dry and green. Would this serve as a bulk nitrogen hit or is there any other suburban sources for nitrogen rich waste? I have been asking the local supermarkets for their green waste but they tend to dispose of it pretty quick for hygene purposes.
     
  2. mischief

    mischief Senior Member

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    Does your farm have cows or pigs?
    If so you could layer their manure with you straw.
    Something I read in my 'farmers of forty centuries' book, is that they used to layer the straw with watery mud..not sure if that is helpful cos I just noticed that you are in Queensland-hot and dry....
     
  3. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    Use a bag of Blood and Bone to get it to warm up. Fish Emulsion, or a bag Of Organic Xtra from a shop.

    Lucerne should be easy enough to shop around for, any markets where you can speak to the farmer direct?

    Edit: Forgot the most obvious.

    Get your family/friends/neighbours to save their urine for you.
     
  4. matto

    matto Junior Member

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    If you are still living near Logan, contact some of the local lawn mowing guys and get them to drop off a load.

    Independent fruit and veg shops might be another option as are cafes and restaurants.

    Get a barrel or two of weed teas going. You can use the ferment to water as you go, as you could with your own urine...

    Plenty of manures will help with adding microbiology if spread over all organic matter. Diversity is the key!
     
  5. pippimac

    pippimac Junior Member

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    I recommend clippings:)
    I've got a lawnmowing guy who drops me off loads of fresh clippings on request (it's got to be fresh, or it's pretty pongy).
    It's a mutually beneficial arrangement: I need nitrogen/mulch, and they have to pay quite a bit to dump it at the tip.
     
  6. Spidermonkey

    Spidermonkey Junior Member

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    Hi Everyone, Thanks for these great suggestions, I will give them a try. I have a bag of Blood and Bone, and I have some sea weed extract which I could throw into the mix as well.

    Hi Mischeif, I don't have a farm, just a suburbane garden with a 6 chooks at the moment. I would love to move to a rural location eventually so I can legaly own a rooster.

    Hi Matto, I have heard of worm tea but never weed tea. I will Google how to make it. Last night I was reading that some people also add diluted molasses to get their compost going so I may add some of that too.
     
  7. NGcomm

    NGcomm Junior Member

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    Couple of comments: - you will need approximately 1 cubic meter to generate enough heat. Layer lucerne, grass clipping, manure, then blood and bone/seaweed/molasses in a liquid brew to feed the bacteria/fungus that will digest it all, then repeat until you have built up a meter block. Be careful about using too much grass clippings per layer as it may cause an anaerobic reaction. Turn once every two-three weeks. Make a bacteria tea after 6-8 weeks and water that into your garden. Grab or grow some mycelia and add to the mix or if it starts to run through your mix make a tea and add to tree roots when planting - bacteria for vegies, fungus for trees. Over 90% of trees rely on mycelia for 50%+ of their growth.
     
  8. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    I get a 20 lt bucket and add some manure (shovel full) a handful or two chick layers mash a shovel full of worm castings a table spoon of mollasses and mix it together with 20 lt of water. I then use an aquarium air stone to areate the mix. I add mollasess every 2nd day. I do this to breed bacteria which is then fed to my worms.

    I think you could use this mix to wet your compost and add masses of bacteria. Add worms to the compost and they will start to convert it into useful rich organic fertilizer.

    Use really fresh manure and if applied deep enough it will heat up.
     
  9. Raymondo

    Raymondo Junior Member

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    Coffee grounds are a good N source. Most coffee shops are only too glad to get rid of it. I 'share' a coffee shop in town. I get a 20 L bucket once a week and another chap gets the rest. Between compost piles, I just add it directly to the garden. The worms certainly seem to like it.
     
  10. matto

    matto Junior Member

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    Used coffee grounds are about 16:1- C:N, about the same as finished compost and garden soil, good filler for compost and great for the garden.
     
  11. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    Coffee grounds are a good food source for worms but can turn the worm bed acidic if too much is fed. I use it with some dolomite to keep the pH up. I must see my daughter for some more as she manages a coffee shop.
    Even if it goes mouldy I still use it.
     
  12. Spidermonkey

    Spidermonkey Junior Member

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    Hi Guys,

    I tried briansworms mix and made up two buckets of manure, worm castings, molases but reading over the thread I forgot to add the layer mash. I did this on Saturday and broke open the pile and added but one bucket straight away. The other bucket is brewing with an aquarium air pipe in it and it now has a layer of grey froth on top. I have also been adding urine to the pile and it has now heated up to 30 deg C. Tonight I will add the other bucket and build the pile up further. I have also organised to take a container with a clip down lid to a cafe near my work who will hold on to their coffee grounds for me. I'll keep you posted.
     
  13. Spidermonkey

    Spidermonkey Junior Member

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    Hi Guys,

    I took your advice and picked up a plastic bin with a clip down lid and visited a number of cafes in my area and gathered around 20L of used coffee grounds. I built up my pile higher with the coffee, Brian's manure mix, a bin of kitchen scraps and stuff I picked up from a local green grocer and additional straw and water. The interior of the pile is now piping hot. My thermometer says just over 30deg C but I'm now having doubts about it's reliability as it feels much hotter than 30 deg to me.

    One thing I did find amusing was the reaction of some cafe owners to my asking for their waste coffee. Some where happy to help, some where amused, confused or suspicious of my request. Some just could not seem to comprehend that their wast product might be useful for something.
     
  14. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    Just reading the last couple of posts. I use the layers mash because it is the food I feed the worms, thats the only reason. It just helps to encourage the bacteria to grow and the mollasses just feeds the bacteria. I give my worms about a mug full every couple of days and it has generated quite a bit of heat just from that small amount. I feed in a line and not in a heap as that would be too hot for the worms to feed.

    The same idea is used to heat the worm beds during winter.
     
  15. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    My food I process and throw in (in one big chunk), it gets warm to hot. I always figured that would be bad for them....

    They don't care. They rip in straight away.
     
  16. wrongtern

    wrongtern Junior Member

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    I find the thing that seems to heat our compost most are lawn clippings...we mowed on Sunday and the steam is still rising off the heap this morning(only 0.8 C)...just be a bit wary of lawn clippings from mowing contractors...lots of people spray their lawns for weeds and use chemical fertilizers.
     
  17. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    The worms seem to feed from underneath when it is warmer and then all over it as it cools.
     

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