Alternative Compost Ingredients

Don't forget the old-pallets method.
Behaved dogs? I'll tell tehm they've fooled yet another one. More like bored.
"What is this you want me to see? Dirt? Flowers again? Geez, let's go to the park..."

Do your sons enjoy it?

I forgot. There are two more piles in the back yard! (And one giant vermicompost in the front...)
K. James

Jamesco

All right, you convinced me. The dogs are not real. My sons....who are 15.5 years....will grouse, complain, come up with upteen reasons why this is a dumb idea, poke and dawdle and then do the job and generally enjoy it. They did a great job of building a new garden out of the sod and they made short work of digging holes for my mum transplants. I'm beginning to think college is a bad idea as I will lose my labor force. They are getting into it as they are beginning to catch on that being "green" is something they can talk to girls about that seems to catch their attention. Ditto teachers. That hasn't stopped them from making fun of their mom....I believe I heard one of them referring to me as an "uber gardener". I wish.
If I proceed to the vermicompost stage, however, I will get no support as that won't appeal to even the above average 15 year old girl.

HM

No? Not the right kind of girl then. Check the fingernails of those they bring home. If they're painted, chuck'er out. If there is dirt under it, invite her in.
I've learned my lessons in bumf, and I've found my real love in gardening.

And yes, college is a bad idea.
K. James

JamesCo

I'm not sure what the old pallets method is. Please describe.....maybe it will suit better...

As respects my labor force.....too late....college is in the cards ( I am talking up the benefits of meteorology, horticulture, environmental studies, toxicology and the like.........) and the sweet kid next door wears nail polish (and volunteered to weed for me when I was under the chemo gun) Her mother is an exceptional gardener -polish and all - with an enviable compost heap(hidden behind her shed...I can't do that)

I'm trying to make a visible compost heap less visible or somewhat attractive. There are those who say I am nuts to try.....tell me about pallets...can they be made to look good?

....recognizing of course that beauty is in the eye....etc.etc.
HM

Have coffee grinds been mentioned? They work every time in heating up my bin.

Coffe grounds are interestingly neutral and high in nitrogen.

HM, Gardener ingonito, eh?

Pallets: Take at least three (or four) pallets and tie them end-to end into a topless cube. They are slatted to allow air penetration. Their corners can be tied with heavy wire to stay together. It works, but I, of late, have too much compost for such a thing anymore.

Maybe I can find a picture...

Well fancy: Google hit #1:
http://www.digitalseed.com/composter/bins/palletbin.html

Cheers,
K. James

Can those pallets be bought? Have had a couple by chance in the past but none hanging around right now. Thanks!

Well....my weekend has been about bins. First, at the local junk shop, I found two old brass fire screens that opened up and shaped made a perfect 3'square. My son and I wired it together and it blends in to the back fence area beautifully and looks much nicer than the old black plastic bin and will have more air too. This won't be a "turned" heap....mostly I needed a place for the sod I am digging out of the yard for new gardens...so I will layer it with mowed up leaves and coffee grounds and see if it is usable in 2008. We have to pay through the nose here for any waste disposal....including yard waste ....so it is always an issue about what to do with the yard waste. I am out of places in the yard for the extra sod.

Then...as respects pallets.....a young friend of my sons who works at the local garden shop asked if we needed pallets...so for the next bin I am going to put pallets together - thanks Jamesco for the google hit.

sixrfun - per my young friend....pallets are plentiful at the nursery so maybe they have some they are willing to give away....also our local lumber company used to have extras.
HM

mix in a bag of alfalfa pellets from the local feed store. it really gets the compost cooking and also puts in tons of nitrogen. i mixed it into my new garden this year and waited a couple of weeks, then turned it over and waited a little more, then planted. so far, so good.

trackinsand

Roger. Wilco. Thanks.

HM

HM - Thanks for info re pallets - will check this week on that.

What a great idea about using old fire screens. Thanks HM

Herb, a quick note....a bag goes a long, long way and it's cheap. debi

We got our pallets free from the local farm bureau; they were on the old side, but well usable.

Ardesia

I was really taking a chance on the firescreens...but found an added benefit today....since the wiring of the two pieces together is on the side...when I want to empty it, I will simply clip the wires, open the "doors" and empty from the bottom. I'll take a photo this week and post it....it turned out unusually well for one of my fly-by-skirt projects. HM

We live by the ocean and we fish and go clamming, etc. We toss the carcasses of the beasts into our (enclosed) composter and it decomposes beautifully, and quickly, with all the other stuff. I throw lobster shells into the shredder before adding. A caveat; if you throw in a sharp toothed fishhead (bluefish) ya gotta be careful not to cut yourself on the razor sharp teeth when spreading or sifting the compost!

I just got caught up with the compost stuff. First of all Kenton all your compost pictures have the same 2 dogs with the same expression on them. Are they plastic dogs? You must like plastic if you keep plastic dogs?
Seriously Ardesia the cones are chopped up by my lawn vacuum and compost chipper. I have a 10HP toro chipper and it does the job. The pieces are mostly larger than the fan piece but regardless they dissapear in 2 years on top of the soil here and so probably the same underground. The point of them is not to break down but rather provide soil textures that are condusive to drainage, worm travel, and carbon for bugs and worms to stay and work in.
I get compost already worked when I go to the local dairy and dig in the leftover silage that wasn't fed last winter. Often they load it for me.

Watch pallets for termites.

I occasionally use a beer to help the pile get cooking. I try to find the worst/cheapest one we have and just pour it around and then add a bit of water. It's always a bit of a sacrifice, but I think it helps it start to cook.

thinking of composting and beer look here: http://davesgarden.com/journal/d/t/Soferdig/3149/ Hee Hee

I don't think anyone mentioned fire place ashes added to the pile(after cooling,or going out),I've been through that!!!

My soil doesn't need to have it become more alkaline so I only add a tiny amount. How have you used it?

Only to make a balance,and mix it with the vericompost,whitch is the best way of composting,to me.I discovered this method by accident(litterly),had been in hospital,and DW tried to keep up my work,instead of heat turning,she hid the kitchen scrapes in the pile,by the time I recovered,worrms,by the thous.,were in the pile,and doing a better job than me.Great discoveries!!Mike

I'm confused are you saying that the wood ashes did this or your DW kitchen waste? I have not seen ashes attract the worms.

Wood Ash is rich in Potassium but slightly risky for salt content in dry climates (who already ahve salt problems) If you live in a more rain-blessed area, this is not a problem.
Speaking of blessings, sounds like you got a little one out of being in hospital, eh Mike?
Kenton

When composting beer, its best to drink it first and then put the byproducts on the pile.

OK, tons of questions.
I am about to venture.. my very first compost pile, ever!
I have the pallets, will put together today.
I have the grass and the catcher.
I have food stuff and plenty of coffee grounds.
I can but the alfalfa pellets.
No available manure, can I use bagged?
Beer and byproducts are available.
Can I throw in an occasional pocket gopher?
I have a HUGH pile of old tree trimmings, can I put that through the shredder and add? There is no adjustment on the shredder so it almost makes like a sawdust, will this still work?
Gross but asking anyway.... dog manure?
charcoal ashes?
And I am assuming I want my compost pile in a full sun spot. should the open side be facing the west for hot afternoon sun?

In my composting venture, I make an effort not to "purchase" anything for the pile. The compost procedure is strictly decompostion of waste.

I do buy alfalfa pellets but they are put on the lawn with a broadcast spreader as fertilizer.

I wouldn't buy bagged manure. If you want manure you can get it free from a horse farm, petting zoo, or some place that keeps animals. But if you don't have it available I would skip that ingredient...

The occasional pocket gopher is fine for the pile.

Shredded tree trimmings are great for the pile. Its a good idea to keep a garbage can full of shredded browns on the side, near the pile so you can cover kitchen scraps as you add them. If you keep the kitchen stuff covered with browns it will reduce insect or ordor issues.

Dog manure is debateable. (I use it in mine... do what you are comfortable with... )

Charcoal ashes are also debateable. (Generally ashes would be a no, but if they are a very small percentage of the volume of the pile - then they would probably be okay, but they should not be a common ingredient or make up a large portion of the pile. - wood ashes are a bit better - charcoal can contain some nasty stuff - so make it small, if at all)

I had read that piles should be in the full sun, but in my yard that is just not possible. The open side should be facing a direction that is easiest for you to access.

A Plan:
Glad I don't HAVE to face the west... that would be inconvenient, and not look right at all. I am going to make three bins, always heard go big or stay home! The middle bin will be my "active" working bin... I mean the one with the newest stuff in it. I am going to plant a long pvc pipe with holes so I can poor my beer and make sure it gets to the bottom. I have to buy a pitch fork, one tool I haven't aquired yet. Then I guess I'll mow and chip old tree stuff today. I do have a cow farm about a mile up the road, guess I better go make friends... they wave everyday while I'm in the garden, bet they wonder why I've never been down there for manure.
I have read I can put my "weed" waste in there, ie garden garbage... what about some old dirt clods?
This is going to be fun!!!
Fran

You really should drink the beer before you put it in the pile. Anything else is waste of good beer.

This time of year, weeds that I have pulled are the vast majority of green material in my pile. Some people complain about weed seeds in compost, but to me sprouting weeds are just more greens to compost!

Dirt clods are fine ...

Not all farmers will give up their manure... they spread it on thier fields as fertilizer, too. But, they have plenty so usually are willing to give up a couple bucket fulls....

I like your idea of drinking the beer first...You get double the pleasure..

You are right Joe about him spreading it on his fields... he does every spring. Also I have noticed he has no "stink" to his farm and I NEVER see piles of manure, I always wondered where he stores it.

I could walk out to the field with a bucket and follow his cows around for awhile..lol

The pipe will give hubby something to aim for... after the beer... hmmm maybe I better add a funnel to the top.

Composting is expected to be fun and I have fun composting. See this http://davesgarden.com/journal/d/t/Soferdig/3149/ Beer is a essential part of composting. LOL

In general it is said that any weed that hasn't gone to seed is good to compost, but watch out for dandelions: they are diabolical in the sense that if there is a flower, they can go to seed AFTER YOU HAVE PULLED THEM UP! One time I pulled up a bunch of dandelions, roots, leaves, and flowers, and piled them up on the sidewalk. The next day, the flowers had turned into seed heads and the breeze was blowing the seeds into the garden. Since then I won't compost any weed that has flowered.

With large-flowered weeds like dandelions that have flowered, you can pick the flowerhead off and it usually won't go to seed. When you leave it on the plant, the plant provides it with enough enery to complete the process. So I still compost dandelions, I just make sure there is now flower head on the plant, and that the plant is completely dry so it doesn't start sprouting in the pile.

I just watched a video about Andy Galsworthy, who makes art, much of it ephemeral, in/with nature. One of his pieces consists of what looks like hundreds of dandelion flowers packed into a big hole in a rock among the boulders in a rushing river in Scotland. You have to see it to understand. It's truly beautiful.

So then, you're not suggesting we compost his art? ;)

And making marks in the snow, only to watch them melt...
That is why the dandelion has a taproot. It is like a carrot, a biennial that is leaves and root-building the first year and all flowers and seed the next year, when it is usually too late...
But who would deprive children from the simply joy of blowing those whimsical heads into the wind?

Kenton, who, for the recod, has followed horses with a barrow for the fresh stuff.

Dave47: I'm not sure he would mind if we did.

See attached: "Compost Art Number One: Red Pepper Top in Coffee Grounds".

What am I bid?