Thanks pagancat, one is close enough, I should be able to get there without help.
Compost pile heat
Dean - be sure to cut out a picture of a very happy worm (big smile, gleam in eyes) & put it right alongside the farm animals' pictures.
If I was going to conduct an experiment, I would add different amounts of molasses to each pile to see what the optimum amount of Molasses would be.
Katye, too late well see what happens. I can always add more later. I like the idea of a big worm w/ a smile.
Great compost being made here. Maybe I can tweek it a bit for you.
Dried molasses is grain chaff and other floor sweepings coated with molasses. The major value in that product is the molasses.
Feed grade Black Strap Molasses (liquid) is an average of three-four dollars a gallon. Most cattle food grain and food sources have it in large underground tanks. Most will sell it to gardeners. You need to carry in your own bottle in many cases. I get five gallons for under twelve bucks.
My guys sell the so called dry molasses too. I grin every time I see a backyard princess having it loaded in the trunk. You will get much more value for your hard earned bucks by using liquid.
In either case I doubt that how much matters much. With the liquid I use four ounces in a gallon to boost up my piles. Perhaps a dollup more in the early spring and a bit less in the heat of the summer.
When I was a kid it was sold by the blurp from a store on wheels that came once a month. A paddle went into the 55 gal. barrel, was given a twist and pulled out....this resulted in a blurp. A blurp was about a pint. At that time I believe that was a whole nickel's worth. That was then and is now the same stuff. It is now cattle grade due to pure food acts. Corporate America at it's best!
Thanks, docgipe, I'll give it a go when I run out of the dried stuff.
LOL - backyard princess!
Thanks for the heads up Doc - did not know about the dried & figured the liquid form is very do-able & easy to tote home!
I've so appreciated your well-written & quite entertaining posts. As a matter of fact, I think I can hear you telling the story of compost as I read...
I also know some backyard kings who when making a mark in some record book figures this elevates them to be sitting at the right hand of God for all time thereafter.
Little do they know I am much older in most instances. My plan....also knowing about that chair to the right hand of the real King...is to take my satilite digital camera with me. I shall list that chair on eBay. It won't be there when and if they arrive for their desired position.
I know I can pull this off! A couple of angels I have known have preceeded my flight schedule.
A special red head and her blond sister have promised in a dream...."Doc if you get 'er sold we will deliver it for you".
Never to worry that someone will jump my plan. I burry an electronic "forget signal" in each such post. In fact it's magic is already in your brain.
I learn all this good suff when sitting in the shade with a beer on a hot day talking to my biological friends. First someone has suggested beer should hit the soil. They know this now. I hold firm to straining it through my kidneys first. They have somehow put me in a connect with all the other players. I think they bargain hoping to change my mind about the beer. Not a chance!! ]:o)