The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #69377   Message #1179144
Posted By: open mike
06-May-04 - 01:40 AM
Thread Name: BS: Compost Question
Subject: RE: BS: Compost Question
as for earth worm shit, i thought you were supposed to take that OUT of the compost pile, not put it IN!! I keep my compost in cylindrical wire cages, and i pile garden weeds, kitchen scraps, manure and cat litter box in it..certain types of litter are more bio-degradable than others.
I find bones in my garden from previous residents here who buired them
over 3 years ago...the chicken bones do not break down very well. When
I sift the compost, the pits, stems, bones and clumps of stuff not broken down goes back in teh next pile to try again. I lift the "cage" up and turn the pile by putting the wire beside the pile and putting every thing back in again. (upside down) It helps to water the pile to keep it alive and encourage bio-degrader critters to come there and munch on stuff. The drip line that i water my garden beds with has a line that goes to an emitter in the compost pile. I have a pile at the end of almost every row. the weeds from each row go in to them. I found a rotating drum composter for my daughter and it is working great! There is an earthworm farm near here and I was thinking I would see if the school cafeteria could save food scraps for one day
and take them there. They have a sign (the farm not the school) which says "green waste welcome" The school once had a great project--to raise two pigs on the food waste from the cafeteria. they auctioned or raffled off the pigs. a great way to reduce kitchen scraps to another form of compost (pig poop) and a useful food source (for pork eaters)