BS: Compost Question

Subject: RE: BS: Compost Question
From: open mike
Date: 06 May 04 - 01:28 AM

THE tracy schwarz!?! aren't we lucky?!
Welcome Tracey, and I hope we
get to see you post on a
MUSIC thread here, too!
Glad you found us and
thanks for joining in...
you see, we have a very
wide range of interests
here and most are quite organic!

Subject: RE: BS: Compost Question
From: open mike
Date: 06 May 04 - 01:40 AM

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)

Subject: RE: BS: Compost Question
From: dianavan
Date: 06 May 04 - 02:00 AM

Did you know that Starbucks will give you their old coffee grounds? They work great in the compost and the worms like them, too.

I remembered about the coffee grounds from when I was a child. My brother and I would "hunt" night crawlers (those very big worms that come out at night) with a flashlight and put them in a coffee can with some soil. We fed them coffee grounds every day. We used to sell them for "bait".

Subject: RE: BS: Compost Question
From: open mike
Date: 06 May 04 - 03:09 AM

well, starbucks is good for something, then?
as was said earlier...will those cafienated
worms ever sleep then? might make them eat
compost twice as fast and long! I think I
will ask my local coffee shop if they will
save the grounds for my cpompost! good idea!
i have used some of the refuse from a local juice
pressing business for the compost pile and
brewery waste, too..that might get the worms
to slow down, though! the hops make great
soil amendment--it lightens and "fluffs"
and soil that tends to compact.

Subject: RE: BS: Compost Question
From: black walnut
Date: 06 May 04 - 09:12 AM

Worms LOVE coffee grounds, but only from Second Cup, not Starbucks!!! (don't mind me....it's a political Canadian thing).
However, one must balance the coffee out with things that are less acidic, or else they will crawl out of the bin at night, and who knows where they'll end up???

~b.w.

Subject: RE: BS: Compost Question
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull
Date: 06 May 04 - 10:52 PM

compost is rubbish.john

Subject: RE: BS: Compost Question
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 May 04 - 09:55 AM

No, jOhn, compost ISN'T rubbish, and furthermore, RUBBISH isn't always even rubbish! You've gotta start recycling more, young man! Stop tossing everything in existence onto this virtual ash heap.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Compost Question
From: black walnut
Date: 08 May 04 - 08:53 AM

Yikes. I've burned and killed 2 little tomato plants with too much worm compost. I forgot how strong that stuff is.
Here's another question for you wonderful compostknowitalls. How or when do you add compost to the ground when you have lots of groundcover? I have barren strawberry, creeping juniper, creeping thyme, foamflower...things of that nature.

~b.w.

Subject: RE: BS: Compost Question
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 May 04 - 01:54 AM

refresh

Subject: RE: BS: Compost Question
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 09 May 04 - 06:23 AM

Thanks, SRS- this is reminding me it's time to turn the pile!

Allison

Subject: RE: BS: Compost Question
From: emily rain
Date: 09 May 04 - 03:44 PM

dianavan, i hope you're still reading this thread!

check out jerry jenkins' "humanure handbook" or his website (the full text of the book is available on line, for free) http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/humanure.html

Subject: RE: BS: Compost Question
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 May 04 - 08:46 PM

From the Dirt Doctor site:

Compost is Nature's own living fertilizer that can be made at home or purchased ready-to-use. A compost pile can be started any time of the year and can be in sun or shade. Good ingredients include leaves, clean hay, grass clippings, tree trimmings, food scraps, bark, sawdust, rice hulls, weeds, nut hulls and animal manure. Mix the ingredients together in a container of wood, hay bales, hog wire, concrete blocks or simply pile the material on the ground. The best mixture is 80% vegetative matter and 20% animal waste, although any mix will compost. Since oxygen is a critical component, the ingredients should be a mix of coarse and fine-textured material to promote air circulation through the pile. Turn the pile once a month if possible, more often speeds up the process but releases nitrogen to the air. Another critical component is water. A compost pile should be roughly the moisture of a squeezed-out sponge to help the living microorganisms thrive and work their magic. Compost is ready to use as a soil amendment when the ingredients are no longer identifiable. The color will be dark brown, the texture soft and crumbly and it will smell like the forest floor. Rough, unfinished compost can be used as a topdressing mulch around all plantings.

The other compost thread has to do with animal waste, but I'll post this here on the more comprehensive discussion. If the compost is hot enough and/or old enough, the heat of the pile and the microorganisms in the pile take care of the seeds, the sedge nuts, and the animal waste contents. Compost isn't just a passive pile of stuff sitting down at the bottom of the yard. It need to be tended and treated as an important part of the whole garden process. If this is accomplished, you'll have a healthy and inexpensive way to improve the health of your gardens.

SRS