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New to composting
Last month I built a raised garden and after reading this ng decided
to make some compost. I went to a local business and got four discarded pallets, stood them upright and wired the corners so I have a bin about 5 feet square and 3 1/2 feet high. Yesterday I got four bales of moldy hay that was left in the field last year. Put about 6 inches in the bottom of the bin then started mowing lawn and bagging clippings. I moistened the hay then layered grass clippings and moldy hay until the bin was full. Grass was also moist..Appreciate any suggestions. |
New to composting
"Allan Matthews" wrote in message ... Last month I built a raised garden and after reading this ng decided to make some compost. I went to a local business and got four discarded pallets, stood them upright and wired the corners so I have a bin about 5 feet square and 3 1/2 feet high. Yesterday I got four bales of moldy hay that was left in the field last year. Put about 6 inches in the bottom of the bin then started mowing lawn and bagging clippings. I moistened the hay then layered grass clippings and moldy hay until the bin was full. Grass was also moist..Appreciate any suggestions. Go he http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/soil/ |
New to composting
Allan Matthews said:
Last month I built a raised garden and after reading this ng decided to make some compost. I went to a local business and got four discarded pallets, stood them upright and wired the corners so I have a bin about 5 feet square and 3 1/2 feet high. Yesterday I got four bales of moldy hay that was left in the field last year. Put about 6 inches in the bottom of the bin then started mowing lawn and bagging clippings. I moistened the hay then layered grass clippings and moldy hay until the bin was full. Grass was also moist..Appreciate any suggestions. Uh -- that pile sounds like it is short of high-carbon material and will be stinking soon. I'd knock down the pallets, then mix in some wood chips and shredded paper right away. (Maybe 10% by volume wood chips, 10% paper.) Mix it up and *then* fork it into the bin. Layering is for lasagna. If you are interested, email me for instructions on hot, batch composting. -- Pat in Plymouth MI Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced. (attributed to Don Marti) |
New to composting
"Allan Matthews" wrote in message ... Last month I built a raised garden and after reading this ng decided to make some compost. I went to a local business and got four discarded pallets, stood them upright and wired the corners so I have a bin about 5 feet square and 3 1/2 feet high. Yesterday I got four bales of moldy hay that was left in the field last year. Put about 6 inches in the bottom of the bin then started mowing lawn and bagging clippings. I moistened the hay then layered grass clippings and moldy hay until the bin was full. Grass was also moist..Appreciate any suggestions. Sounds like a lot of work. I just use that sort of stuff as mulch. It will compost itself. -- 73 de Bob NS9G |
New to composting
On Thu, 21 Aug 2003 18:34:11 -0400, Allan Matthews
wrote: Last month I built a raised garden and after reading this ng decided to make some compost. I went to a local business and got four discarded pallets, stood them upright and wired the corners so I have a bin about 5 feet square and 3 1/2 feet high. Yesterday I got four bales of moldy hay that was left in the field last year. Put about 6 inches in the bottom of the bin then started mowing lawn and bagging clippings. I moistened the hay then layered grass clippings and moldy hay until the bin was full. Grass was also moist..Appreciate any suggestions. Add your (non-meat) kitchen scraps too. Pat -- "Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and demand. It is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy." - Wendell Berry |
New to composting
"Allan Matthews" wrote in message ... Last month I built a raised garden and after reading this ng decided to make some compost. I went to a local business and got four discarded pallets, stood them upright and wired the corners so I have a bin about 5 feet square and 3 1/2 feet high. Yesterday I got four bales of moldy hay that was left in the field last year. Put about 6 inches in the bottom of the bin then started mowing lawn and bagging clippings. I moistened the hay then layered grass clippings and moldy hay until the bin was full. Grass was also moist..Appreciate any suggestions. On the subject of Moldy (mouldy?) hay, I had 42 bales given to me a few years ago.A friend gave me some seed potatoes that had already been cut up so I dropped them on top of the ground across my garden and covered with about 8 inches of hay. It was the best potato crop I have ever had. -- 73 de Bob NS9G |
New to composting
On Thu, 21 Aug 2003 18:34:11 -0400, Allan Matthews
wrote: discarded pallets, stood them upright and wired the corners so I have a bin about 5 feet square and 3 1/2 feet high. Yesterday I got four bales of moldy hay that was left in the field last year. Put about 6 inches in the bottom of the bin then started mowing lawn and bagging clippings. I moistened the hay then layered grass clippings and moldy hay until the bin was full. Grass was also moist..Appreciate any suggestions. That's a really ingenious and inexpensive way to make a compost bin. Also use any vegetable or fruit kitchen scraps, plus eggshells and even brown paper grocery bags. Perhaps you could pile it all up once a week and run over / bag it with the lawn mower :) When I first started composting it was great to see less going in the garbage...I was able to cut the weekly garbage load in half just by starting a compost bin...we are usually the only house with a half-full SINGLE can on our street on garbage day. The compost doesn't hang around for long, at least not in the warm weather....sometimes it's gone within 2-3 weeks if dug under properly. At an average of 10 lbs of scraps each week, in the past 4 years I figure we've kept a full ton of scraps from going in the landfill and staying in the garden. Dan |
New to composting
"dstvns" wrote in message ... That's a really ingenious and inexpensive way to make a compost bin. Also use any vegetable or fruit kitchen scraps, plus eggshells and even brown paper grocery bags. Animals spread eggshells from my neighbor's compost all over the place. I'd skip that. Bob |
New to composting
In article wcx1b.172055$cF.59391@rwcrnsc53, "Bob"
wrote: "dstvns" wrote in message ... That's a really ingenious and inexpensive way to make a compost bin. Also use any vegetable or fruit kitchen scraps, plus eggshells and even brown paper grocery bags. Animals spread eggshells from my neighbor's compost all over the place. I'd skip that. Bob If you crush the eggshells, the critters won't spread them. I always laugh when I see a raven fly off with an eggshell in it's beak, out of my compost pile. (Ravens are *huge* egg thieves -- they steal the eggs out of birds nests. They also steal shiny things. My SO loses at least one wris****ch a year to the ravens, when he takes one off to pull a calf that's having trouble being born.) Jan |
New to composting
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New to composting
"Pam Rudd" wrote in message ... When last we left our heros, on Fri, 22 Aug 2003 15:20:33 -0800, (Jan Flora) scribbled: In article wcx1b.172055$cF.59391@rwcrnsc53, "Bob" wrote: "dstvns" wrote in message ... That's a really ingenious and inexpensive way to make a compost bin. Also use any vegetable or fruit kitchen scraps, plus eggshells and even brown paper grocery bags. Animals spread eggshells from my neighbor's compost all over the place. I'd skip that. Bob If you crush the eggshells, the critters won't spread them. I always laugh when I see a raven fly off with an eggshell in it's beak, out of my compost pile. In the spring I crush and spread my egg shells like bread crumbs for the birds. Everything from the robins to the wrens get some. That's better than putting them in compost. Egg shells are not organic and don't breakdown very well. I put them in the oven after it's been used to dry them out, then when I have a lot of them, I pulverize them in a blender and put them around plants that need a higher pH (my soil is a little acid), such as asparagus, hostas, tomatoes. (Any plant that you'd add lime to the soil.) -- Compostman Washington, DC Zone 7 |
New to composting
When last we left our heros, on Sat, 23 Aug 2003 11:11:05 GMT,
"Compostman" scribbled: "Pam Rudd" wrote in message .. . In the spring I crush and spread my egg shells like bread crumbs for the birds. Everything from the robins to the wrens get some. That's better than putting them in compost. Egg shells are not organic and don't breakdown very well. shrug It all breaks down, maybe not on our schedule; but it all breaks down. What the birds don't eat gets worked into the soil or buried under mulch. It may not be available next year, but it will be sometime. I put them in the oven after it's been used to dry them out, then when I have a lot of them, I pulverize them in a blender and put them around plants that need a higher pH (my soil is a little acid), such as asparagus, hostas, tomatoes. (Any plant that you'd add lime to the soil.) I dry mine in the oven, too. No sense in giving the cockroaches 'round here any encouragement. Damn Palmetto bugs will fly in with the birds! Pam --- Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. --Benjamin Franklin |
New to composting
On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 11:11:05 GMT, "Compostman"
wrote: "Pam Rudd" wrote In the spring I crush and spread my egg shells like bread crumbs for the birds. Everything from the robins to the wrens get some. That's better than putting them in compost. Egg shells are not organic ?? What are they? Polystyrene? Aluminum foil? don't breakdown very well. I hate to argue with someone named Compostman, but I've been rinsing, crushing, and adding the few eggshells I have to compost for years and they seem to be absorbed into the mass. Or maybe the birds got them. While I tend to lean away from folkloric recipes, crushed eggshells are often recommended as a calcium source for both roses, where a long decomposition time wouldn't be crucial, and tomatoes -- an annual for which they'd be no use at all if their calcium didn't become rather quickly available to the plant. |
New to composting
In article , Frogleg
wrote: On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 11:11:05 GMT, "Compostman" wrote: "Pam Rudd" wrote In the spring I crush and spread my egg shells like bread crumbs for the birds. Everything from the robins to the wrens get some. That's better than putting them in compost. Egg shells are not organic ?? What are they? Polystyrene? Aluminum foil? don't breakdown very well. I hate to argue with someone named Compostman, but I've been rinsing, crushing, and adding the few eggshells I have to compost for years and they seem to be absorbed into the mass. Or maybe the birds got them. While I tend to lean away from folkloric recipes, crushed eggshells are often recommended as a calcium source for both roses, where a long decomposition time wouldn't be crucial, and tomatoes -- an annual for which they'd be no use at all if their calcium didn't become rather quickly available to the plant. I've been trying to figure out how a chicken (or any bird) could produce an inorganic shell out of her body. Eggshells are calcium and whatever else, but they're by-god organic, compostman. Get a grip, dude! Jan |
New to composting
I've been trying to figure out how a chicken (or any bird) could produce
an inorganic shell out of her body. Eggshells are calcium and whatever else, but they're by-god organic, compostman. Get a grip, dude! Jan Well, from a chemistry viewpoint 'organic' refers to anything deriving from carbon compounds. I suppose eggshells are more like rocks i.e. through erosion its properties leach into the soil. However, the dictionary states: "Of, relating to, or derived from living organisms." So it all depends on what viewpoint you grip onto. |
New to composting
Frogleg wrote:
On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 11:11:05 GMT, "Compostman" wrote: "Pam Rudd" wrote In the spring I crush and spread my egg shells like bread crumbs for the birds. Everything from the robins to the wrens get some. That's better than putting them in compost. Egg shells are not organic ?? What are they? Polystyrene? Aluminum foil? don't breakdown very well. I hate to argue with someone named Compostman, but I've been rinsing, crushing, and adding the few eggshells I have to compost for years and they seem to be absorbed into the mass. Or maybe the birds got them. While I tend to lean away from folkloric recipes, crushed eggshells are often recommended as a calcium source for both roses, where a long decomposition time wouldn't be crucial, and tomatoes -- an annual for which they'd be no use at all if their calcium didn't become rather quickly available to the plant. If I add a few eggshells every year, eventually the darned things will become available ... and there will be a steady stream of them coming available every year thereafter for many years beyond the day I stop adding them. Speed of decomposition isn't the only factor to consider ... unless you only intend to use soil once. Bill -- Zone 8b (Detroit, MI) I do not post my address to news groups. |
New to composting
"Noydb" wrote in message
... Frogleg wrote: On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 11:11:05 GMT, "Compostman" wrote: "Pam Rudd" wrote In the spring I crush and spread my egg shells like bread crumbs for the birds. Everything from the robins to the wrens get some. That's better than putting them in compost. Egg shells are not organic ?? What are they? Polystyrene? Aluminum foil? I meant that in the organic chemistry sense, not biological sense. don't breakdown very well. I hate to argue with someone named Compostman, but I've been rinsing, crushing, and adding the few eggshells I have to compost for years and they seem to be absorbed into the mass. Or maybe the birds got them. While I tend to lean away from folkloric recipes, crushed eggshells are often recommended as a calcium source for both roses, where a long decomposition time wouldn't be crucial, and tomatoes -- an annual for which they'd be no use at all if their calcium didn't become rather quickly available to the plant. If I add a few eggshells every year, eventually the darned things will become available ... and there will be a steady stream of them coming available every year thereafter for many years beyond the day I stop adding them. Speed of decomposition isn't the only factor to consider ... unless you only intend to use soil once. I think it depends upon how one composts. I live in the city with very limited space. So I compost in bins and turn very frequently. And tear things apart with my hands or a grinder. Egg shells look like eye balls, even 6 months later. So I dry them in the oven, grind them in a blender, and put them around plants such as hostas. I certainly don't recommend throwing them away. And the birds could get them, which is another beneficial use of egg shells. -Compostman Bill -- Zone 8b (Detroit, MI) I do not post my address to news groups. |
New to composting
On Fri, 05 Sep 2003 08:58:45 GMT, "Compostman"
wrote: Frogleg wrote: On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 11:11:05 GMT, "Compostman" wrote: "Pam Rudd" wrote In the spring I crush and spread my egg shells like bread crumbs for the birds. Everything from the robins to the wrens get some. That's better than putting them in compost. Egg shells are not organic ?? What are they? Polystyrene? Aluminum foil? I meant that in the organic chemistry sense, not biological sense. Do you mean that eggshells contain no carbon? What *do* you mean by this? |
New to composting
On Fri, 05 Sep 2003 08:58:45 GMT, "Compostman"
wrote: On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 11:11:05 GMT, "Compostman" wrote: don't breakdown very well. I think it depends upon how one composts. I live in the city with very limited space. So I compost in bins and turn very frequently. And tear things apart with my hands or a grinder. Egg shells look like eye balls, even 6 months later. So I dry them in the oven, grind them in a blender, and put them around plants such as hostas. I certainly don't recommend throwing them away. And the birds could get them, which is another beneficial use of egg shells. Try this: rinse the eggshells, turn upside down, and let dry. Then crumble by hand and add to your compost. At least they won't look like "eyeballs," and you won't have to use your oven and blender(!) to recycle. |
New to composting
Compostman wrote:
I meant that [eggs are not organic] in the organic chemistry sense, not biological sense. I'm even more confused. Eggshells contain organic chemicals, as far as I know. Perhaps you could explain this to someone who has a history degree, not a science degree. I think it depends upon how one composts. I live in the city with very limited space. So I compost in bins and turn very frequently. And tear things apart with my hands or a grinder. Egg shells look like eye balls, even 6 months later. So I dry them in the oven, grind them in a blender, and put them around plants such as hostas. I certainly don't recommend throwing them away. And the birds could get them, which is another beneficial use of egg shells. Goodness. Here's my method: 1. Take out some eggs for cooking. 2. Crack eggs, cook innards. 3. Crush eggshells with hand, drop into "compost bowl" next to sink. 4. At the end of the day, empty compost bowl onto compost pile. Cover with grass clippings. 5. Turn every few days. Within two weeks those suckers are gone. Andrew |
New to composting
On 8/21 I posted about my compost bin and started a long thread.
Within 24 hours of filling the bin, the temperature 12" down in it was 140 F. There has been no objectionable odor and now the compost has settled to about 50% of its volume. I have two 39 gallon garbage cans full of very fine red oak shavings and when I mow lawn tomorrow am going to mix the shavings with the grass clippings and fill the bin again.. Due to all of the rain we are having here (southern tier of NY State) I am going to remove it from the bin next week, stir it up and put it back. Thanjs for all the info I got from the last post. |
New to composting
Allan Matthews wrote:
On 8/21 I posted about my compost bin and started a long thread. Within 24 hours of filling the bin, the temperature 12" down in it was 140 F. There has been no objectionable odor and now the compost has settled to about 50% of its volume. I have two 39 gallon garbage cans full of very fine red oak shavings and when I mow lawn tomorrow am going to mix the shavings with the grass clippings and fill the bin again.. Due to all of the rain we are having here (southern tier of NY State) I am going to remove it from the bin next week, stir it up and put it back. Thanjs for all the info I got from the last post. Sounds like you are off to an excellent start. I would suggest that you mix in 1/4 (by volume) straw, 1/4 shavings and 1/2 clippings. Layer it to measure and then turn it a couple times to mix it. Add water to moisten during the final turning and you should be golden. I have found that the straw allows for good infiltration of oxygen and that this makes a difference in how long the pile is able to hold the higher temps. Bill -- Zone 5b (Detroit, MI) I do not post my address to news groups. |
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