Hi there,

I would like to improve the soil on my property, which is clay-like
and very hard to work with (hasn't been worked for over 40 years). I
would like to try to add a large amount of compost to improve the
quality of soil, but I need a large amount to do this. I have a
compost pile going, to which I add kitchen waste, grass clippings, and
twigs, but the resulting quantity is not enough and seems like only a
symbolic amount when I look of the size of the potential garden-to-be
(I have about 400 sq. m. available for gardening, but will not use
that much in reality!).

The local sawmill has a huge pile of "left-overs", which contains aged
bark, wood chippings and sawdust - and the deeper I dug into the pile
the more humus-like the content looked. They told me that was waste
for them so I could take as much as I can. They also said fresh
sawdust was also available if I need it.

So, if I take advantage of this large amount of carbon-rich material,
I would also need a source of nitrogen to supplement this. The only
thing that comes to mind is paying for a truck-load of cow manure.

My idea is to get a truck-load of the sawmill "waste" and a truck-load
of cow manure, create a big pile by adding thin layers of the 2
materials, cover the pile with nylon and wait one year and hope for
the best!

Does this sound like a recipe for success? Is the ratio of 1:1 (carbon
and nitrogen sources) OK in this case? Should I also use fresh sawdust
and not just the aged "waste" stuff (which also contains rotted
sawdust)? Can I expect finished compost after one year?

Any ideas would be greatly appeciated!
Joe

In article , Joe Jamies
writes

My idea is to get a truck-load of the sawmill "waste" and a truck-load
of cow manure, create a big pile by adding thin layers of the 2
materials, cover the pile with nylon and wait one year and hope for
the best!

I think you should be a bit careful about this stuff.
Wood these days has been treated with all sorts of chemicals
(pesticides, fungicides etc etc) which will be bound to be in the saw
dust as well.
--
Jane Ransom in Lancaster.
I won't respond to private emails that are on topic for urg
but if you need to email me for any other reason,
put jandg dot demon dot co dot uk where you see deadspam.com

On Sun, 16 Mar 2003 09:28:57 +0000, Jane Ransom
wrote:

In article , Joe Jamies
writes

My idea is to get a truck-load of the sawmill "waste" and a truck-load
of cow manure, create a big pile by adding thin layers of the 2
materials, cover the pile with nylon and wait one year and hope for
the best!

I think you should be a bit careful about this stuff.
Wood these days has been treated with all sorts of chemicals
(pesticides, fungicides etc etc) which will be bound to be in the saw
dust as well.

If it's from a sawmill, rather than a timber yard, then the wood
shouldn't have been treated with anything yet, that tends to get done
after the initial sawing.
--
Pete The Gardener
A room without books is like a body without a soul.

In article , Joe Jamies
writes
Hi there,

I would like to improve the soil on my property, which is clay-like
and very hard to work with (hasn't been worked for over 40 years). I
would like to try to add a large amount of compost to improve the
quality of soil, but I need a large amount to do this. I have a
compost pile going, to which I add kitchen waste, grass clippings, and
twigs, but the resulting quantity is not enough and seems like only a
symbolic amount when I look of the size of the potential garden-to-be
(I have about 400 sq. m. available for gardening, but will not use
that much in reality!).

We are gardening about 1 hectare (2 acres) of which about a third is in
cultivation and needs composting every so often. I've done an urg FAQ on
large scale organic composting which can be seen at:
http://www.nugget.demon.co.uk/MetaFAQ/organic.html

A certain amount of chainsaw chippings, sawdust and shredded woody
material is used in our system, some of it in composting and some as
mulch, but all of them need to be applied to soil with caution. Most of
ours finish up improving our grass paths in wet seasons. Some of that
kind of material would help to loosen heavy clay providing it is put in
fairly deep - i.e. around 12".30cm at least.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.

The message
from (Joe Jamies) contains these words:


Does this sound like a recipe for success?

Yes. Other bulk materials that most people can fairly easily get hold
of very cheaply, are spoilt straw and haybales from animal feed
suppliers or nearby farmers. If you can't get spoilt bales, even good
straw is still cheap. (Hay is second choice because of the seed content,
but I have still used this very successfully in appropriate
situations).Layering either with manure is even better.

Other bulk materials I've collected for composting or mulching have
been cut green nettles, rosebay willow (both before flowering), green
bracken, all from waste land; home grown comfrey ( sterile Bocking 14 is
best, from HDRA) seaweed and dead leaves from parks. Wool clippings from
shearing shed; floor sweepings from hairdresser, paper from office
shredder.

If you live near a greengrocers or restaurant you may be able to
arrange collection of their waste veg. Hairdressers will often save you
a sack of hair sweepings, excellent compost material though it has to be
said that some hair is treated with a lot of chemicals :-) I believe
Starbucks coffee shops will also give away large amounts of old coffee
grounds but haven't tried that.

Janet.

(Joe Jamies) wrote in message . com...
Hi there,

I would like to improve the soil on my property, which is clay-like
and very hard to work with (hasn't been worked for over 40 years). I
would like to try to add a large amount of compost to improve the
quality of soil, but I need a large amount to do this. I have a
compost pile going, to which I add kitchen waste, grass clippings, and
twigs, but the resulting quantity is not enough and seems like only a
symbolic amount when I look of the size of the potential garden-to-be
(I have about 400 sq. m. available for gardening, but will not use
that much in reality!)........


Joe...see your local jobbing gardener.He's paying to dump
perfectly good compostable material.Do a deal.Control
what he gives you and you are both quids in....Ken