COMPOST

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Comment by Desi Powell on October 31, 2009 at 7:25am

Mary, I hope you got a good snap of the cats playing football with your cherry tomatoes. At least you can then look back on it and have a good chuckle!

Though I must admit, I felt a bit like that this morning when my little Yorkie bit the top off my one pigeon pea that I have been nurturing. I ordered some seeds from an organic nursery and have had a problem with germination so tried starting some seeds on damp cotton wool. One germinated and the other 5 just went rotten. Now that one which was doing so well in the little pot into which I planted it, has had it's growing tip bitten off, so I doubt it will make it.

Comment by Mary Heaner on October 31, 2009 at 5:52am

I just harvested my last, lovely cherry tomatoes. I had to nurse them through the last rain by putting plastic over them but, they ripened finally and were sweet and perfect. Last night they sat on the kitchen counter like jewels - one last taste of summer.
This morning when I got up, the tomatoes were on the floor all over the house and the cats were merrily playing football with them.
Here's my question:
Can cats be composted?

Comment by Joel LeGrand on September 20, 2009 at 2:44am

Hi everyone,
Have you seen amna mufti's photo "CHAFFING".
I could use some of that in my garden now, it would be compost by spring.

Comment by Mamaka on August 13, 2009 at 7:23am

Hi Folks!
I am new to this site and am so glad to have found y'all!

COMPOST! Oh Yeah!

I am a happy passionate composter; folks sometimes call me Compost Kathy.

I've been enjoying a dance with the micro/macro organisms for as long as I can remember! They're the real gardening pros out here and I figure if I can learn the dance we can have have a great time:-)

I am a humanure composter and a vermiculturist and love all my little buddies. The land here is thick clay and it has been wonderful to set up the conditions for building soil and see it improve.

I am also the steward of a 65 acre sustainable tree and woodland product farm. The natural processes of decomposition are very important out here since the land was cleared about 50 yrs ago and over the years of pasturing the soil has become very depleted; especially along the upper levels near the ridgeline. Start with clay and then go further to deplete it...not a good idea.

But, the naturally returning successional forest is doing well and helping to rebuild the soil is a part of my decision making processes, i.e. instead of harvesting downed trees I let them decay for habitat and the composting processes.

Anyways, I am greatly looking forward to reading all of your posts but must get to my chores. I'll be back but in the meantime you are welcome to check out my photos on Transition Ohio, including the soil amendment album.

Thanks for being here and for all you do...I dream of everyone having kitchen gardens...like the victory garden movement!

Mamaka

Comment by Joel LeGrand on July 12, 2009 at 2:39am

Hi everyone, it been said I can be a know it all , so i will keep his short. "Comment by Kay. make a list. on 4/20/09 ." Organic Gardening / Make Compost In 14 Day. Brown: Brown Garden debris,Hedge prunings, Leaves,Pine needles, Straw. Greens:Algae,Chicken manure, Dead houseplants,Fresh grass clippings,Green garden debris, Horse manure. The so so list: Office paper, Cardboard, Natural-fiber cloth,Sawdust,Woodash. The NO-NO List; Black walnut leaves, bark, & chips. Diseased plants,Dog,cat,pig & reptile manure, Gypsum board, Meats, dairy products. O.G. said straw is like wheat & other grains straw not hay, because hay often contains weed & grass seeds . I have not had a problem with seeds & I have used hay that had over 40% weed twigs. I use sawdust from wood that has no man made coating & I turned it under on my garden plot so it would break down faster. If you are going to buy compost ingredients: cottonseed meal,soybean meal are good. I sheet compost sawdust, leaves, peanut& pecan shell. I have been getting coffee bean chaff this year ,it is ground up, wet & going though a heat. I have gotten about 4000 lbs. this year , I also use burlap bags to keep down weeds after spreading chaff around my plants . Got go, bet you are glad I keep it short.

Comment by Nancy H on July 9, 2009 at 7:46am

Apparently I cold compost because I have tomato plants growing everywhere!!!!

Comment by Gillian on July 9, 2009 at 12:28am

I have decided to start another compost bin at work - there is an extra little galvanised bin here. I have mostly fruit and vegetable peels from lunches and paper and cardboard.. I can also trim some of the bushes around here to add extra greens. It has a very rusty bottom, and there are holes close to the bottom, but none right on the bottom. Not sure if I should have broken some through so that it was standing on the actual dirt like my one at home. Oh well this will be an experiment, and if I end up with some extra compost so much the better!

Comment by Cath on May 22, 2009 at 7:51pm

Thank you, Gillian,for the information. I cold compost and turn, add coffee grounds and eggshells. I added those directly to the garden soil last year, so I didn't think it would hurt. I think I will go through and sift it tomorrow. Everything else will go into the other bin. I am trying to hot compost also.
Cath

Comment by Gillian on May 21, 2009 at 10:20pm

Cath,
That sounds as though you have completed a perfect cold composting cycle. If it looks as though it has broken down and has been sitting that long I would think it would be good to use. Cold composting does not kill weed seeds, and some people say that it actually has more nutrients (who knows!). This type of composting is when you have everything all ready and assemble the layers all at once then cover and leave it alone.
the main difference seems to be that if you keep adding to your pile you need it to hot compost so you keep adding, and turning to keep up the heat. It is much faster (although every time you add you have to move the start date on.) I never measure the temperature but it does get quite hot. I pull compost out of the bottom of the bin ocassionally to make room at the top as it sinks down again and that also seems to add a bit of aeration to speed it up. Not sure if this the perfect way but it works for me.

Comment by Cath on May 21, 2009 at 5:44pm

What is the deal with the internal temperature? Last year when I was done with my garden (I container garden) I put all of the dirt/manure in a pile and started composting. I added scraps, cardboard, coffee grounds, leaves and grass. The earth worms came naturally, so I didn't have to purchase any. I heard that compost needs to be 160 degrees inside. Mine is body temperature...or about. The soil has broken down and looks like it would be good stuff to reuse with the new mixture I have. What do you think? What are your thoughts on the internal temp of 160 degrees? I live in Indiana, and it isn't hot here yet.

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