I need help with my compost.....

[homesteadmomma]

I have a big bin made out of chicken wire that I call my compost bin. I realize now that it is a joke but I need to know how to fix it. In this wire I throw all chicken poop (I have dropping boards so it is pure poop), straw from the goat house and goat droppings raked from the pen, rabbit manure (small amount, 1 rabbit), straw covered with duck poop, vegetables scraps, misc yard waste and so forth. This was great at first but now this pile is huge wet mess that is hardly heating up. My thought is to make a new 3 bin compost bin out of pallets and divide this "lovely" mess into two of those bins and keep the other for new stuff.

I would love it if you would please share your thoughts, opinions or give me some advice. Thank you!

 

[boggybranch]

Well, homey....don't know where you're from, but here in south Alabama, it's really to cool to get a pile to properly heat up.
I would suggest turning the pile very often to allow it to dry out, keep it covered against rain and snow (if you ever get any) and by the time the weather warms up.....you'll be set to have another go at it.

Best way, I've found to get a pile to "start cooking" is by layering 2 parts brown material (carbon) with 1 part green material (nitrogen)and just keep repeating the layers until your pile is around 3 ft high. Also, add a thin layer of garden soil or "done" compost between each layer or so (it will help jump start the pile with their micro herds). Also dampen each layer.
Leave it be for a couple of weeks, then start turning the pile a couple times a week.......don't let the pile dry out but don't waterlog it, either. You want it to be about as damp as a wrung out sponge.

Course you can add the misc. stuff (chicken poo, kitchen scraps, shredded paper and cardboard, ect.) as you have it.

Before you know it....all that "stuff" turns to "black gold.

 

[homesteadmomma]

Hey thanks, I live in Idaho so yes it is cold and wet here right now. The biggest problem I think is that the pile is to big to turn and to difficult to get the pitchfork in there over the wire.

I just called the lumber yard and they will be giving me 7 pallets to make a new compost bin. I am so excited!

 

[bid]

I have used pallets before and they are a great advantage over wire for just the reason you mentioned... a wire circle you have to move it to really be able to turn it. 3 sided pallet bins are so much easier to work. I am using a left over wire "bin" now myself so I just turn it once at about 6 months and let it go. I think you will be much happier with your new bins!

 

[boggybranch]

Hey thanks, I live in Idaho so yes it is cold and wet here right now. The biggest problem I think is that the pile is to big to turn and to difficult to get the pitchfork in there over the wire.

I just called the lumber yard and they will be giving me 7 pallets to make a new compost bin. I am so excited!

Yep...that will make a BIG difference in your composting....gotta be able to turn it, unless you're making a "cold pile" that can take a year or more to breakdown.

I am addicted to composting...it's just toooooo cool, taking "stuff" and turning it into "dirt".

 

[homesteadmomma]

I also think I would love composting if I could do it prooerly. Right now it is a big mess. I love my worm composting bin, it is in the kitchen and works great.

 

[boggybranch]

I also think I would love composting if I could do it prooerly. Right now it is a big mess. I love my worm composting bin, it is in the kitchen and works great.

Go to eBay and get yourself a copy of Rodale's "Complete book of Composting"....almost 1000 pages with answers to any and all questions you could possibly ever have about composting. It covers.....EVERYTHING imaginable.

 

[2ndtimearound]

It really doesn't sound like you have 'wrong' ingredients - the straw along with the poop should get your 'heat' going. If there isn't enough straw and it's just too wet, try adding a few loads of leaves and stir. That might correct your balance and make it all turn out ok.

 

[patandchickens]

now this pile is huge wet mess that is hardly heating up.

Your main problem is probably that it is currently winter

If you can insulate a pile sufficiently and/or give it extra solar warmth it is *possible* to keep a compost pile heating decently in a northern winter, but it is hard to do that *and* keep rats etc from taking out residence, and frankly the easiest thing would probably be to just LET it take a break over the winter.

If the pile is getting real soggy, two things are likely to help; first, cover it with something to reduce how much rain/snow input it gets, and second, next time you build a compost pile, try to make sure there is some brushwood or seomthing underneath it so it is not sucking up moisture from the ground so much. If it is recieving overland flow of water, from melt or runoff or puddling, trenching around the pile to lead the water away will also help quite a lot.

Old carpeting works pretty well for covering a pile IME, as it doesn't blow off easily; if that is still letting too much rain etc through, you can put a slightly smaller piece of plastic sheeting underneath it. Or use plywood or old roof tin or whatever you have available, just be careful of it blowing off.

It is usually a good idea to have a couple of piles going -- at least one old one, plus a new fresh one that you are currently adding to -- so that the old 'finished' compost doesn't get TOO deeply buried, and so there is less to dilute out the new fresh stuff trying to heat up.

However, note that it is hard to get a pile to heat up real hot (like, seed- and germ-killingly hot) if you are adding gradually to it. It really works a lot more reliably if you can do the pile all at once, and make it at least 4' wide and 3-4' high and as steep-sided (cubical) as possible.

Frankly I think that unless a person owns a tractor and/or wants to put a LOT of labor and fiddlin' time into a compost pile, it is better not to count on it heating up to killin-bad-stuff type temperatures, but rather accept that some seeds and germs will survive the composting. Which frankly unless you are SUPER detail-oriented when turning the pile they will survive ANYhow, from portions that never did get hot enough even if the center of the pile did.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[journey11]

I have found straw to be harder to cook than other browns. Old spent hay is much, much better, or leaves. Grass clippings do ok, but are better added in dry than moist or they clump together and mold and make sludge.

I would think chicken wire would be pretty cumbersome when it comes time for turning. You should have better luck with the pallets, or try cutting saplings and corralling the pile with them by stacking them. You want the gaps in between, air circulation is a good thing.

Yeah, it's too cold right now. The middle might cook, but don't expect much until the weather improves. Sounds like you got enough manure to do the trick. You want it moist, but not sopping wet if you plan to periodically turn it.

Me, I like to just let it sit and rot. I might turn it once or twice during the summer, when things dry out. Mostly just to move the uncooked stuff over to make room for a new pile. I'll shovel the big bits and things that are still identifiable aside and just keep piling those while I extract the good well-cooked stuff from the middle and bottom. This works well for me because I usually apply it by the shovel-full to each plant that needs it. I have a big enough pile to be able to get a couple wheelbarrow fulls at a time. It takes a while to get a good compost pile going!

If you really want it quick, I recommend buying or building a turner. You can get perfect compost in like a month during the warmer seasons.