One Alaskans greenhouse

[flowerbug]

@heirloomgal thanks for the kind words. Spend a little of that research time learning about Comfrey, it’s a “renewable homerun” that will hang in there for years.
look at this as a challenge! They tell us “fear of the unknown” is mans greatest fear and yet; i’ve never seen even one little spec of fear coming from you. Can’t imagine it not growing for you, once you get a bed established. NPK is right up there with most fertilizers And you can cut it numerous times per season.

if your interested, let me know, if you need any help, let me know and if you can’t find seeds or starts; let me know.

Oh yea; you’ll have lots of pretty purple and pink flowers too. Surely that’ll lure you in?

i always warn people to plant the kinds that don't drop seeds or you'll be regretting it later. we have a few plants of the other type and within just a few short years they're well established even if the deer will come along and eat them.

 

[Alasgun]

@flowerbug, i hear you and appreciate that mention! Bocking 14 is the “sterile” strain that can be divided but seeds are not viable. We only have one of these, our first venture into Comfrey. Then we have a combined total of roughly 16 other plants of the “standard variety” in 4 different beds that provide all we use during the year.
i cant tell the difference looking at them other than the cultivated bed always out performs the others. Except for this one, the remainder are all along a woods edge and id be quite excited to see some expansion thru seeds dropping, which has not been the case so far. i’d imagine, just like everything else; there are regions where this would be a real concern.
Bee’s like it and so do my Rabbits; our only ungulates are the Moose who don't bother it.

 

[heirloomgal]

@heirloomgal thanks for the kind words. Spend a little of that research time learning about Comfrey, it’s a “renewable homerun” that will hang in there for years.
look at this as a challenge! They tell us “fear of the unknown” is mans greatest fear and yet; i’ve never seen even one little spec of fear coming from you. Can’t imagine it not growing for you, once you get a bed established. NPK is right up there with most fertilizers And you can cut it numerous times per season.

if your interested, let me know, if you need any help, let me know and if you can’t find seeds or starts; let me know.

Oh yea; you’ll have lots of pretty purple and pink flowers too. Surely that’ll lure you in?

Yes, pretty flowers are a definite bonus!

 

[flowerbug]

Yes, pretty flowers are a definite bonus!

it's also a nice plant with those big leaves.

 

[Alasgun]

Today i mulched 40 new strawberry plants and turned the compost pile for the first time this year.
This is the first full winter with rabbit waste and im pleased with the level of breakdown im all ready seeing and with the greater quantity over previous years.

This side of the bin is holding roughly 3 cu/yds; and a shot of the whole bin. With a pair of these there’s plenty of room for all that i generate.

 

[flowerbug]

@flowerbug, i hear you and appreciate that mention! Bocking 14 is the “sterile” strain that can be divided but seeds are not viable. We only have one of these, our first venture into Comfrey. Then we have a combined total of roughly 16 other plants of the “standard variety” in 4 different beds that provide all we use during the year.
i cant tell the difference looking at them other than the cultivated bed always out performs the others. Except for this one, the remainder are all along a woods edge and id be quite excited to see some expansion thru seeds dropping, which has not been the case so far. i’d imagine, just like everything else; there are regions where this would be a real concern.
Bee’s like it and so do my Rabbits; our only ungulates are the Moose who don't bother it.

the deer ate the tops off mine this past week right when they were starting to flower. there's only a bit of flowering left on one stalk and that's it that i see out there now. hungry or picky buggers those deer are rather spoiled... at least they didn't eat the clematis...

 

[heirloomgal]

Today i mulched 40 new strawberry plants and turned the compost pile for the first time this year.
This is the first full winter with rabbit waste and im pleased with the level of breakdown im all ready seeing and with the greater quantity over previous years.

this is roughly 4 cu/yds.

Now that I've finally gotten rid of my giant compost pile I'd like to create a new, more efficient system for disposing of plants and garden debris in the fall to make compost. Is this a system you'd recommend @Alasgun ? It would only be for outdoor materials, nothing from the kitchen.

 

[meadow]

My (adult) children are scheming to start up with rabbits, probably over at our place. I'm looking forward to having a supply of 'bunny gold'!

I'm interested to hear your thoughts on compost systems too. I'm all ears.

 

[Alasgun]

@heirloomgal, @meadow Composting is simpler than it’s sometimes made out. All your doing is “civilizing“ a natural process to work more efficiently by creating a suitable environment.
Any pile of organic material will compost it’s self away in time but as gardeners we want to control the process and the time it takes to become useful AND keep as much of “the good stuff” in the final product.
To be successful your pile needs to be contained in order for heat to build and to make management of the pile easier. I started with pallets laid over on their side and screwed together to resemble a little corral and i stapled ag fafric to the inside just to keep the compost from escaping! This evolved into what im currently using, made from portable chainlink panels. You also need at least 2 bins or large enough bins so that when you turn the pile you have somewhere to put it. My “bins” are 12 feet wide and 6 feet deep front to back with a moveable partition allowing me to keep the pile as compact as possible and yet have enough room to expand as the pile grows during the year.
My compost is made up of any and all organic refuse; garden waste, grass clippings, kitchen scraps etc. and now that i have a steady flow of Rabbit poop and urine they are included also. Any manure source will greatly enhance the process and the final product.
A thermometer was purchased several years ago and it taught me more about the process than any amount or reading ever would. Previously id turn the pile every time i mowed to incorporate the fresh green stuff and when your turning several yards of material with a fork; it’s a lot of work.
The thermometer helped me see when it needed turned and eliminated useless effort on my part.
In a nut shell; create some sort of containment, add all your stuff layering as you go and have a hose close by to wet it down between layers, monitor the temperature and turn it when necessary. Composting worked fine for me for several years without a manure source but it went into the second year before it was useable. Manure has shortened that time dramatically.
i should mention; i have 2 of the bins previously noted. Beginning in the spring all the organic material is added to one bin and left to work thru that summer and into the following spring. Once it thaws in the spring i turn it a couple of times during the summer and apply it in the fall. Having the second bin keeps thing flowing in a perpetual manner.

All of this can easily be accomplished with a rotatable compost bin as long as you are only doing very small quantities.

Like anything else, give it a try and find what works for you, once you have it worked out; you’ll be glad you put the effort in! I’ve attached a generic compost article for anyone interested. Is it a “last word”, of course not but if you have no idea about where your going; it should get you on the path!

When Is Compost Finished And Ready To Use? - BackyardDigs

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to know when compost is ready. Learn about compost stages, how to tell when compost is finished and what it looks like.

www.backyarddigs.com

 

[Ridgerunner]

Now that I've finally gotten rid of my giant compost pile I'd like to create a new, more efficient system for disposing of plants and garden debris in the fall to make compost. Is this a system you'd recommend @Alasgun ? It would only be for outdoor materials, nothing from the kitchen.

As Alasgun said, any pile of organic material will compost over time if it has the right conditions. I'm thinking mostly about moisture. The bugs that turn the stuff into compost need a certain amount of moisture to live and reproduce. @digitS' has some experience with that, that's one reason he often buries his. If it gets too wet and stays too wet the aerobic bugs that you want can't breathe and anaerobic bugs take over. These can stink and the quality of the compost isn't as good as the aerobic bugs make. If the weather sets in wet for a while it may get too wet but as long as it is somewhere it can drain that6 usually isn't a problem.

Another part is the mix of greens (nitrogen) and browns (carbon). There are ideal percentages of each but I don't worry too much about that. Many things you use to compost contain both greens and browns. It can be hard to get too precise of how much of each are in there. Too much greens and it can stink too so adding browns, or mixing it can be useful to tame it. If I dump too thick of a layer of chicken manure (mostly a green) on the pile it can stink and draw flies. Either mixing it up or covering it with grass clippings takes care of the problem. There might be some trial and error in your learning curve.

The bugs that turn it into compost eat the browns but use the greens as an energy source. The more greens the faster the process but also the more likely it is to go anaerobic and stink. It's not just how wet it is that causes the problems, it is also the mix.

Some typical greens are animal manure, kitchen wastes, nitrogen fertilizers, urine, and fresh green vegetation. Typical carbons are dried leaves and dried brown vegetation. Fresh green grass clippings or fresh green sweet potato vines are considered greens but they become browns if they have dried out. They still contain both greens and browns but the proportions change. That's one reason I don't worry too much about getting the mix very precise, I just err on the side of too many browns. Personally I don't do it but a few years back a lady in here said she got her husband to pee on the compost pile to add to the greens content.

@heirloomgal if you just pile up your garden wastes in the fall it will start composting, but they will probably be mostly browns, at least after a while if they dry out. Your dried bean hulls are very much a brown. They will compost even if you don't turn them or add greens as long as they have some moisture. Not sure what your winter temperatures will do to the process. Try to avoid wood. Wood takes a long time to compost.

I built two bins maybe 4' x 4' each. I use one to continually collect materials throughout the year. That's mainly chicken poop, kitchen and garden wastes, and garden excesses. I pile up corn stalks, bean vines, sweet potato vines, and such in a separate pile. I mix some dried grass clippings (more like hay I let it get so big before I mow) in withe collectibles bin to keep it from getting too green.

My second bin is the working bin. When I clean one batch of compost out to start another I layer in a layer of browns, a layer of fresh chicken poop since I just cleaned my droppings board special for that occasion, and a layer from my collection bin. Some stuff in the collection bin has already composted a lot. Then I alternate browns and the stuff in the collection bin for another couple of stacks. I'll probably top it off with grass clippings. That stack shrinks dramatically if I water it or if it rains. So I add another pretty tall stack of grass (hay) clippings or browns if I still have some. it shrinks again so in a week or two I add another layer, plus any chicken poop or kitchen or garden wastes or excesses I have. While the bugs will find it, you can speed up the process a little by shoveling a couple of shovelfuls of topsoil. That top soil contains the bugs I want. The partially composted stuff in the collection bin is full of those bugs.

At some point I stop adding to the working bin and start putting that stuff in the collecting bin. Turning the stuff in the working bin is a pain because I have no place to put that stuff as I try to turn it. If I had it to do again I'd go with a 3-bin system, just to make it easier to turn it.

In line with it being a natural process, The largest compost pile I'm directly familiar with goes from northern Georgia to up in Canada. It's called the Appalachian Mountains. Those trees dump a lot of leaves every year. While some birds, bugs, and other critters drop an occasional bit of "greens". it is mostly browns. It composts slowly because it is almost all browns, but it does compost.

And just for fun, here is what some master gardeners had to say about composting.