Backyard compost makers unite!!

twenty47red-i said:

Gday composters, I have just started on a 2nd heap.
I use most of whats been mentioned which is.....fish carcass

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Meats and bone are not good in compost piles! They will draw in disease causing oranisms. Human urine and feces are not good either because of the risk of pathogens....

Be sure to turn the pile every week or 2 to keep it well aerated, but can't really do that right now can ya?

Nature's compost bin:

I should say that I keep all my fish waste in a large chest freezer until I'm ready to use it (keeps it from getting smelly). When I'm ready to use it, after harvest time here, I liquify it in a blender, then mix it in a pile with my waste coco coir. Say 5L of liquid fish to 50 L of coco coir. This then goes into my heap. No fuss No smell. I'm just an avid angler and I know about all the goodness in fish so I've researched a bit on how to add it without my yard stinking like a landfill.

Urine you shouldnt have to worry about either as its steriles far as I know. Says it in that text I posted above also. Faeces I don't add so screw that shit, hehehe.

And as far as not breing able to turn it goes, I was out in the yard earlier on this moderately warm day of 27^C, and was able to give it a good forking. Minimum temps round these parts rarely drop below 5^C and thats only in the early morning Stay warm brothers

Peace.

I don't even bother making boxes or using drums or anything, I just make a huge pile in the yard, this years pile: seaweed, bail of hay, big bag of leaves, load of chicken crap fresh from the coop, and all of my kitchen scraps, mix all that together, cover in layer of yard dirt and let cook, mix once a week.

When I make tea for the girls I don't use stockings or anything, I always use an extra gallon of water so all the sludge at the bottom with that extra gallon gets chucked onto the pile.

Make sure big piles are minimum 3x3 and 3 feet tall for best results.

So what do you do with the finished compost? Can i just put it on top of the soil of my outdoor plants and then there is no more need for extra fertilizer? Or mix it with the spent soil from last year for bringing in fresh nutrients? Can i feed my plants solely with compost and still get good results?

you can mix it in or apply as a compost tea.

H. Wurst said:

So what do you do with the finished compost? Can i just put it on top of the soil of my outdoor plants and then there is no more need for extra fertilizer? Or mix it with the spent soil from last year for bringing in fresh nutrients? Can i feed my plants solely with compost and still get good results?

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I like to screen mine.

I use a 1/2" hardware cloth screen and remove large material I throw back into the next pile unless it's rocks or other debris.

Then I decide how much I need of finer grades and screen that through 1/4 " screen.


for my mj.. I use the 1/4 " screened

Note: it's better to use compost now rather then later IMO.

Easy Vermicomposting from my favourite local tv show.

Wonder of Worms


Presenter: Joshua Byrne [26/03/2004]

In Australia, over half of the household material that end up at the tip is organic waste, and when it is buried can lead to groundwater contamination and the production of greenhouse gases. This practice is environmentally unsound and also wasteful because through natural processes this organic matter can safely and easily be converted into useful soil-building humus.

One of the best ways gardeners can break down organic matter is to use composting worms to convert food scraps into nutrient-rich, pH neutral worm castings, which produce a high quality soil conditioner. A convenient container in which to do this is an old bathtub, but almost any sturdy, waterproof container can be used. Worms are the most willing workers that can be found in the garden.

Composting worms are a different type to the deep-burrowing earthworms that aerate the soil. Composting worms are surface dwellers that thrive in the leaf litter layers in moist regions around the world. To increase numbers, ideal conditions have to be created. There are three common types of composting worms; Tiger worms, Indian Blues and Red Wrigglers. They can be difficult to tell apart, but all live quite happily together and all require similar conditions – cool, moist, dark, oxygen-rich environments with a regular supply of food.

While there are ready-made worm farms available, it is easy to make your own. Two bathtubs will accommodate the food scraps of an average family of four. One side of the bath is filled with food scraps and the worms introduced. When this has nearly been consumed the other side can begin to be filled and the worms will move to this side, leaving the original half filled with worm castings ready for the garden.

HOW TO MAKE A WORM FARM IN A BATHTUB

# Slits need to be cut with an angle grinder, into the bathtub about 5 cm from the base. (Protect your face with a mask when using this tool) These will provide aeration to the worm bed.

# Use a silicone sealant to attach a mesh screen over the drain hole to reduce the chance of it blocking up. A plastic colander could be used.

# Fill above the incisions with coarse gravel for good drainage then lay down a layer of weed mat or tight shade cloth to prevent the worm castings from mixing with the gravel.

# A mixture of coir fibre and straw that has been soaked in water should be introduced to one side of the container first. When the worms are introduced and food is available, the conditions are conducive to them breeding.

# Add some aged horse manure.

# Now it is time to add the worms, which are available from garden centres or worm farmers.

# Cover the worms with a piece of carpet that has been soaked in water, and drained. This will keep the worm farm cool and moist. (If the worm farm ever seems dry, re-moisten the carpet. Never drown them with a hose).

# Worm farms need a shady, undercover position where they won’t be drenched by rain or irrigation.


Don’t overfeed the worms or the food scraps will just rot. Worms will breed up quickly if the conditions are right, and ideally will double every three months. As they increase in number the amount of food scraps can be increased proportionately – up to a kilo of food scraps per square metre per day. The smaller the pieces the quicker it will be broken down. DON’T USE citrus or onions as worms dislike these. These can go into the compost bin. Meat and dairy foods should also not be used as they attract flies, rats an wasps as they rot. Think about burying these under a favourite fruit tree.

When the worm farm is operating successfully and you notice pests like mites, vinegar flies, maggots or slugs just dust the top with lime. Check to make sure you haven’t added too much food.

When you notice that the worms have left the first side, the castings are ready to use on the garden. A handful can be used in planting holes ensuring that the roots of plants have a wide range of nutrients and moisture available to them. Liquid worm castings also make an excellent fertiliser. A generous handful in a 9 litre bucket of water stirred vigorously can be watered onto plants weekly during the growing season will produce outstanding results. A wonderful advantage is that this mixture will not burn plants.

Excessive applications are wasteful. Soil has a limit to the amount of nutrient-laden moisture it can hold at a time; so small regular applications are best.

Peace.

Same show...
Building a Worm Farm

Presenter: Jane Edmanson [20/01/2007]

Jane explains the benefits of worm farms

There can be no doubt that worms are the best thing for your garden. Not ordinary worms, but true composting worms - red worms from the Amazon, and Tiger Worms. Their job is to live in a worm farm and decompose organic matter to produce marvellous stuff, called worm castings, which gives the garden a surge.

It’s easy to get a worm farm established. It’s made up of levels of plastic containers. Start with a solid base, and then add others with perforation. The aim is to build layers for the worms to move through. Look for a base that collects the liquid, (which will drain from the top), and a tap at the bottom means it’s possible to collect the liquid in a bottle. It’s absolutely fantastic for watering all your pot plants but it needs to be diluted at 10 to 1.

When setting up a worm farm firstly consider where to put it. A cool, dry space is fine, but not in the hot afternoon sun. Next step is to set up the base, or bedding area, which needs to be put down with a layer of moistened newspaper.

The worms are available in bulk from hardware stores or a general nursery. About 500 come in a little bag with some bedding material, which is usually sawdust. Just spread that out.

Only feed a little bit at this stage because they are getting settled into the bedding material. Use lettuce, old bits of banana, anything that you've got that's wasteful in the kitchen sink. Then add just enough newspaper or hessian over the top to keep them moist. Always make sure that the newspaper, or hessian, is kept moist. They will start to feed and after about two weeks, add the next layer on top and that's the time to start feeding all organic waste and the worms will travel up through the perforations.

Worms like moistened cardboard or newspaper, food scraps, and they love eggshells, but crunch them up a little. It gives them variety in their diet. Coffee grindings and tea leaves are absolutely fantastic and throw in all the kitchen scraps. But don’t add too much citrus and onions, which are acidic and worms don't like them that much. Just use a few.

Things to avoid include tough garden clippings because it takes a long time for a worm to chew through them and meat, because that attracts vermin. But dog hair and vacuum cleaning bags are fantastic. Then put the lid on to seal it.

If the worm farm is too dry and has ants, then add vegetable matter that rots down and some water to ensure it isn't too dry. Little vinegar flies hovering means it's too acidic, so add some lime and ruffle it up a little.

After four or five months the worm casts or vermicast on the bottom level will be ready to use. It’s powerful stuff. To get the worms out before putting the vermicast onto the garden, just put them in the sunlight and scrape the top layer of the worm castings off. The worms will then tunnel down to get away from the sunlight. Use vermicast wisely because it is potent. A piece about 10cm is enough to put around a shrub or pot plant. Just sprinkle it around plants and they will love it.

Many people think worms are yucky, but in fact they are quite clean. They have no known diseases and their digestive system destroys pathogens. The job they do cannot be compared to anything else. If everyone had a worm farm our compostable garbage would be reduced by 1 tonne per person per year. That's an amazing amount and worms do it all for you. They are really fantastic - so happy worm farming.

Excellent, crisp easy to understand article on worm composting, thanks for sharing!

Hi naga_sadu!
Wow what an informative thread! This thread has answered all the questions I have had about starting up a compost pile. I have about a dozen bags of dried leaves, I thought they would just compost on there own.
Thanks to all the knowledgeable contributors!

Peace

Naga, great thread. Good to see you in Organics forum. I have read some of your other posts and you are quit informed on world events and am glad you came here to share your knowledge.

Composting.....I like to keep the pile to about 5x5. I place it on a pallet and surround the sides with pallets. The lumber mill is all to happy to get rid of hard wood waste. I live in a tropical area so grass and things are year around for me. Tons of citrus waste also. Whole truck loads of bad oranges and such. We also have lots of fish waste but I like to compost that seperately or freeze it to make a emulsion tea later.

Worms.....its the best soil admendment hands down. Once you get it going you will have more than you can handle. Those little buggers breed like crazy. I keep mine in the basement in rubbermaid containers.

vonforne said:

Composting.....I like to keep the pile to about 5x5. I place it on a pallet and surround the sides with pallets.

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That is the best, simplest idea for a compost bin I've ever heard. Cheers man, I'll be using it for sure.

nothing like good compost soil amendment for the veggie garden. Grass clippings paper sawdust, veggie waste (that i don't use for the worm bins)some leaves

get that pile to heat up and turn weekly (bi weekly usually)

have 2 piles every other year i try to use oldest pile

early spring I till it in ground

and reap my rewards

recycled008

vonforne said:

Worms.....its the best soil admendment hands down. Once you get it going you will have more than you can handle. Those little buggers breed like crazy. I keep mine in the basement in rubbermaid containers.

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It's been a decade since i raised worms. I have one of those wormtopia's and have 4 lbs of worms on the way to get started.

This time 1/2 of those are the belgian nightcrawlers (not to be confused with Canadian nightcrawlers) which i've never raised before but i hear they are twice as productive as red wigglers. Anyone have any experience with them?

I've had my Mantis Compos-Twin for over three years now.. and its my best friend.... with a crank handle on its side lol

but the mantis is a wonderful composter.. very easy and very fast... compost piles just don't cut it anymore... the mantis will get that dirt HOT! especially when I dump grass clippings in there with brown matter
its fun crankin' that thing too! necessity is the mother of invention
the only thing not so wonderful is the price but it is more than worth it imo

we have horrid clay dirt here... its hard, sun-baked, compressed, and doesn't take well to water... compost is a must.... its also much much cheaper than buying 20 bags of top soil... top soil is just mud with bark in it anyway

VictoryGardener said:

top soil is just mud with bark in it anyway

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lol. indeed.

Coco doesn't break down easily and wouldn't compost. It would just add to the consistency of it, correct?

I've never used coco but it seems like it would work great.. I mean.. top soil has its place and that place is when you need a lot of dirt to till into soil for a garden but if you want nice soil, top soil is just junk... there is smoe mysterious, questionable shit in top soil! I wouldn't be suprised if I found a severed human hand in a bag of top soil! lol
peat moss (dust) is great... until you water it, then it turns into concrete.. then when you water it again, it mysteriously vanishes! that stuff just dissapears! The worst part about top soil is that a bag is ALWAYS full of bugs and flies that are no good for plants

foxfarm and sta-green on the other hand... I love the dirt but I hate the price.. especially with foxfarm.. jesus, its hard to imagine spending so much on a ....bag of freakin' dirt!


but I love composting.. its fun, and very rewarding
the mantis really gets the stuff cookin'
real freakin rich.

I haven't grown marijuana in a while, but I till a veggie garden every summer
and the watermelons and tomatoes do great in the clay for some odd reason
no idea why... and I have terrible clay dirt, especially in summer
it looks like the suface of Mars lol

the best composting book ever written: http://www.weblife.org/humanure/

I love that book!! thanks for the link.. its full of good stuff
I want to learn a thing or two