starting a new compost pile

southern gardener 9/11/2013, 8:19 pm

Had our little helpers over today to build a new compost pile!! Wahoo!!

starting a new compost pile Compos10

TxGramma 9/11/2013, 8:55 pm

With adorable little helpers like that it makes building a compost pile even more fun!!! Enjoy those gkids!!! flower

Marc Iverson 9/12/2013, 12:22 am

southern gardener wrote:Had our little helpers over today to build a new compost pile!! Wahoo!!

They look way too young to be composted.

Goosegirl 9/12/2013, 8:27 am

Marc Iverson wrote:
southern gardener wrote:Had our little helpers over today to build a new compost pile!! Wahoo!!
They look way too young to be composted.

GG

Triciasgarden 9/13/2013, 10:33 am

What cuties! They will always remember the time spent with you! They will also remember how to build a compost pile. That is a good hands-on lesson for them! Your composting area looks great, I like the fencing! I remember my grandma putting her leaves in a tire that was cut and turned inside-out. Memories with Grandmas are always great!

bnoles 9/13/2013, 10:46 am

There is nothing more precious than seeing children in the garden and yours are picture perfect!

southern gardener 9/13/2013, 11:54 am

Thank you

My grandson had the job of cutting the corn stalks into little pieces while my grand daughter "hauled" them over to the bin. My grandson loves to help with the composting, and basically understands the process. He just turned 5, so he's still a little young. Cool

This bin is inside of our chicken pen, so hopefully the new girls (chickens, see the post, who has chickens Smile

) will keep the pile weed and sow bug free. Paul in the Back to Eden movie does this, so we are gonna give it a try Smile

God bless you all, and have a great day!!

southern gardener 9/18/2013, 12:43 pm

well, the compost pile is doing REALLY well! We sifted our pile and got 4 barrels of beautiful screened compost, and threw the "big stuff" in the bin in the chicken coop. Threw some fresh lawn clippings on top, and it's steaming today! the girls LOVE scratching through the pile and taking their dirt baths in there. Who knew??

bnoles 9/18/2013, 12:52 pm

My chickens love the lawn clipping too. They work sooooo hard at making compost for me and it eases my load in that area. Sounds like you got it going SG Very Happy

CapeCoddess 9/20/2013, 10:50 am

southern gardener wrote:This bin is inside of our chicken pen, so hopefully the new girls (chickens, see the post, who has chickens ) will keep the pile weed and sow bug free. Paul in the Back to Eden movie does this, so we are gonna give it a try God bless you all, and have a great day!!

Will the chickens eat the worms, too? Sad

CC

southern gardener 9/20/2013, 1:52 pm

CapeCoddess wrote:
southern gardener wrote:This bin is inside of our chicken pen, so hopefully the new girls (chickens, see the post, who has chickens ) will keep the pile weed and sow bug free. Paul in the Back to Eden movie does this, so we are gonna give it a try God bless you all, and have a great day!!
Will the chickens eat the worms, too?

CC

we screened our old compost pile and the stuff that was too big went into this compost pile in the chicken pen. MOST of the worms slipped through into the screened compost that we sifted right into barrels, so the girls might have gotten a few, but not all. I'm assuming the worms will head to this new pile, but it seems like the girls don't really dig down that deep, they seem interested in eating the goodies on top, and taking their dirt baths in the top. I'm sure they'll get some, but so far, so good. WHEN we screen this compost, we'll screen it into big barrels, and hopefully capture most of the worms Smile

this is all an experiment, so we'll see. I'm hoping they eat most of the sow bugs, there are HUNDREDS of them!! YIKES!!

**sanderson** 4/7/2014, 11:35 pm

There are already so many compost topics, so I thought I would use an existing one.

I built my first 3' x 3' x 3' Berkeley pile tonight! My back is screaming and my DH said I need a shower! What, horse manure and sheep bedding smell?? Shocked

Thank goodness he bought a Papa Murphy's pizza and salad for tonight, 'cuz he would have gone hungry, otherwise.

After thinking

about my original design, I redesigned it. There's one last board at the top that isn't shown in the photo. Dummy.
Before:
starting a new compost pile Compos23

Now:

**Turan** 4/8/2014, 1:12 am

Looks very nice, Sanderson. What are the dimensions?

I need to start up aj's schedule, 3-4 loads a day. Only I will be moving barn cleanings to the compost pile.

southern gardener 4/8/2014, 1:35 am

now THATs a beautiful bin! did you make it?? can't wait to hear of your progress. We have 3 BIG piles going on currently. I wish I was able to get out there and turn them. ONE day.........until then...Mother Nature will have to do her thing alone.
Show us more pics!!

**sanderson** 4/8/2014, 1:39 am

Turan, The interior dimensions are 3' x 3' x 3'. From what I've read, that's the minimum dimension for a hot Berkeley compost. The browns are chopped dried leaves and straw bedding from lambing pens; the greens are fresh horse manure and coffee grounds and a little bit of kitchen trimmings. Later in the summer I can get buckets of produce culls, but not at this time.

[I need to start up aj's schedule, 3-4 loads a day. ?? ]

DH made it for me. Most of the 3 sides have interior fly screening, supplemented by cardboard I retrieved from the recycle bin. DH keeps trying to throw things away and I keep collecting!

**jimmy cee** 4/8/2014, 8:19 am

Sanderson !!
now there is what I call a real compost bin
Very very nice..
By the way...horse, cow, chicken, lambs manures are all good smelling to me..

**Turan** 4/8/2014, 10:10 am

3x3x3, great! Somehow my perspective meter was not functioning and it looked tiny..... Yeah, I was also told that you need that volume to get a good hot compost going, I have never checked though. Those are cement pavers on the bottom to keep out fruit rats and such?
I am always intrigued by how adapt to fit these messier parts of gardening into more urban areas. It seems a timely trend.

aj (audreyjean) was talking about hauling wheelbarrow loads of wood chips, 3-4/day. I have a barn to clean to get my spring compost pile going and need to use a similar strategy, 3-4 wheelbarrow loads a day until done. Growing up that was my Dad's requirement of us kids to clean up the winter horse manure build up into his compost pile.

audrey.jeanne.roberts 4/8/2014, 12:01 pm

Your bin is sooooo much prettier than my used palette version, LOL! It's already leaning fairly hard since it's three sided with an open front. Oh well.... fortunately it's well hidden at the back of our property. That's the best part of country living Laughing

Marc Iverson 4/8/2014, 10:49 pm

Nice-looking job! Apparently you are handy.

**sanderson** 4/9/2014, 12:49 am

Thanks, Marc. But, my husband does the wood work and really heavy lifting for me. I design, he builds. I do all the little tedious stuff and building, and the gardening.

**sanderson** 4/9/2014, 3:33 pm

I built the original pile Monday evening, but it was only 30". It dropped to 20-something" Tuesday morning. So upon Camp's advice, I added more new material Tuesday night to a full 36" height. Right now, at noon on Wednesday, it has dropped to 30" and is 140* in the interior. This photo was taken about 11 AM this morning (Wednesday).

starting a new compost pile Compos25

ImmahGardener 4/9/2014, 4:32 pm

I am trying a little bit of indoor composting. I am using a square 5 gal. container with lid. I think i started it about a month ago, i've only put in peanut and egg shells, vegetable peelings, coffee grinds and shredded up news paper and cardboard. I know it takes along time for the process but i was wondering if i should use compost starter? Also, outdoors, we have huge mounds of leaves, trees branches and some vines that have been sitting since early last Summer, would i be able to use any of the stuff on the bottom? Like maybe at the very least add it to another compost pile, if not directly in the garden area? Thankyou and happy growing starting a new compost pile 274447

**camprn** 4/9/2014, 8:15 pm

YOU ARE A HOTTIE!
alrighta

**sanderson** 4/9/2014, 9:24 pm

150 degrees this evening!

**jimmy cee** 4/9/2014, 10:08 pm

I loaded my working pile up with 24 five gallon buckets of fresh cow manure last week
Yesterday I used my aerator a little and lts of steam was coming up out of the holes, many worms working also..
Pretty sight and nice smell... I love the smell of cow manure

Sponsored content

starting a new compost pile

starting a new compost pile

Re: starting a new compost pile

Re: starting a new compost pile

Re: starting a new compost pile

Re: starting a new compost pile

Re: starting a new compost pile

Re: starting a new compost pile

Re: starting a new compost pile

Re: starting a new compost pile

Re: starting a new compost pile

Re: starting a new compost pile

Re: starting a new compost pile

Re: starting a new compost pile

Re: starting a new compost pile

Re: starting a new compost pile

Re: starting a new compost pile

Re: starting a new compost pile

Re: starting a new compost pile

Re: starting a new compost pile

Re: starting a new compost pile

Re: starting a new compost pile

Composting

Re: starting a new compost pile

Re: starting a new compost pile

Re: starting a new compost pile

Re: starting a new compost pile


	Hello Guest! Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum. There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.