Compost is finished. Spread it now or in Spring?

camprn wrote:

boffer wrote:

sanderson wrote:One good reason to add new compost now!  Lots of seeds survived my attempt at composting....

Yep!  That's why I try to re-plentish the compost soon after harvesting even if I won't be planting for a while.  I call it pre-weeding.  I can get rid of most of the weeds before planting, and I don't have to worry about accidentally pulling up new baby seedlings when weeding.

I've never had weed-free homemade compost because I'm rather casual lazy about the process.

+1

+1 on the lazy composter

Kay

I actually enjoy the seedlings I get from my compost.  I get all kinds of volunteers and I simply either pluck them up if I don't want them or move them to where I do want them.  

Quite a few of our pumpkins, honeydew melons, cantelope, tomatoes and bell peppers were from volunteers this year and they did really well.

So my "lazy" is actually being "efficient" LOL!!!

audrey.jeanne.roberts wrote:I actually enjoy the seedlings I get from my compost.  I get all kinds of volunteers and I simply either pluck them up if I don't want them or move them to where I do want them.  

Quite a few of our pumpkins, honeydew melons, cantelope, tomatoes and bell peppers were from volunteers this year and they did really well.

So my "lazy" is actually being "efficient" LOL!!!

I must agree with you on this and have also found it to be a great source for my chicken's treats  

plantoid wrote:Two  years ago this October I bagged 14 heavy duty poly sacks of my home made hot compost and stacked them against a cold north facing wall .

Plantoid,

Just for clarification? Did you put hot "compost-in-process" into plastic bags and let it sit for two years, or did you put organics that had completed most of the composting process into the bags?

I put what I thought was fully  finished compost into the plastic bags for somewhere to store it.

 All my composters were full as I'd been given a trailer load of fresh pig & chicken  muck with straw beddings to compost .  It had to be sorted quick as we live in a semi rural area with neighbours ...  it was more than a bit pong wiffy I can tell you   .

By ancient common law set precedence's ,  we have three days to incorporate into the ground shipped in stinky manures .
Getting it in the composter and composting is hopefully classed as the same solution to stop the smell being a nuisance to those with more refined olfactory organs and higher levels of intolerance

Ahh! I understand now. I would love to have a source for some good manures. I live in a subdivision, so smell would be an immediate concern for me too. Since the compost was in bags, obviously you had no concern about rain leaching out the nutrients. I used to put finished compost on the ground and covered with a tarp. But fire ants set up homestead so I switched to rubber cans at the cost of about $150 (5 cans) to store the black gold.

Would a tarp over the manure pile cut down on odor enough to appease the neighbors?

I am wondering about how much of the beneficial micro-organisms remain when compost is stored. I put my finished compost (from a tumbler) into 32 gal Rubbermaid trash cans. I typically age the "finished" compost for at least 3 months if I can get by without needing that compost. I have stored compost for up to one year. I wanted to make sure the decomposition process has finished. But then I wonder if the beneficial living soil organisms were making it to the spring. I know the nutrient value is preserved, and perhaps enhanced by aging in bins. However, I wonder if the living portion is exhausted during storage.

Like your mix, mine is usually black, smooth, crumbly, and earthy smelling. Occasionally I get a batch where upon screening I can still recognize the ingredients — usually non-decomposed grass cutting that matt together in the tumbler. Some non-decomposed fines make it through the 1/4" screen, the rest goes back into my pre-compost ingredient pile. 

I use most of my compost in raised bed SQFT's. My dream is to produce enough to massively till into a regular garden as well as  to spread liberally on my front lawn.

Would a tarp over the manure pile cut down on odor enough to appease the neighbors?

 Don't see why not  if the heap is on bare soil any liquids will go into the soil . I'd build the heap and wet it ever three or so inches with a hose spray head . and weight the tarp down around the edges.
That way  the release of moisture vapour , ammonia & sulphurated hydrogen gasses from the heap will be slowed enough for the breeze to dissipate them and it's very likely your neighbours won't associate any slight smell with the tarp covered heap unless you spill the beans about it.


 I'm lucky there is a small mixed stock farm about a mile away to the North, another 1/2 a mile to the South   and a small poultry raising enterprise just out the village limits to the west .
 
 The field across the road to the south often has sheep , a stinky old uncut billy goat & occasionally horses in it so I can blame them for any smells that get noticed so long as everything i have for compost making is out of sight .

Cincinnati,  I also live in a subdivision and have to be considerate to my neighbors.  I put the cow manure, and once 3-day old sea kelp (phew) within the open-bottom compost pile with a layer of wood shavings around the perimeter and the top.  One time I had stinky grass clippings and too much greens and the methane and odors were embarrassing.

All manures are not created equal. I must have put more than a ton of horse manure into my backyard pile, and can't smell it unless I get really close. Maybe it's the high carbon (25:1) of horse manure that keeps the smell down. That probably also functions naturally to make smelly anaerobic composting less likely, right? The carbon adds bulk, which aids aeration/aerobic composting naturally. I can sure smell steer poop and chicken poop well enough. Horse poop smells a lot more like hay.

Maybe people who have to be extra careful about smell should give extra consideration to starting with some of the less smelly poops?

I think horse manure smells, but it does NOT stink.  Probably due to the amount of hay, etc. in it.  I never minded cleaning my horse's stall until it came to the urine-soaked area!  Could knock me out!   

Cow manure stinks because it is so wet, as well as poultry, rabbit when they get built up, wet or were soaked with urine.  But the worst of all???   Pig manure!  In my county, rural meth labs used to have pigs in an effort to hide the meth cooking odors.  When I had to investigate pig odor complaints, it was always wise to check out the environment for signs of illegal activity, just to be safe.

I agree pig manure smells the worst. I think its from their diet as omnivores compared to the other vegetarians that were mentioned. Decades ago I lived 3 miles away from a pig farm but if the wind shifted my direction it might as well have been next door.  Pee-U! 
I've been around all kinds of barn manures.  My vote for the number one least stinky poo is llama manure. A llama barn can be put within a mere 100 feet of one's home and not be bothered.  Their digestive system breaks things down very efficiently and the little llama beans as it's called, are nearly dry when freshly produced with little odor.  This is the stuff to look for if smell is an issue.

+1 on llama poo.

If one has to deal with strong odors you could could use small smear of Vicks VapoRub in each nostril to help mask the bad smell.

That's a Great Idea.  Then there's always ===drumroll====  This!