Got my five kinds of compost!

LeeAnne12 3/9/2012, 3:06 pm

Yay, I picked up my five kinds of compost today and learned a VERY big/smelly lesson. Borrow your husband truck to haul it back home (an hour away) instead of putting it in the back of your SUV. Oh my gosh! I still smell like chicken manure. LOL The lady who helped me is going to be my new best friend. She gardens organically and seems to be very knowledgable about what to do about insects, etc. The area I plan to put my SFG is almost cleared of Bermuda grass, then I'll be ready to mix and fill the boxes. Yay!

Lee Anne

curio 3/9/2012, 5:23 pm

If the "compost" stinks and doesn't smell like earth, it may not be fully composted. If it isn't, using it as is could burn your plants.

LeeAnne12 3/9/2012, 5:38 pm

If the "compost" stinks and doesn't smell like earth, it may not be fully composted.

Oh no! What should I do get it fully composted? I think it's only the chicken that's smelling.

Lee Anne

curio 3/9/2012, 5:40 pm

You would need to place it in a compost pile with some brown matter and let it finish up. There is a section on composting on the home page that can help you with that.

shannon1 3/10/2012, 2:48 am

LeeAnne12 wrote:
If the "compost" stinks and doesn't smell like earth, it may not be fully composted.

Oh no! What should I do get it fully composted? I think it's only the chicken that's smelling.

Lee Anne

my black hen smelled but I used it anyway with no trouble. You may not want to risk it.

**walshevak** 3/10/2012, 7:24 am

So did mine. But after sitting in the open mixed with the other 4 composts a few days, the smell went way down and I had no problem with the plants. In fact the Black Ben site says it is fully composted and ready to apply. So if commercially bagged chicken compost I would say use it. On the other hand, if this came from a local farmers compost pile you might want to let it compost some more in your composter.

Again I can see how this plays into the 5 way blend. If some are bummers, then some may be not quite ready, but blended together are diluted enough to be safe. Just a non scientific thought.

Kay

shannon1 3/12/2012, 12:44 am

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