Re: what do you put in the compost that other may not of thought of?

cheyannarach 6/9/2012, 1:30 pm

J_in_HamiltonON wrote:
cheyannarach wrote:Hubby cleaned fish and put the scraps in the tumbler, I told him it was his baby now, ick. Please tell me this is a good thing... ...

I don't use a tumbler and my impression is that they don't heat up as well as a "static" pile might. I've composted fish and mussels without too much problem.

This is my first attempt and the tumbler seems to be working efficiently, I think the trouble people with tumblers run into is that they turn them too much. They think if they turn them daily it will compost faster but I think you need to give it time for the pile to heat up awhile before you turn it. I have been turning mine 1-2 a week and it appears to be breaking down quite fast. Also a thought I had, I don't know how maggots work but do you think they may create castings kind of like worms?

I have tons of pallets at the house and the plan is to make a large pile contains in 4 walls of pallets for the future, but there is only so many hours in a day, lol. Maybe I will get it put up today after work! Also are fish green? I am assuming they are but don't know for sure...

I put mussel shells in to but I put then in a bag and smash the heck out of them with a hammer first!

J_in_HamiltonON 6/9/2012, 2:33 pm

Also tried composting drywall before (new, unpainted) - I know that some object to composting drywall given the composition but it is mostly gypsum and paper and corn-based binders. Anyway, a lot of it did disappear but there were far too many small chucks remaining in the finished compost so I probably won't do that again. But I just had to try

Nicola 6/9/2012, 10:21 pm

I put my teabags in the compost, as well as the (now rare at home) coffee grounds. I have a separate compost pile for the remains of my chicken coop cleaning--chicken poop and straw, and yeah, feathers, I guess-- since that can take longer than the other stuff to break down.

sweetgale 6/9/2012, 11:06 pm

ARE YOU USING THIS IN YOU FLOWER BED OR IS IT IN THE VEGETABLE IF IT IS FOR YOU FOOD BIG NO NO BUT IF ITS FOR A FLOWER BED IT OK

J_in_HamiltonON 6/9/2012, 11:10 pm

sweetgale wrote:ARE YOU USING THIS IN YOU FLOWER BED OR IS IT IN THE VEGETABLE IF IT IS FOR YOU FOOD BIG NO NO BUT IF ITS FOR A FLOWER BED IT OK

Please explain. Thanks.

sweetgale 6/9/2012, 11:14 pm

CAN I USE PORKPINE POO IN MY GARDEN AND SORRY TO THE PERSON PUTTING FISH IN HER COMPOSTER I SHOULD READ MORE CAREFULLY NEXT TIME

sweetgale 6/9/2012, 11:16 pm

FISH IN YOUR COMPOSTER DO YOU USE IT IN YOUR VEGETABLE GARDEN

**RoOsTeR** 6/9/2012, 11:20 pm

Please don't post in all capitals. It's bad forum etiquette. It's considered yelling.

J_in_HamiltonON 6/9/2012, 11:28 pm

sweetgale wrote:FISH IN YOUR COMPOSTER DO YOU USE IT IN YOUR VEGETABLE GARDEN

Hi sweetgale, $glad you\'re here$ to the forum (feels sort of strange for me to write that since I am pretty new around here too).

When the compost is ready I plan to use it wherever I need compost, including the vegetable gardens. Unless there is a good reason not to. Please explain why this might be a bad idea. There is still time to change my plans, the "fish compost" is still in an active pile and won't be used at least for a few months.

Thanks

cheyannarach 6/10/2012, 1:04 am

Yes the compost with the fish is going into the veggie garden, curious why you think it is a big No No? I have looked into this quite a bit and seems to me it will make a good healthy compost.

**camprn** 6/10/2012, 7:14 am

I have put fish into my compost and onto my veggies garden for a long while. The fish parts make great compost. Very Happy

I have never heard anything thing that contraindicates putting fish into compost, except that critters may get into the compost.

SwampCatNana 6/10/2012, 7:45 am

The Indians taught the pilgrims how to use fish to make better crops.
Lee

CapeCoddess 6/10/2012, 8:26 am

I cleaned out my gutters yesterday after a few years and the sludge was so beautiful that I collected it in buckets and put it on the mulch pile. I'm sure I'll have some very happy worms and 'bugs' for the next few days!

You can bet I'll be up there more often now!

To SwampCatNana: Hi neighbor! Nice weather we're having, right?!

CC

SwampCatNana 6/10/2012, 12:03 pm

CapeCoddess wrote:I cleaned out my gutters yesterday after a few years and the sludge was so beautiful that I collected it in buckets and put it on the mulch pile. I'm sure I'll have some very happy worms and 'bugs' for the next few days!

You can bet I'll be up there more often now!

To SwampCatNana: Hi neighbor! Nice weather we're having, right?!

CC

It's about time! I'm sure it's a bit cooler where you are. Right now it's 75 already. I have a community garden and I won't be going there until about 4pm. Too hot. I'm at the top of the grade and furthest away from the shaded area! Going to have to get some poles to set up my tarp for shade.
Is your garden in your yard?
I have a former student lives in Dennis. She's the librarian there. She also does photography, and is very good.
Lee

CapeCoddess 6/10/2012, 6:40 pm

Yes, my garden is in discarded kitchen cupboards at the side of my house where all the sun is. And it's constantly expanding. I got some wood last week for 2 REAL SFG boxes, cut it yesterday, tried to drill my preholes today but apparently I need a new drill bit so this project has been set aside for now.

It's my first time doing SFG and all these different veggies so I'm getting lots of help from the fabulous folks here on the forum. I really have no idea what I'm doing other than plant em and cross your fingers. It seems to be working out just fine.

Altho today I saw big black ants crawling around my boxes, in and out. Evil or Very Mad

I don't like that. And it seems I'm also feeding the entire neighborhoods slugs. I bought some DE but am hesitant about putting it in my garden.

Anyone else using DE in their garden yet? How do you apply it?

CC

SwampCatNana 6/10/2012, 8:40 pm

CapeCoddess wrote:Yes, my garden is in discarded kitchen cupboards at the side of my house where all the sun is. And it's constantly expanding. I got some wood last week for 2 REAL SFG boxes, cut it yesterday, tried to drill my preholes today but apparently I need a new drill bit so this project has been set aside for now.

It's my first time doing SFG and all these different veggies so I'm getting lots of help from the fabulous folks here on the forum. I really have no idea what I'm doing other than plant em and cross your fingers. It seems to be working out just fine.

Altho today I saw big black ants crawling around my boxes, in and out. I don't like that. And it seems I'm also feeding the entire neighborhoods slugs. I bought some DE but am hesitant about putting it in my garden.

Anyone else using DE in their garden yet? How do you apply it?

CC

I came across a chest of drawers last week and took it all home. There are 4 half drawers and 4 full drawers. I'll be using them as garden boxes also. Need to drill holes in bottom and line with weed blocker cloth.

Slugs - Get rid of slugs

Are you on Pinterest? If so, go to the search box at the top left and put in "black ants". It will bring up tons of Pins and you could check some of them out.

Also, here on SFG, just use the search box at the bottom of the left column and put in the subject you want to see. It brings up SFG threads.

Lee

ramarks 6/14/2012, 7:45 pm

We juice quite a bit - the pulp from carrots and greens all go in the compost pile.

brenda g 6/14/2012, 10:06 pm

I have put in leftover cooked plain rice (and other grains like oats) that is past it's prime, deadheaded flowers, expired spices, canned foods/ juices, sawdust (from untreated wood of course, and no black walnut!) Smile

I have read to be cautious about adding grains like rice and oats because it can attract rodents but did not have that problem; however, I should add that I seldom have leftovers long enough to spoil, so there was not a whole lot of grains in my bin.

**walshevak** 6/14/2012, 10:13 pm

I had an outdated bag of grits that had developed a rancid flavor. Into the compost pile they went.

Kay

Unmutual 6/15/2012, 9:07 am

cheyannarach wrote:Yes the compost with the fish is going into the veggie garden, curious why you think it is a big No No? I have looked into this quite a bit and seems to me it will make a good healthy compost.

It's said that some Native Americans put a fish under their 3 sisters mound. Great source of nitrogen and it's pretty much the same thing as fish emulsion. I'm not sure I'm brave enough to put fish into my compost pile though.

As to stuff I put in the compost pile(or worm bin): glossy paper, glossy cardboard, wood-sticks/twigs/branches/heat treated lumber(it breaks down eventually), cooked grains(unless it's fried in animal fat..ie: bacon drippings), spent plants, grass(roots and all), egg shells, feathers, toilet paper rolls, coffee filters, tea bags WITH the staples(those staples are iron after all...but they don't go in the worm bin).

GWN 6/15/2012, 9:44 am

toilet rolls.... I find that leaving them whole helps to aerate the compost

Unmutual 6/15/2012, 9:53 am

GWN wrote:toilet rolls.... I find that leaving them whole helps to aerate the compost

That's how I toss them in, the least amount of work, the better!

plantoid 6/15/2012, 4:34 pm

RoOsTeR wrote:
Do I just leave it alone?

Yippers

NO

NO ....... Laughing

water it well and spin it like mad Wink

**Kelejan** 6/15/2012, 6:36 pm

Unmutual wrote:
GWN wrote:toilet rolls.... I find that leaving them whole helps to aerate the compost

That's how I toss them in, the least amount of work, the better!

I use my toilet rolls first, then discard the inners to the compost pile.

plantoid 6/15/2012, 7:01 pm

ROTFLMAO

very funny ..like it Wink

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what do you put in the compost that other may not of thought of?