MM Components - local search

Ret EE 4/16/2021, 2:46 pm

In anticipation of my needs for mixing/blending my MM, I've embarked on a search for local sources. As far as availability goes, I've found each of the components within a reasonable radius. I haven't done much price checking, just bookmarking sources for now. Sticker shock will come later I'm sure.

A question; a number of the compost suppliers also sell bagged steer manure. Would/could steer manure be one of the thirds that Mel recommends for the compost portion of MM? I also found a local who raises chickens. I'm going to try and nurture a mutually beneficial relationship.

OhioGardener 4/16/2021, 3:05 pm

Yes, bagged composted steer/cow/bull manure is acceptable as one of the 5 composts to use in MM. Composted chicken manure is also an excellent source.

mollyhespra 4/16/2021, 4:58 pm

Ret EE wrote:In anticipation of my needs for mixing/blending my MM, I've embarked on a search for local sources. As far as availability goes, I've found each of the components within a reasonable radius. I haven't done much price checking, just bookmarking sources for now. Sticker shock will come later I'm sure.

A question; a number of the compost suppliers also sell bagged steer manure. Would/could steer manure be one of the thirds that Mel recommends for the compost portion of MM? I also found a local who raises chickens. I'm going to try and nurture a mutually beneficial relationship.

How about Goat? Pig? Are you rural? I'd stay away from horse. Too much wood chips used as bedding that ended up robbing my N from the MM as it decomposed, even though the horse manure was supposedly already composted. The wood chips just took much longer to break down. HTH!

Ret EE 4/16/2021, 5:26 pm

I haven' seen or heard of goats in the area. I would say that we are "semi-rural". We're in a small sub-division surrounded by mostly open ground.

**jimmy cee** 4/16/2021, 11:49 pm

Ret EE wrote:In anticipation of my needs for mixing/blending my MM, I've embarked on a search for local sources. As far as availability goes, I've found each of the components within a reasonable radius. I haven't done much price checking, just bookmarking sources for now. Sticker shock will come later I'm sure.

A question; a number of the compost suppliers also sell bagged steer manure. Would/could steer manure be one of the thirds that Mel recommends for the compost portion of MM? I also found a local who raises chickens. I'm going to try and nurture a mutually beneficial relationship.

NO.....Manure would be considered only one of the five ingredients that will make up the one third compost in Mels Mix. The five compost ingredients could be, manure, ( leaves, grass cuttings , shredded cardboard, shredded newspaper, discarded plants, etc ) vegetable wastes, citrus wastes, ( straw or hay ) , and so much more depending on what part of the country you live in, for example. Shore will provide excellent sources of seaweed, an excellent addition to compost.
When you go through the trouble of adding many ingredients to compost piles, you will get better temperature ranges, more microbial activity, and a better quality compost that plants will love.
Remember, its the microbes that feed the plants the nutrients needed.

All info one needs for prpoer composting is in this book.
It has helped me create highly successful SFG beds.

Ret EE 4/17/2021, 12:49 pm

I should have said 5 components of the compost 1/3 of MM. I mixed them up.

So if I'm mixing MM and I use 1/3 peat Moss, 1/3 coarse Vermiculite and 1/3 Compost which has 5 contributing sources. Can one of the 5 sources be ruminant manure?

It's too early in my SFG trip to be making my own compost. BTW, when I have my own is it only one of the five sources required? This gets confusing for an OCD Engineer! We have to get everything perfect. Smile

Failing a test is not acceptable!

P.S. We shred a number of documents and junk mail. I see cardboard mentioned frequently as a constituent of compost. It seems like shredded paper might even be better?

Keith

OhioGardener 4/17/2021, 1:07 pm

Ret EE wrote:So if I'm mixing MM and I use 1/3 peat Moss, 1/3 coarse Vermiculite and 1/3 Compost which has 5 contributing sources. Can one of the 5 sources be ruminant manure?

Yes, as long as it is composted

Ret EE wrote:It's too early in my SFG trip to be making my own compost. BTW, when I have my own is it only one of the five sources required? This gets confusing for an OCD Engineer! We have to get everything perfect. Failing a test is not acceptable!

Your own home made compost should be very rich, with all the nutrients the plants need, and will be used for topping off the bed, not making MM. Don't worry about the OCD. Some of us gardeners have CDO which is like OCD but keeps things in alphabetical order.

Ret EE wrote: We shred a number of documents and junk mail. I see cardboard mentioned frequently as a constituent of compost. It seems like shredded paper might even be better?

Yes, shredded paper will work fine as long as it is non-glossy, and non-color. A word of caution, though. Our shredder is a cross-cut and it creates very fine pieces of shredded paper which when added to compost tend to form tight balls or clumps which do not decompose. If you have a strip shredder, it works much nicer for composting (though not nearly as secure for disposing of documents via the recycle bin).

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MM Components - local search

MM Components - local search

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Goats?

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5 not 3

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Re: MM Components - local search


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