Saturday, May 15, 2010

Old Fence And Compost


A piece of old 2x4 wire fence, sticks and stones were the beginning of my compost heap. I read that the compost works better if air can circulate from the bottom so hopefully the sticks and stones will make an air space and help this mess break down quickly to black gold.

To have the compost work quickly I am supposed to add green stuff, grass clippings, etc., but I don't have any green stuff around here. So, I added some alfalfa pellets to the straw and leaf layers. I watered each of the layers well.

Morgan is really worrying me because I catch her eating small bits of the chickens stuff that falls when I am filling the pile. Morgan... there is dirt in that stuff! It would be nice if she would eat stuff that was food and not dirt!


It was really hard for me to lift the material over the top so I cut the fence in half and made two short instead of one tall pile. I need to get a tarp of come kind to cover the piles. They are supposed to work faster covered.

I remember visiting a farm where they laid the stuff they wanted to compost out in rows and covered the long mounds with black plastic. The next year they would have their rows all ready to plant.


One compost pile finished! Pretty good for me for a days work. The chicken pen looks like major demolition happened. Poor chickens. They will be glad to have their pen back with some level ground.

No Broody Chickens! Locking the broody hens in the pen did the trick. I forgot and locked the Australorp in the pen overnight and that must have been what switched her hormones off because it was not warm that night and she could roost outside but not nest. The Buff and the Australorp both gave up the broody business and went back to being chickens! I'm glad because I couldn't lock them out now with the gate to the pen open so I can remove the chicken poo to the compost pile.

Talking about compost... is this neat or what! My greenhouse is really pretty small (about 8x10) compared to this spacious greenhouse. My brother built my greenhouse and it is just the right size for me because I am not a gardener. A bigger greenhouse would be wasted on me. To tell the truth I am rather at a loss when it comes to the whole gardening thing. I plan to plant a cover crop of some kind on the beds and wait until next year to plant. A year should give me time enough to plan out what and how to plant the beds.

PS... This YouTube video is just for fun. Momma bear gets baby bear out of a tree!

I still haven't finished this.
(May 15, 2009)

[5 eggs today]

~:>
Smiles

19 comments:

lisa said...

Very nice post callie, I learned a lot, the video was cute.

diane b said...

Wow your compost is different to mine . We have heaps of green stuff but not enough brown stuff.

Melodie said...

My goodness you get so much done! Even after being so sick! What is your secret to all that energy!?

Little Messy Missy said...

I am a serious composter, and have been relying on its production for the last 6 year for my garden. I turn my compost at least once a week with a pitch fork also don't forget to keep adding more green matter as the weeks go buy. I also add any leftover food, coffee grinds, tea bags (everything but meat) to mine. I also add torn up newspaper, cardboard and even junk mail, just remove the clear plastic window on them Even drier sheets decompose nicely. Also a good scope of dirt from time to time works wonders and I found it really speeds up the process. Good luck!

JoyceAnn said...

The compost bin looks great , Callie. I need to revamp mine soon.


~ Happy Day ~

Leigh, Andrea Leigh Gil said...

I am impressed! I have been bugging my husband for a year now over the compost heap...I really wanted thre bins built. Those have yet to magically appear so I have just been putting my compostable in a pile. I think I will give this a try. Thanks for the idea!
-Leigh

Barbee' said...

Callie, I surely do enjoy your blog.

John Going Gently said...

callie
I am going to copy your design tomorrowQQQ

Gus, Louie and Callie said...

Sounds like you are doing a great job with the compose stuff.. We don't have room for that. Sure wish we had a nice farm to do that ourselves. Us Heeler's would sure be willing to help...

Big Sloppy Kisses
Gus, Louie and Callie

LindaG said...

Thanks for the butter links! The weekend has been good so far, but kind of hot.

Good luck with your compost!

Leslie said...

Great looking bins. You should have some of that "black gold" in just a short time. I am still amazed how our food scraps, leaves, grass clippings and chicken poop can turn into beautiful soil for my veggies. Don't forget to water it once in a while. I learned that it makes things go much faster.

Jen said...

Nice Work :)
Hey how long did you leave your broodies locked up... I may need to do this one day, lol

Gus, Louie and Callie said...

Morgan you have the bestest job ever. Watching the chickens is much more fun than watching Mom clean....

Big Sloppy Kisses
Gus, Louie and Callie

Texan said...

Nice compost bins you made up!! That will be some great dirt when done!!

I would love to have enough compost to fill every raised row I have... its just the best dirt!!

I am working harder on composting more too!

DayPhoto said...

Oh yes! Do as Messy Mindy suggests and you will have the best compost in the world.

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/

The Silver Age Sara said...

I love your compost bin. We don't have green stuff in our compost either but it seems to work just fine. We have a small greenhouse too but it works just fine for us.

Carla said...

This is the same type of fencing that I use for mine. It works great, but does dry out quickly. I have to add water to mine once a week because our weather is dry here. I have two of these and move the compost from one to another about once a month. I am lazy and should do it more though. It is always filled with worms! I put all my kitchen scraps in mine each day. Good luck with your black gold.

Leigh said...

Lovely compost heaps. I've found that sticks help a lot with less work. I sifted my first compost of the year the other day and got quite a bit. I have my chickens to thank for their "donations" to the pile!

m said...

We cover our heaps with a square of old carpet. Back in the 50's, I remember my father burying old wool carpet under the topsoil in our London garden to help promote a decent lawn. London clay is not the easiest of soils to garden on. Unfortunately, when we moved from there in '66 the next owner had hay fever, and as far as we know paved the whole lot over. We had already transplanted many plants and taken cuttings from others