Show us your compost - Page 2

soleado · January 11, 2008

Wow! I wish I could make/get that much great looking compost here in Georgia! Everyone's plants must love it! I have the hardest time finding browns for the pile. Any suggestions? I usually cut up my veggies by hand into small pieces... that helps them disappear quicker.

the999bbq · January 11, 2008

the browns are indeed the hardest ones to find enough of. A 'new' source of browns I use now are (unprinted and especially unpastified) cardboard, ripped into pieces, just plain (news)paper could do to. Carefully though since paper adds carbon but doesn't offer structure like wood chippings would do (so they could compact the heap like too much grass could do). When I have pastified cardboard, I let it sit in the rain for a while and the plastic comes of very easy.

I never let anything bigger than 10cm (4 inches) go straight into the bins. I get 'punished' everytime for being laizy, and long grasses in particular can be a pain in the ### when you come to turn the bins. So chopping everything up doesn't only accelerates your composting but it sure speeds up your maintenance (and slows down your backpain ;-) ).

If you have the room it can be a good idea to plant your sources. Buddleja gives you lots of material, and lovely flowers (in all shades of white to purple, even yellow) and butterflies in the garden. There are many more plants that give you loads of material (just think that you give something back to them from time to time) : hazle,...

I sometimes clean a little piece of land that is just across my street and is in fact owned by the community. Every once in a while they come with their huge tractormower and flatten it all - so they don't miss those few barrels of material that I 'loan' ;-)

soleado · January 13, 2008

Thanks for the advice. I will look into the buddleja and other compost crops. I saw a post somewhere in the newspaper online here for leaf pick up. I will call and ask what they do with those leaves. I could also post a message online asking for leaves/spent hay. Plus, my mother may have some decomposed leaves. I have considered going to a nearby farm and asking for cow patties. Apparently they are green material though and can be full of weed seeds - and need some heat to compost properly?. Ok, I just read they can contain E. Coli... nevermind. :O). Again, thanks for the advice. This is on my priority list. Compost is so important for the garden it seems. I built a square-foot-garden. My plants were stunted... and the culprit seems to especially be limited nitrogen... I'm def. working and counting on the compost. :O))).

the999bbq · January 16, 2008

one little remark on the free leaves - be carefull what the source of the leaves is : some leaves (Juglans,...) contain tannic acid (translated from looizuur so I hope it is the correct term) which can influence the compostproces negatively. And most fresh manures are considered greens although they appear brown ;-)

There can be seeds in compost, active composting can kill some of them, weeds will be easy to pull in compost enriched (and mulched) soil, and when you don't digg too much weeds will be controllable. If you would know how much weed seeds are available in the soil's own seedbank you would be amazed (maybe we wouldn't even be asking this kind of questions). For me the benefits of composting and using compost outweigh the risk of weeds..

soleado · January 17, 2008

999bbq,

Looking into Juglones, it seems that Walnuts have those. Walnuts are quite common here. Most people give them away to whoever wants to crack them open. They grow in some parks. My primary source (my mother's yard) doesn't seem to have those trees. The method I am trying to use (lining things off in squares) makes it easy to identify seeds before they get growing too well. Things are pretty tidy. BUT, I must say that I found the strangest thing this year! I planted some seeds from a kitchen sprouting kit (for salads) of broccoli. Well, I had this plant growing... I thought it was broccoli... so I let it grow. But, it seems to have been something called wild parsley (that ended up in that square some way) (either from store bought compost or nature). They say that this plant can irritate the skin very badly. How strange to have it growing right in my 4x4 ft garden the whole time without me noticing there was the huge white root alongside it. I've never seen anything like it around here. I've read of people using a plant here called Kudzu in compost. It's a highly invasive plant that invaded the South and covers everything in its path.

ovenbird · September 2, 2009

Kudzu is in the pea and bean family, so it is a nitrogen fixer, but due to its invasive nature, I can't think of a better place for it than in the compost pile

January 11, 2008	#16
soleado Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Northern Georgia, USA Posts: 10	Wow! I wish I could make/get that much great looking compost here in Georgia! Everyone's plants must love it! I have the hardest time finding browns for the pile. Any suggestions? I usually cut up my veggies by hand into small pieces... that helps them disappear quicker.

January 11, 2008	#17
the999bbq Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 191	the browns are indeed the hardest ones to find enough of. A 'new' source of browns I use now are (unprinted and especially unpastified) cardboard, ripped into pieces, just plain (news)paper could do to. Carefully though since paper adds carbon but doesn't offer structure like wood chippings would do (so they could compact the heap like too much grass could do). When I have pastified cardboard, I let it sit in the rain for a while and the plastic comes of very easy. I never let anything bigger than 10cm (4 inches) go straight into the bins. I get 'punished' everytime for being laizy, and long grasses in particular can be a pain in the ### when you come to turn the bins. So chopping everything up doesn't only accelerates your composting but it sure speeds up your maintenance (and slows down your backpain ;-) ). If you have the room it can be a good idea to plant your sources. Buddleja gives you lots of material, and lovely flowers (in all shades of white to purple, even yellow) and butterflies in the garden. There are many more plants that give you loads of material (just think that you give something back to them from time to time) : hazle,... I sometimes clean a little piece of land that is just across my street and is in fact owned by the community. Every once in a while they come with their huge tractormower and flatten it all - so they don't miss those few barrels of material that I 'loan' ;-)

January 13, 2008	#18
soleado Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Northern Georgia, USA Posts: 10	Thanks for the advice. I will look into the buddleja and other compost crops. I saw a post somewhere in the newspaper online here for leaf pick up. I will call and ask what they do with those leaves. I could also post a message online asking for leaves/spent hay. Plus, my mother may have some decomposed leaves. I have considered going to a nearby farm and asking for cow patties. Apparently they are green material though and can be full of weed seeds - and need some heat to compost properly?. Ok, I just read they can contain E. Coli... nevermind. :O). Again, thanks for the advice. This is on my priority list. Compost is so important for the garden it seems. I built a square-foot-garden. My plants were stunted... and the culprit seems to especially be limited nitrogen... I'm def. working and counting on the compost. :O))).

January 16, 2008	#19
the999bbq Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 191	one little remark on the free leaves - be carefull what the source of the leaves is : some leaves (Juglans,...) contain tannic acid (translated from looizuur so I hope it is the correct term) which can influence the compostproces negatively. And most fresh manures are considered greens although they appear brown ;-) There can be seeds in compost, active composting can kill some of them, weeds will be easy to pull in compost enriched (and mulched) soil, and when you don't digg too much weeds will be controllable. If you would know how much weed seeds are available in the soil's own seedbank you would be amazed (maybe we wouldn't even be asking this kind of questions). For me the benefits of composting and using compost outweigh the risk of weeds..

January 17, 2008	#20
soleado Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Northern Georgia, USA Posts: 10	999bbq, Looking into Juglones, it seems that Walnuts have those. Walnuts are quite common here. Most people give them away to whoever wants to crack them open. They grow in some parks. My primary source (my mother's yard) doesn't seem to have those trees. The method I am trying to use (lining things off in squares) makes it easy to identify seeds before they get growing too well. Things are pretty tidy. BUT, I must say that I found the strangest thing this year! I planted some seeds from a kitchen sprouting kit (for salads) of broccoli. Well, I had this plant growing... I thought it was broccoli... so I let it grow. But, it seems to have been something called wild parsley (that ended up in that square some way) (either from store bought compost or nature). They say that this plant can irritate the skin very badly. How strange to have it growing right in my 4x4 ft garden the whole time without me noticing there was the huge white root alongside it. I've never seen anything like it around here. I've read of people using a plant here called Kudzu in compost. It's a highly invasive plant that invaded the South and covers everything in its path.

September 2, 2009	#21
ovenbird Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Eastern Iowa Posts: 27	Kudzu is in the pea and bean family, so it is a nitrogen fixer, but due to its invasive nature, I can't think of a better place for it than in the compost pile