This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

Compost

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

I've been reading the posts regarding compost that recommend no animal
matter in the pile.  I'd like to revisit that question.

I have a 3-compartment homemade compost bin.  The compartments hold 10-12
cf each.  I use the "archeological" method.  Material goes into Compartment
1 (C1) on an as-available basis.  This includes kitchen waste regularly,
and other yard waste as available.  When C1 gets full, or a large batch of
new material is expected, C1 gets forked over to C2.  C3 holds the finished
product.  When C3 is empty, the contents of C2 are forked over to it.  It
takes at least 3 months, depending on demand for finished compost, for
material to make it from C1 to to garden.  All the compartments are stocked
with redworms which multiply as needed to process the compost.

One of the ingrdients to C1 is rabbit droppings from four dwarf rabbits.
Also, if I use a lot of compost at once, I "jump start" C1 by filling it
with horse manure from a local stable.  Actually, this is mostly sawdust
with some horse droppings mixed in.  Results are excellent.  I don't have
any concern about using manure from herbivores in the compost bin.  After
all, on the farm I grew up on, we used cow manure as fertilizer on the
fields.

Recently we acquired a dog.  This is a big dog -- Great Pyrenees --
weighing 112 lbs.  This dog produces a fair amount of waste.  I'm wondering
whether I can dispose of this waste in the compost bin?  On the one hand,
it should decompose just like any other waste.  On the other hand, is waste
from a carnivore like a dog qualitatively different from manure produced by
an herbivore like a horse?  Also, my compost is not scientifically mixed,
so it does not get very hot, relying mostly on worms to process it.

An interesting side note: When I first moved to New Mexico three years ago,
I tried to make compost like I did in Michigan, by just putting the
ingredients into the compost bin.  But with the high temperatures and low
humidity here, instead of compost I got hay and dried weeds!  Now I have
run drip irrigation across the top of the compost bin.  It's tied to the
garden drip zone, so whenever the garden is being watered, the compost gets
watered too!

Andy Arkusinski
a.e.arkusinski@ieee.org


______________________________________________________________________
To unsubscribe, write to sqft-unsubscribe@listbot.com
Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index