Manure composting experiment

[DTOM420]

I figured I’d share my composting experiment but, hopefully, this will turn into a general compost thread. I’m just starting to learn so please feel free to give me advice or tell me I’m doing it totally wrong! Lol! I’m trying to get some decent compost ready for next April; to cut down on expenses. So, I’m using several methods trying to see what I can get done first and what takes the longest, what the results of each method are and whether I can make both “veg” compost and “flower” compost. I’d like to send some of it off for testing, down the road; but it may be too expensive for me. We’ll see. It’s a long way off right now.

So, to start it off, this is some cow manure I’m composting but I also added some horse manure I had laying around. I got the manure from a local rancher that I asked if I could go around collecting manure in his pastures. He looked at me like I was a little crazy but said, “Have at it! You’re welcome any time and take as much as you’d like. These are all free range cattle living primarily off the local flora with almost no antibiotics given unless they’re sick. Once or twice a year they may get some meds when steers and some calves are separated from the cows. For a “brown” I mixed in a little bit of old leaves I had laying around from last winter but mainly I’m using hardwood cypress saw dust. I found a local furniture maker (guy with his own little shop) and he’s giving me all his sawdust and shavings. It’s about 4 contractor bags a week and will vary in wood species but is always hardwood. Saves him from hauling it away and burning it. So, he was happy to have me take it and gave it freely. My hope is....the fine nature of this particular “brown” source will break down more quickly than, say, leaves or other common sources.

I collected some 55 gallon barrels worth of green, fresh manure that weighed WAY too much! Lol! So, I just pushed them off the tailgate of the truck and dug the manure out as it lay on its side. I put about this much in a wheel barrow at a time....

Then I took an old 4-prong hay fork like the one below and used it to mix in the sawdust.


The sawdust is actually in 2 types - from 2 different machines. Some of it is truly like dust and the rest is a little rougher. Like what comes out of a chain saw. And I added about this much and began mixing it together.


I started by adding some of the fine stuff to each batch...

Then I mixed it up some, until it looked like this. My thumb gives you an idea of the crumbles that are created. If you’ve ever baked and made a crumb crust...the mixing here is about the same. Just in a lot bigger scale!

 

[DTOM420]

Next, I added some of the coarser sawdust to the mix.....


Once I got it as well mixed as I could, it looked like this. I included my thumb to give some perspective on the size of the final clumps - they’re pretty tiny.


Then, I used 3 cedar pallets I got from a Home Depot about and hour and a half away, to build a frame. Some of the guys by the loading dock said I could have them and they even helped me load them up! Lol! I got this idea from a website I saw where a guy used a frame to create 1 yard (3’x3’x3’ or 91.4cm x 91.4cm x 91.4cm) pile that will, in a few days, stand on its own. We’ll see if that works for me. The idea is to provide more surface area for air to get in; as opposed to a standard volcano shaped pile. I just stood them in place and used a scrap piece of wood at the back corners, on the top only.


After I got about 1 foot (30.5cm) high, I added a board to create the 4th side of the ‘frame’ and kept adding mixes to the pile u til the frame was full to the top. I added water after each wheelbarrow full and gave that layer a quick additional mix with the fork. It was damp but not soggy wet. I’m kinda uncertain about how wet it really should be. So, I’m kinda guessing here. Lol! The bedding from my chicken coop did really well with less water than I expected so I tried to mimic what that looked like. More about the chicken manure project in a follow up post.

Then I covered the pile with black plastic. I read that doing this will help the pile heat up faster and hotter - what you want when composting manure. Heat will help kill e-coli and render weed seeds that passed through the cow inert. My other piles that I covered had no problems with annerobic bacteria but I’ll definitely keep my eye out. If the frame works I shouldn’t have to worry at all, once it comes off and the pile is free standing.

Well, what do you think??

I’ll post up about the other compost projects I’ve started in coming days. I’m waiting on some worms and will be including vermicomposting into my efforts.

Side question....anyone recognize these ‘shrooms? I don’t think they’re ‘magical’ but they were growing profusely from some horse manure. Just curious what they are.

 

[bushdktr]

Everything looks good man, congrats!!

You’ve got a great source of N and C with the manure and the wood, and breakdown will be shorter with the sawdust. Have you thought of adding your own organic waste? I’ve a big family with a huge load of organic waste that I mix with all the pruning, browns ‘n’ greens from the garden, and manure. Eggs shells will add Ca and Mg, P, vegetables, coffee grounds some more N, and all sorts of micronutrients, Fe, Zn, Boron, etc., etc., ashes from charcoal or wood, some K, etc., etc, paper, cardboard, etc keep building it up!

Can’t help with the shrooms, but you get all sorts of them, there’s some apps (mushrooms , mushrooms Pro, etc) you can download/buy to snapshot the mushroom and see if they match any known. Maybe you get lucky and some golden cap appears every now and then lol

Cheers


Enviado desde mi iPad utilizando Tapatalk

 

[DTOM420]

Everything looks good man, congrats!!

You’ve got a great source of N and C with the manure and the wood, and breakdown will be shorter with the sawdust. Have you thought of adding your own organic waste? I’ve a big family with a huge load of organic waste that I mix with all the pruning, browns ‘n’ greens from the garden, and manure. Eggs shells will add Ca and Mg, P, vegetables, coffee grounds some more N, and all sorts of micronutrients, Fe, Zn, Boron, etc., etc., ashes from charcoal or wood, some K, etc., etc, paper, cardboard, etc keep building it up!

Can’t help with the shrooms, but you get all sorts of them, there’s some apps (mushrooms , mushrooms Pro, etc) you can download/buy to snapshot the mushroom and see if they match any known. Maybe you get lucky and some golden cap appears every now and then lol

Cheers


Enviado desde mi iPad utilizando Tapatalk

Thanks, brother!

I have been adding some occasional scraps to another pile I’ve been doing with manure - a more traditional pile on the ground. I’ll probably add some to this when I turn it next. I made it yesterday, though, with manure I had gathered and didn’t have any kitchen scraps available. I will also be adding some amendments to the pile, down the road. Right now my main concern is getting the brown/green ratio correct, the amount of moisture correct and getting it to heat up enough. I haven’t had any bad smells or anything from the traditional pile but I’m not sure it got hot enough and now it’s not getting hot at all; and I feel it should be. So, that’s where the experiment comes in.

I just finished a Bokashi bucket build and will be trying that also. The contents will likely be going into the pile as well. But, I’ve got to be careful because I’m hoping to use some of this in the spring and I don’t want to continuously add new components to break down or I’ll end up with uncomposted material in the pile when I want to use it.

Worms!! Vermicomposting is going to be a big project for me. We have a pretty good amount of clay in our soil and while that’s a big pain, requiring lots of amnendment to get it to drain, it’s loaded with nutrients. Unlocking it will be the key! To do that, I’m going to be focusing on Alabama Jumper worms. I read that they LOVE clay soils and will aerate them and unlock the nutrients. They also do well in the heat, which is important here. So, I’m starting with a 100gallon container and using them as composting worms (they’re almost as good as red wigglers) and the hope is, to raise enough to release a batch into the garden; and I’ll also add them to the compost piles at some point as well. Although, IF I can come up with the cash, I may buy a few pounds of red wigglers just to work in the manure compost piles over this winter. The fact they will probably mostly does in the summer heat is a bummer but not the absolute end of the world. I’ll be feeding the worm bins foods high in P, K and micronutrients - to try and make for a good source for flower.

Sorry for the super long reply. Lots of stuff going on. Lol. That’s always a problem when I’m projecting; and with my wife’s health on the line, it’s got me in full-on obsession mode! Lol! Thanks for the reply and your awesome suggestions!

 

[hecno]

Here was what I have done , Last year I filled this bin to the top with coarse wood chip and chicken manure , I knew it would take up to 2 years to break down fully , so 1 year to go . I also add fish frames . and grow a cover crop of Alfalfa , Which I will do again when the rains come and the Alfalfa roots get down very deep . The texture of the top layer [ more broken down ] is very fine . I did have some tomatoes in there this year [ 2 plants ] and they grow very well . And the worms came too .

 

[DTOM420]

Here was what I have done , Last year I filled this bin to the top with coarse wood chip and chicken manure , I knew it would take up to 2 years to break down fully , so 1 year to go . I also add fish frames . and grow a cover crop of Alfalfa , Which I will do again when the rains come and the Alfalfa roots get down very deep . The texture of the top layer [ more broken down ] is very fine . I did have some tomatoes in there this year [ 2 plants ] and they grow very well . And the worms came too .View attachment 966155 View attachment 966154 View attachment 966153

Hat looks great Hecno! I didn’t realize it would take that long to break down and be useable. That’s a bummer cuz I really hoped I could get it useable in 6 months or so. Bayou been turning it? If not, do you think that would have sped up the process?

 

[DTOM420]

Someone on another forum pointed out that the cypress may cause me problems. I went and looked it up and cypress oil does have some antibacterial properties. Ugh. Lol. My hope is that since this comes from 100+ year old Amish barn timbers that we’re shipped here to be repurposed into deceptive wood boards, it may have leached enough oil to not create a problem in the compost. Fingers crossed! I did say this was an experiment.

 

[hecno]

You soil will tell you when it is ready , It is one thing you can not put a time frame to . You will learn . We live in different environments , So that is where you start , Understanding you environment There is no short cut . .

 

[Eyes on Fire]

I wished my body could handle doing this again. Thee best way to make your own. Compost,bokashi,IMO's POW!!! great job fellas!

 

[DTOM420]

You soil will tell you when it is ready , It is one thing you can not put a time frame to . You will learn . We live in different environments , So that is where you start , Understanding you environment There is no short cut . .

Yeah, you’re right. I’m learning and trying to figure it out. Getting the correct green/brown combination is what I’m struggling with. Manure is wet and compact and browns are dry and fluffy. So, it seems impossible to calculate the ratio. The pile won’t heat up without the correct ratio either. Ugh.

Here’s what it looked like after I removed the form. A 3”x3”x3” compost “cube!”

And here I’ve covered with vapor barrier to try and retain moisture and protect it from the wind drying it out, while still allowing air to enter and microbes to (hopefully) join the party!