Foo - Anybody else have a backyard compost pile?

Now that my backyard is in order, I've started a compost pile. Any "backyard farmers" here in foo have any real tips?

My goal is to grow some onion, tomato, and jalapeno plants next spring. Basically grow my own salsa.

edit: Thanks in advance for all input.

Now that my backyard is in order, I've started a compost pile. Any "backyard farmers" here in foo have any real tips?

My goal is to grow some onion, tomato, and jalapeno plants next spring. Basically grow my own salsa.

Turn the pile over about 1X each week. Allowing oxygen to get into the pile will promote the aerobic bacteria you are trying to develop. Outside of that....avoid meat products. They stink.

My garden consists of onions, cucumbers, Jalepenos, Bell Peppers, Habeneros, 7 tomato plants, Black Beans and green beans.

Now that my backyard is in order, I've started a compost pile. Any "backyard farmers" here in foo have any real tips?

My goal is to grow some onion, tomato, and jalapeno plants next spring. Basically grow my own salsa.

edit: Thanks in advance for all input.

Yeah, only vegetable products in the compost.

I have never grown onions, the others are easy, we do them every year. (red onions are best for salsa, IMO)

I am fine w/ limited amounts of nasty stuff (fat, meat) in my compost pile. I do aerate pretty aggressively. THe big thing for me is to mix in a lot of like grass clippings. But essentially no woody type yardwaste, just leaves (never oak leaves).

(never oak leaves).

why not?

Now that my backyard is in order, I've started a compost pile. Any "backyard farmers" here in foo have any real tips?

My goal is to grow some onion, tomato, and jalapeno plants next spring. Basically grow my own salsa.

edit: Thanks in advance for all input.

Make a compost barrel, it is easier to mix the compost. Also don't use grass clippings too much.

This link should get you going. Composting (http://www.compostguide.com/)

have fun

Our region hands out free composting bins. You might want to check out your municipality to see if they do the same.

It's not too late to start your tomatoes and peppers. You can do them in containers or in the ground, just use potting soil this year.

We crop hay and raise ponies. Our compost bin is made of concrete and larger than what you would ever need. Some friends in town use those rotating barrel composers and are happy with them. For mine, the way I mix it is with a wire thread weed eater, turn it over with a pitch fork, and clean it out with a tractor. Only the weed eater part applies to the backyard, and it works quite well.

oak leaves have high levels of I think it's tannins and just basically don't break down, rather turn into a fibrous mess.

I made a really basic one with turkey wire and stakes. Looks like hell, but it works fine. I'll throw my coffee grounds in there too.

This year I have a couple kinds of tomatoes, peppers, squash, and cucumbers. I'll put in some pumpkins later too.

1. Don't put weeds you've pulled that have already gone to seed in it.

2. you need a source of nitrogen, grass clippings are good for that.

3. I usually mix about 1/3 vegetable kitchen scraps, 1/3 yard debris and 1/3 soil together.

4. even if it's too big to turn easily, you still need to aerate it and keep it moist, I've got a 5-foot steel bar I aerate my big pile with.

5. woody debris is OK, but it takes longer to break down and does consume a lot of nitrogen. It helps if you have a chipper to break the big things down - smaller pieces w/ more surface area take up less room and compost a lot faster. chicken manure is a good source of supplemental nitrogen.

Put in things that have a low carbon to nitrogen ratio. The aerobic bacteria you're looking for (that are responsible for creating humus) tend to enjoy ratios of 8:1. Obviously you don't have to only put in things that are 8:1 but if you get really wide ratios (woodchips, straw, etc) you're gonna be taking away nitrogen from any plants

Like someone said, tannins, waxes, etc, are terrible because they're nigh-impossible to decompose

Magnolia leaves don't break down either. Too waxy.

Oaks also have a natural herbicide, which is one of the reason nothing grows under them.

Wait!! Nobody mentioned the wet/dry layering!!

I alternate newspaper or dry leaves in between the clippings. Another thing is using the paper egg cartons too.

Don't forget that when things rot, it produces heat naturally so I have the enclosed kind. Makes compost faster.

Earthworms are good too. Makes it real rich!

Don't forget that moisture speeds up the rotting process so you want to water every third day or so. I usually do it after I turn it and then a few days later.

Any kind of kitchen scraps work fine except for meat.

Egg shells are good too it provides calcium to it. Just make sure you crunch it up real good into tiny bits.

I've been composting for over ten years and that's all I use as a top soil for EVERYTHING! It's wonderful!! I've gotten random things growing as well.

The fun surprises that I've had were yellow pear tomatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, pumpkins, butternut squash....oh it's so fun!! :)

Wait!! Nobody mentioned the wet/dry layering!!

I alternate newspaper or dry leaves in between the clippings. Another thing is using the paper egg cartons too.

Don't forget that when things rot, it produces heat naturally so I have the enclosed kind. Makes compost faster.

Earthworms are good too. Makes it real rich!

Don't forget that moisture speeds up the rotting process so you want to water every third day or so. I usually do it after I turn it and then a few days later.

Any kind of kitchen scraps work fine except for meat.

Egg shells are good too it provides calcium to it. Just make sure you crunch it up real good into tiny bits.

I've been composting for over ten years and that's all I use as a top soil for EVERYTHING! It's wonderful!! I've gotten random things growing as well.

The fun surprises that I've had were yellow pear tomatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, pumpkins, butternut squash....oh it's so fun!! :)

Very good description. That's exactly what we do.

How long do the carcasses of your enemies take to dissolve in a compost pile?

Oaks also have a natural herbicide, which is one of the reason nothing grows under them.

I think you're thinking of black walnut. Oak aren't bad.

You can compost black walnut leaves, but they have to be completely broken down. If you have a black walnut tree in your yard or neighbor's yard, forget growing anything in the ground, especially tomatoes.

I need more leaves in my pile. Straw works, but it takes a good while to decompose.

My vegetarian neighbors decided to have a compost pile, in which they tossed the uneaten parts (skins, ends, peels) of their food preparations. Within a year the immediate area developed a serious rodent problem, both rats and mice, that were feeding off the compost pile. It took nearly a year to rid the area of that problem. Step one was getting rid of the compost pile.

That is why a covered one made out of recycled plastic is good.

That is why a covered one made out of recycled plastic is good.

That's genius in it's simplicity and practicality. Unfortunately, these neighbors are vehemently anti-plastic. She won't even allow her 1 year old daughter to play with other kid's dolls if they're made of anything other than wood, cloth or hemp. It actually took awhile to convince them that rodents in uncontrollable numbers are not good around humans (eating fruit on trees before ripened, flower roots and bulbs, internet cables, wiring, car parts...)

Hmmm. That makes it a little difficult.

Gee I've been composting oak leaves mixed with grass cutting for years. My secret in this dry climate is lots of water. When my neighbor pulled out his 1/2 acre lawn and put in Xeriscaping I worked out a deal with a local market. I could take all the trimmings from from their veg department which they put out in big boxes anyway. Woo Hoo! 4 and 5 cubic yards of that stuff smoked through the oak and Magnolia equivalent leaves in weeks. I just spread the stuff around my hillside smothering anything that looks like a non-native plant.

Somebody took a dump in our compost pile :(

Somebody took a dump in our compost pile :(

That's really getting to the point of creating fertilizer. A little too blunt, clearly, but spot on.

How long do the carcasses of your enemies take to dissolve in a compost pile?

not too long if you use a wood chipper first.

not too long if you use a wood chipper first.


So that was Mrs. Lundegaard on the floor in there. And I guess that was your accomplice in the wood chipper. And those three people in Brainerd. And for what? For a little bit of money. There's more to life than a little money, you know. Don'tcha know that? And here ya are, and it's a beautiful day. Well. I just don't understand it.


:D

Somebody took a dump in our compost pile :(

On the Mekong Delta, this is commonplace.

That's genius in it's simplicity and practicality. Unfortunately, these neighbors are vehemently anti-plastic. She won't even allow her 1 year old daughter to play with other kid's dolls if they're made of anything other than wood, cloth or hemp. It actually took awhile to convince them that rodents in uncontrollable numbers are not good around humans (eating fruit on trees before ripened, flower roots and bulbs, internet cables, wiring, car parts...)

Get some snakes.

Get some snakes.

But not plastic snakes, right?

But not plastic snakes, right?

correct. The idea is to eat the rodents. Not have them die of laughter.

So that was Mrs. Lundegaard on the floor in there. And I guess that was your accomplice in the wood chipper. And those three people in Brainerd. And for what? For a little bit of money. There's more to life than a little money, you know. Don'tcha know that? And here ya are, and it's a beautiful day. Well. I just don't understand it.Jaa.

correct. The idea is to eat the rodents. Not have them die of laughter.

If I wanted them to die of laughter, I would have a deaf man read this to them.

Venn ist das nurnstuck git und slotermeyer? Ya! Beigerhund das oder die flipperwaldt gersput!

That is why a covered one made out of recycled plastic is good.

Okay, but here's a question. I have a covered compost bin made out of recycled plastic. Recently, I've had a bit of a rat problem in it. Not huge, but there were a couple of roof rats in it when I last went to turn it. What they're doing is burrowing underneath the plastic and coming up through the compost. I'm not sure what to do about this. Maybe some flagstones around the base? As it turns out, a Pyreneean mountain dog chasing them sure scares the **** out of the little *******s, but I don't think it will keep them from a steady source of food. I want to make sure I address this before the neighbors complain.

Thank y'all for all the input.

I should have mentioned, I already have a compost bin. We recently replace our wooden fence. I used the old wooden fence to make a nice sized bin. It does the job well of keeping the materials in, and my dog out. Now that it is getting in the 90's I don't need to keep the black plastic on the top.

I've been "harvesting" the water that drains from my AC. Down here on the Gulf it is nice and humid. I can collect almost a gallon of water everytime the AC runs. I don't use every gallon on the compost pile. I'm curious, is there such thing as too much water?

Thank y'all for all the input.

I should have mentioned, I already have a compost bin. We recently replace our wooden fence. I used the old wooden fence to make a nice sized bin. It does the job well of keeping the materials in, and my dog out. Now that it is getting in the 90's I don't need to keep the black plastic on the top.

I've been "harvesting" the water that drains from my AC. Down here on the Gulf it is nice and humid. I can collect almost a gallon of water everytime the AC runs. I don't use every gallon on the compost pile. I'm curious, is there such thing as too much water?

I'm going to install a gutter system and start rain water collection from my roof for my garden next year. However I have heard you can use the gray water from your cloths washer for your garden, I'm not sure on this and I don't know what kind of detergents to use and not use. I did have a neighbor that ran his washer water into his backyard and he had green grass all summer.

I'm going to install a gutter system and start rain water collection from my roof for my garden next year. However I have heard you can use the gray water from your cloths washer for your garden, I'm not sure on this and I don't know what kind of detergents to use and not use. I did have a neighbor that ran his washer water into his backyard and he had green grass all summer.

I have seen plans to build a stream like planted water feature that uses waste water from the dishwasher/clothes washer. The water plants in the water feature filter the water.

http://watersprout.org/water_systems/constructed_wetlands.html

The basic idea is to great a wetland that filters/stores the water and then uses it for irrigation. The one I saw was like a rock stream bed planted with aquatic plants, maybe a stand of reeds, ending in a pond. Pretty cool idea.

correct. The idea is to eat the rodents. Not have them die of laughter.

Shotguns work wonders on the little critters.

correct. The idea is to eat the rodents. Not have them die of laughter.

Over the protests of my hippy neighbors, I began a campaign of killing the local rodent population by using gopher poison. It worked beautifully. They wanted to trap and release them. There's the difference between me and a hippy. They wanted (a lot of talk and good intentions) to do something politically correct and environmentally pure, while your boy here took action and craftily eliminated a rodent infestation that they created. The same neighbors protested how I cleared the adjoining property of weeds and chaparral. Apparently some of the weeds were medicinal. They are also highly flammable.

Neighbor update: they were renters, and the owner finally had enough of their BS. They're gone by the first of June. The straw that broke the camel's back? The chick hippy told the property owner's 8 year old girl that her mother was wrong for giving birth to her in a hospital instead of home birthing. No doubt having something to do with plastic.

I still say get a snake, better than poison.

I'm going to install a gutter system and start rain water collection from my roof for my garden next year. However I have heard you can use the gray water from your cloths washer for your garden, I'm not sure on this and I don't know what kind of detergents to use and not use. I did have a neighbor that ran his washer water into his backyard and he had green grass all summer.

Gray water irrigation is a no no where I live, but that doesn't stop people from doing it. I have noticed that some plants and trees respond well to it, regardless of the soaps used, while some have a hard time. I think it's a matter of saturation and how much earth the water passes through before it reaches the plant roots. Creating some form of replacable filter barrier might work if there's a question. By filter I mean sand or some other natural earth substance that can be replaced after a time. Say if the area you want irrigated is on a slope. Where the water drains above that area, it should first have to pass through that filter. Perhaps a soil that has a lot of clay in it.

I still say get a snake, better than poison.

No way to really tell how well a snake would do against that problematic rodent population now, because they're all dead.

then buy the snake some mice.

:lol:

then buy the snake some mice.

How about I just take the poison? No more problems.

How about I just take the poison? No more problems.

no way! I would rather have you posting here on Foo.

BTW, I did not know you were a rodent.

no way! I would rather have you posting here on Foo.

BTW, I did not know you were a rodent.

But I never seem to get anything done when I'm posting on Foo. What with all my problems... like I have the time for this!

I'm not a rodent. I missed being born in the year of the rat by two years. So said my hippy neighbors who believe in ancient Chinese astrology.

poison the hippies and feed them to the snake then.

poison the hippies and feed them to the snake then.

But then the snake dies when it eats the poisoned hippies. I'm not about killing nature's creations.

But then the snake dies when it eats the poisoned hippies. I'm not about killing nature's creations.

except rodents