How to start a compost pile
From:
Robert Jones
Date:
May 07 15:20 UTC
Short link
Thanks for all the suggestions. I guess I know where to get wood as (my
neighbor has a wood-burning stove). so, please tell me where to get rock
phosphate and gypsum . . . and how much is "a little". Chickens are probably
out of the question due to the small size of my in town lot.
On Wed, May 7, 2008 at 8:18 AM, Jack Rowe <<email obscured>> wrote:
> Moisture-retention is definitely a big one for local composting, as
> Jeanette mentions, uncovered piles dry out very quickly.
>
> I add a little wood ash (K), a little rock phosphate (P and Ca) and a fair
> amount of gypsum (Ca and a degree of protection from salting since our water
> is high in salt) to compost so they can start entering the food chain early,
> as they do this slowly. The P and Ca are pretty consistently deficient in SW
> soils.
>
> Chickens make the best compost... they turn it (doesn't seem to bother
> their lower backs as much as it does mine), they eat meat scraps and turn
> them into eggs instead of more skunk meat, they manure it, and they chop it
> up nicely. Chickens convert chicken food to human food more efficiently than
> any other terrestrial animals. They'll eat most of what we do, and as
> US-ians 2-1/2 of us waste on average enough to feed one other person (or a
> lot of chickens) though a lot of this waste is from restaurants.
>
> Locally, animal manures are pretty available and usually come mixed w/
> straw/bedding for a decent C:N ratio for decomposition right off the bat.
>
>
> Jack Rowe
> Sapello
> Info about Jack Rowe: http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/jackrowe
>
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