My Big Compost Dud!

My big compost dud that I made 2 weeks ago. It's suppose to be hot but only got up to 100 degrees after the first week. I don't think I got enough nitrogen in the mix and my browns were too rotted perhaps? Usually in my first stage, it heats up to about 160 degrees F. My typically mix is about 10 gallons of chicken poop with 4 big wheelbarrow ful of spoiled scrap hay. I didn't use as much chicken manure in this batch and the hay was well rotted versus slightly spoiled. Not sure if the low temp is due to one or the other or both? It's a pretty heavy (dense), wet pile.

So last weekend, I mixed in 10 more gallons of fresh manure and 2 wheelbarrow full of chicken litter and now it's up to 135 degrees. Better but still not where it should be. Should I mix in more nitrogen when I turn it? Or should I set it aside and add it little by little in to new piles? I make a load every two weeks or so. I'm afraid to let it go as is due to not getting hot enough to kill weed seeds and pathogens.

What's your vote:

A. Let it go and chance it.
B. Add more manure and litter to the second turn, or
C. Set it aside and mix it into new batches a little bit at a time?

Thanks for your help. Joe

Joe:
Looking at the photo, your batch looks very dry.
How much water are you adding?
..........................Dennis aka" the ol' tom cat"

Dud's need either more nitrogen, more water or more air. Mixing helps to a point.

Though I am usually a cold composter so 100 degrees would make me smile.

Thanks much for the help! It's a little wetter and denser than usual. The additional chicken poop definitely helped and I added some straw for more air and some chicken litter. It's almost 140 degrees now so I'm thinking it probably wasn't enough air and nitrogen. I'm thinking I'll turn it this weekend and give it a few extra weeks in stage two then see how it looks. I can always set aside and mix it in with new batches if it looks questionable.

When what I tried to compost in the tumbler (envirocycle)... ahem... didn't work out, I tossed the... remains... in the "real" compost pile. They did fine there.

I think I have a different problem: my compost has lots of good things in it, but it got extremely soaked in the last couple of rains we had - I did not think of covering it. So now it is almost squishy. Does anyone have a thought/remedy for this? I had just turned it before the rains.

Thanks for your help. (Of course I am hoping that you'll say: just leave it, it will fix itself!!!)

Leave it, it will fix itself!!!

(Yes, really!)

It can fix itself - if you have dry weather.

But If its really really wet there is a possibility that it can anaerobic... which smells bad. You can mix in some dry brown material, like shredded junk mail, shredded leaves or straw and that will help absorb excess moisture and increase pore space to help it dry out a bit.

I generally keep a top thick layer of leaves or straw on the pile as a natural cover, helps moderate the moisture by preventing it from drying out or getting too wet depending upon the weather.

Thanks!! I guess I'll put both your answers together, be happy that it will fix itself, AND also put in some brown material to help it along. I don't know where my head was, not covering/protecting it. We are going to have a couple of dry days, so tomorrow I will see what I can do, and after that cover it, I do have part of a roll of spoiled hay. Do you think that would be as good as hay, I don't have any, would have to buy it (wheat or oats?).

I would not buy anything specifically just to compost it. Spoiled hay is just hay that has already started composting, I would go ahead and use it.

NOw I have bought stuff knowing that when I was done with them, they would be great for composting, (like a couple straw bales for the halloween display).

I never use hay because no matter how long composted it is full of weed seeds.

Sprouting weeds are more greens for the compost pile.

soferdig----- your compost id not getting hot enough or not turned equally.

Here in Montana you don't plan on all seeds being destroyed and see that after all the year of composting that many get through to grow into many problems.

Very helpful thread Joe. Thanks to all y'all for sharing your composting wisdom. :-)
carol

Hi Carol - learn as we go I guess! I turned this pile today and it was between 90 and 100 degrees after 4 weeks. I saw a few worms in it towards the bottom edges and things are sprouting around the perimeter which means it's not quite as hot as I like for stage 1. However, I'm thinking it's going to be OK -- smells good (not anaerobic) and looks good for a first turn -- I did let it cook two weeks longer than normal. I'll call it my slow roast instead of my big dud.

Thanks all for the input - I'll update again when I do the final turn into the garden. That green dud in the picture is me. LOL! Joe

Here's a stage three that I just moved to it's final resting space: a 3 foot tall by 16 feet perimeter (5 ft diameter) wire hoop. I was doing stage three (in a three bin composter) on the edge of the property but the trees kept robbing the nutrients and moisture out of the pile - the bottom foot would be a tangle of little roots. In the garden, anything that leaches out will go to the vegies. This particular batch was two weeks in stage one and 4 weeks in stage 2. I fill a wheelbarrow and roll it up the ramp and dump. I'll let it cook here another month or two then fork it into the garden with lime and a little organic fertilizer. Finally I cover the rows with leaves and the walkways with thick scrap hay as can be seen in the adjacent asparagus bed.

(Edited for typos)

This message was edited Jan 28, 2007 7:25 PM

It's been 2 months and I moved my big dud to the garden. Looked pretty good but I noticed a few weed sprouts and lot's of worms. It doesn't seem to be cooking any more so it's probably as good as it's going to get. I'm planting beans in this bed in a couple of months so I'll leave the compost on top with a thick layer of leaves to keep the weeds down. I don't think it got hot enough to kill pathogens or weeds . . . . maybe I'll solarize the bed after the beans???

Here's my two new batches. I haven't turned either yet. The one on the right has been cooking for about a month, started at 170 degrees and is now at 120. I just finish building the one on the left -- It's at 160.

Well jozeeben, your compost may not be heating up to your preferred temperatures, but you've certainly developed nice legs in the process. *grin*

Hey GM you are supposed to be looking at the compost!

LOL - Thanks GM - but I think it's the running (I only do compost on Sundays!). You made this old man's day.

gloria, I usually look at the whole picture. After all that work, composters should get credit too!

jozeeben - I don't think you know the meaning of old yet!
:-)

OK - Sometimes I feel old -- Does late 40's count as middle-aged or do I have to wait a few more years? I'll be racing in the 45-49 year old this year which is a lot tougher (faster) than the 40-44 age groups. All those aging baby boomers fighting their mortality. I'm hoping good compost = good nutrition = health and longetivity?

I've heard good compost makes you run faster.

So do prunes...

LOL!

Prunes have gotten a bum rap in the US! It's time for a Prune Liberation Front!
Dried prunes are from a sweet, fleshy type of plum that is known as a prune - usually Italian or French prunes, which are a delight to eat fresh. They are often referred to as Sugar Plums at the market. In Europe they are known as a baking or cooking plum because they have more flesh and less juice (so will not make the cake soggy). The fresh prunes are the ones used to make plum cakes and plum butter. The dried ones are often used in cooking savoury dishes. Prunes are not a laxative! They can have a normalizing effect on the bowels of persons who diets are grossly deficient in fiber, but they will not have this effect on persons who eat a fibre rich diet.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.theproduceguide.com/pimage/italianprune.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.theproduceguide.com/doitem.php%3Fpnum%3D271&h=414&w=480&sz=18&hl=en&start=22&tbnid=hS6LIqCBhEwpwM:&tbnh=111&tbnw=129&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2Bitalian%2Bprune%26start%3D20%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN
http://kitchen.apartmenttherapy.com/food/seasonal/italian-prune-plums-004560
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/100777
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_2324,00.html
http://recipes.chef2chef.net/recipe-archive/48/256934.shtml

I'm moved by your sincerity.... :-)

I actually love prunes so much I buy the big Costco bags. They're not dry and hard like the ones I grew up with.

How did we get from compost to prunes? :>)

It's all fiber.

I love prunes, too and I'm glad to know it's not a laxative with a high fiber diet (never heard that before) -- now if I could only get the plum tree to bloom when it suppose to and bear fruit. It always blooms too early. Maybe it needs some compost?

Something about fertilizer.....I think prunes are in this category of composting.....

Fruit trees bear more and better tasting fruit when well cared for with plenty of compost.
Everything is connected.

Right you are, mermaid. When are you and DH swimming up to the Urban Onion?

What a great thread!

Jozee..great pics of the compost and progress. Best to you in your gardening and in your running!

Now about dem prunes....love 'em! (But probably don't eat enough of them!)

Shoe

Well "Howdy" Shoe!
Try out some of those recipes and perhaps you'll eat them more often. :-)

johnson, not sure how soon we'll be up your way again. I'll definitely send you advance notice via DMail when we do.......now that we have a meeting place at the Urban Onion.

How's that compost coming along jozeeben?

I spread the last of the compost in the bed today. It looked pretty good with worms and a few weed sprouts. But the weeds just go back into the compost so that's OK. I may solarize this bed late summer because I've had problems with some kind of white root fungus on tomatoes & peppers last year.

Here's after I spread it on the beds.

Lookin' good! Garden envy here. LOL!