alfalfa pellet question

The old saying of "learning something new every day," applies to me just recently learning that a compost pile can be heated up by adding alfalfa pellets and someone said a cheap high protein dog food would do the same thing.

So I went out and bought a fifty pound bag of the alfalfa pellets and now need to know if there is any specific way that it is supposed to be added? Just dump in? Dump and then turn over? I appreciate any and all shared knowledge. Thank you.

Ruby

Ruby..........your pellets are roughly equal to the highly prized sea weed or kelp so many talk about. All including your pellets contain a nice amount of natural organic NPK. All contain a natural growth promoter. All contain some trace minerals.

You just can hardly go wrong any way you use the above products. I toss them into my pile as I build the bile. Tossing more as you turn is no problem. There is literally no way to over apply unless you go clear nuts and overboard.

I use them for tea making and if you follow me long enough you might catch me side dressing with any of the above or combinations of all going in at one time.

Doc - You are just full of knowledge. Thanks for sharing it with us. Well, pellets are in and were put in Saturday before we had a nice steady rain. Their consistancy is that of mush right now. Yesterday afternoon I spent a couple of hours cleaning up some of my beds. I was able to put a lot of both greens and browns. I had so much fun.

It rained on Saturday and things in compost got saturated. Would it be a good idea to take a water hose to pile now since I did all of the adding yesterday? Doing that sounds like a lot more fun than cleanng house which is also needed. ha-ha

Thanks all.

Ruby

Ruby..........be aware that you are working to build your piles at the end of the season. By all means keep building. The piles may not heat up in the early winter days.....or they may be heating but not nearly as hot as you might wish. I just placed some of our final leaves on my piles to provide a winter blanket. In a few weeks I will put a tarp over the leaves. Our leaves are 99% down. Most are in or on the piles.

Ruby, you'll still be able to get plenty of materials for your piles. We're really just hitting the major leaf drop here in VA. Actually, I add all winter, on decent days, I go out and add scraps, coffee grounds and more newspapers. We rig an old tarp over the top of the bins (these are square recycled pallets) during the winter, but DH has it set up where it's easy for me to pull back the tarp to get to the interior of the bin. I have one bin almost completely full, the other is about 3/4 full and hubby is going to build me one more. I'm a firm believer there ain't no such thing as too much compost! LOL

I agree with your last statement. Yes, John and I had talked last week about getting a tarp to cover this new pile. At the moment it is almost full to the top anyway. We have used up the first batch now and so have a new bin to start. I too will continue to feed the kitty all winter too. Yep, a couple of very strong winds blew through this week and besides scaring my silly dogs the wind knocked off lots of leaves. Have any of you ever seen the huge size of a Sycamore leaf? Dinner plate size.

I had surgery on Wednesday and will be out of commision for a while. The leaves and other yarden debri will be waiting for me as I heal. I also still have two packages of bulbs that I bought in September when we visited friends on Cape Cod MA. There are also some live plants that are still in containers that need to go in the ground. I am dancing as fast as I can. ha-ha

Thanks for all comments, advice and tips. I could talk dirt all day.

Ruby

Understand that! LOL I have another 3 iris and daffodil bulbs to put in. Hopefully we can finish that this weekend. DH has the bed all prepared, so it's a matter of using the hoe to make a big hole and dropping them in. I also need to bring in a couple of plants before we have anymore frosts. I have a Black Dragon Coleus that I want to try and grow thru the winter. Beautiful plant, hopefully I can propagate some more. I'd like to use it as a back drop in one of my beds. Hopefully, you'll recover quickly and get back outside to play!

Thanks doccat. I cheated and put on a sweater and walked out to compost bin yesterday to see if it had started heating up. I might not get the heat that I wlll need as soon as I wanted it. Might be the spring. Thankfully I was able to work in yarden a bit before surgery and so the bin is almost full at moment any way. We have begun using the first cooked batch on the beds in the back yard, so that bin can start getting fed again.

We had extra hard winds this week that really shook a lot of leaves off the tree. I picked up just a few of them and threw in to the bin. If it hadn't been so cold, I would have probably
picked up more of the giganti sycamore tree leaves. I neveer knew they grew so huge.

I am also watching another thread on composting and was told to cover the full bin with a tarp for the winter. Will try to do that soon. As soon as I heal up a bit and given permission to start regular activity, I plan to find some warm days and finish cleaning up beds from last year.

Thanks for encouragement doccat5. Have a great weekend.

Ruby

Rubyw, you don't need anything fancy for a cover. If you can't find a cheap tarp, plastic will work fine. Just make sure you can move it back and forth easily, so you can add more material and water if you need to. I get the impression that neither you nor I are exactly "spring chickens" anymore. So we gotta work smarter, not harder. LOL Actually, I found some wonderful tips on a site that was mainly for gardener's with disabilities. I'm not that bad, but some of this things will help make it easier for me to do what I want to do, without the physical stress.

Depends on how you think of 52 year old chicks. ha-ha But I am classified as being disabled. Plus. I just had surgery. Pathetic!!!!

Do you remember where the website is? I wouldn't mind taking a look at it. Thanks.

Ruby

Sorry, I don't remember the site, but just google for it. Probably tons of info on there. You're just a baby. I'm 63 and feeling it lately. I've been having trouble with one knee which I injured as a young woman. They tell me it's arthritis in the joint. And I was like no duh??? I'm going to see a orthopedist, hopefully one closer to the top of his class that didn't sleep thru those lectures. sheesh...

Not pathetic. Frustrated, sure - but 'pathetic' would be if you had given up.

You go, girl [of any age!]!

Thanks pagancat. I am usually a bit more lively or upbeat and have a better handle on my feelings. I just had surgery on Wednesday, the fourth in fourteen months and this one kind of has my mind running towards the negative more than I can remember the others doing.

Hopefully soon I will pop right back and be full of revelry once again. ha-ha Well, pop right back and have a better attitude will be enough for me. Just feeling a bit out of sorts and it is very obvious to me.

You are funny doccat. Love the expression about the doc sleeping through that lecture. You said much truth in that statement. Thanks for the laugh.

Ruby'

Be gentle with yourself, Ruby - your body has been through a lot. Comfort foods, soft socks, hot tea, mittens. Time to heal.

Ruby, Heal quickly so that you can enjoy going outside. You all are much younger than I. I reached 81 on my birthday in June, so have seen many winters. I had both hip joints replaced, first time 1992 & 3, then had to have those replaced with longer spikes in 1994 & 95. Doctor said i wore my joints out with too much work, think I just had weakness of bones there. But I really have good bones, I can tell because a week ago, Monday Nov. 12. I caught my toe on the edge of sidewalk as I started across the street to go from senior center to meeting hall for a gardenclub meeting, and fell flat on my face. Really scratched up my nose and mouth and above, plus my left elbow and hand. but didn't BREAK any teeth or bones. So that was a good thing. Am still pretty scarred up and sore, but healing.

Not that the above has much to do with composting. I do have a batch of leaves, etc. in my tumbler type composter, but didn't try to turn it this past week. Should be able to turn it tomorrow. The other 5 or 6 piles of course not doing too much this time of year but should be usuable next spring.

Donna

What I really started out to say was how high the price of alfalfa pellets has gotten here. I know it is because alfalfa hay has gotten so expensive. I did buy another sack of pellets last week to have some to scatter on my compost piles. When I started to buy pellets a sack was less than $7.00 per sack. now the same size sack is $11.50.

Donna

Sorry, this is kinda off-topic too, but because of the drought in the southeast, flooding in TX, etc - horse feed, especially that made of a hay product is going to a) be more expensive and b) more scarce. I kinda hesitated to bring the subject up, being a horse owner, but I don't believe a small group of composters is going to drain the market *that* badly..... >smile< .

I don't know Pagancat, this bunch could start a "run" on buying alfalfa. Thing of the statistics..........LOL That would certainly puzzle the bean counters.......LOL

>grin<
Okay, Okay! Just goes to show you how worried I've been about the hay situation - I admit to major neurotic behaviour when it comes to my animules...

LOL, I understand, although my animals are dogs, Boston's......LOL Spoilt brats all. I currently have a dog pile in front of the stove, with the cat curled up in the middle. I'll have to see if I can sneak a pic, it's a hoot. Missy weigh about 5 lbs soaking wet, and she RULES. The dogs just get out of her way, since my smallest girl weighs about 22 lbs. But they are all "cat trained". We'll be having another litter of puppies, she's not gonna be happy with me again. Training puppies is work! She will go into the whelping crate after the puppies are born, and no my bitch doesn't mind. Missy gives everybody a good wash and then comes out and meows at me. Like "are you aware there are MORE dogs here?" LOL She is a real character.

LOL - wwwaaaayyy off topic, but.... yeah - 5 cats, 4 dogs and 6 horses, here ... I completely understand.

Now, you go get that picture - sounds priceless!

Thanks pagancat and Ruth for well wishes and words of comfort. I will find out later this morning if things are healing properly when I see the plastic surgeon for a follow up.

Oh Ruth, how I wish that I were already healed so that I could be doing some work outside. Most every thing that I can think of that needs doing will involve using parts of my boyd which I am not supposed to use right now. I would guess that in a week to ten days I ought to be able to get out and do some of the easier things.

Ruth, I too was surprised when I went to feed store and the fifty pound bag of pellets that I bought were over twelve dollars. I had just been reading on here where people were paying in the seven to eight dollar range. The drought theory makes sense to me for the higher cost.


Well, will scoot along now. I hope that everyone will have a good and productive week.

Ruby

Hey Ruby, check out this ergonomic site for all kind of goodies for those of us who are well "worn"..........LOL http://www.handhelpers.com Anything to make it easier.

Thank you there sweets. Will do and check out promptly. Yes, that statement is oh so true - we can use all the help we can get.

Ruby

I checked out their store, and the one thing they didn't show that I absolutely could not be without for my gardening is my kneeler. I use it to get either up or down, of if I need to rest a bit, turn it over and sit on it. I also have 3 or 4 knee pads, but I really need the supports to be able to get up once I get down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Donna

Donna, I have a request into Santa for one of those, I like you can't get up very well, once I get down..........LOL You gotta be tough to be old..........grin

... 'cause it sure ain't for sissies.

Yeah, I'm an old toughie and have really good bones or would have broken something when I fell 10 days ago flat on my face. Am finally healing so don't look quite so bad.

Donna

Amen to all of the above, ladies. Raised beds are a wonderful thing, LOL