thinking of making a separate weed compost; crazy or not?

I hate throwing out so many weeds that arent safe for the compost pile. could I make a seperate pile with these weeds and some brown. mybe just let it cook longer and spread it somewhere safe? is this just a crazy idea? what do you think?

Stickfigure - I have the same feeling, hate wasting all of that good stuff - I've just set up two old water butts/rain barrels that I have made air tight so that I can turn them into big bokashi bins for pernicious weeds. Seems to be working very well - the first one has been going two weeks now, and although I haven't gotten any liquid from it yet, it is smelling right. I would suggest you might want to do something similar.

The problem with setting up a normal compost pile with pernicious weeds is that you have to get it really hot to kill off the roots. Otherwise the weeds will die back, but just use the compost environment to keep growing roots. You'll just be putting them back where they came from.

Laurie, are you saying that you are putting in food scraps, Bokashi, and pernicious weeds into the air-tight barrels, and letting them all ferment? And then does this process "neuralize" the weeds and make them safe as compost?

I just throw the weeds onto some pavement or plastic for a few days until I know they're good & dead, then I add them back to the regular compost pile. I throw into the garbage weeds that have gone to seed.

Capecod - this is a bit of an experiment, but what I am putting in is all of the pernicious weeds: nettle, dock, creeping buttercup, anything that has gone to seed (i'm debating with myself about marestail - ) into the barrels and layering them with bokashi bran and tamping it all down. I have sprayed with a dilute EMA twice to give it a bit more moisture. It is beginning to get that light vinegar smell now (the bin has been going for coming up to 3 weeks now). I thought I would keep the barrel going just as I do the kitchen bin: adding, compressing, and then sitting for a 3 week pickling process before burying it into one of my new lasagne beds or the compost.

Laurie, this is so interesting. I'm still adjusting to the new-model composting style with Bokashi, which doesn't seem to create a hot compost pile the way I am used to--maybe that's why there are SO many earthworms happily present? I will be very interested to hear about how your process works with pickling hose noxious weeds-I don't see why it couldn't work very well!

if the compost is "cooked" enough to use ithink the the seeds would be decomposed. however, if you grow sensitive plants such as clematis like i do, i try and keep moldy things out of it.

Laurie, please keep posting your results with your bokashi 'weed' composting. Our Activated EM1 finally hit 3.5, so am going to spray down part of the yard and veggie garden later this evening. I have to wait till it cools down a bit before I go piddle in the yard. I'm dying to give this a try on my rose beds especially. :) LOL

niobe - I agree with you about mouldy things - but my understanding of bokashi is that it will help keep nasty moulds down.

Capecod and doccat5 - thank you for your interest - I'll certainly keep you posted - i find it fascinating. But maybe I should start a new thread - I don't want to distract from Stickfigure's initial question about other's view on starting a compost strickly for weeds. I am sure many people have lots of thoughts on this.

Laurie, I really want to try this bokashi thing with pernicious weeds. I have soooooo many, piles and piles of buttercups, stoloniferous grass, and nettle roots. Something has to be done. I have access to many 5 gallon buckets (formerly filled with chlorine) due to my DH's water system work. Do you think this size would work? I would have to get lids for them that could be made air-tight but easy to open and close, and a tool to get off their existing lids that have a pour spout for the chlorine. I read a little about this on several web sites. I gather that I need to get a solution of special microbes. It seems rather pricey, but maybe a little goes a long way. How much do you need to pickle a large amount of weeds, say 10 to 20 buckets full, a total of 50 to 100 gallons of weeds at a time? Is that enough or do you also need to mix the liquid with microbes into rice bran first, before adding it to the weed buckets. If so, how much of this should I get. I'll have to find an inexpensive source. Thanks for any insights you can offer.

Yikes! Holly - my answer is that I am way out of my depth with these questions! I am just doing an experiment, and although it seems to be going well - it is unproven so far. So in the first instance can I take you over to Bokashi 3 and introduce you to EMEric and Gardenmermaid - the resident experts on this subject. They are inexhaustibly encouraging, enthusiastic, and gentle as can be in getting people started (they have been my inspiration, as well as the rest of the kind folk on this thread) I'll just get the link.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/852349/

Having said that I think that as long as you make the buckets airtight the containers should work. I am using the innoculated bran for my bin, which can become a bit expensive if you are doing large quantities - but I believe that Gardenmermaid makes up her own bran mixture in large quantities at a much cheaper cost. So that may be the way to go.

How about reposting your questions, I'll certainly keep you up to date on my experiment, and WELCOME to the fascinating world of Bokashi!

This message was edited Jun 14, 2008 7:13 AM

we place all soft weeds and flower garden clippings that are not large and woody in two huge composting bins..have for years. the bins are metal cages , open at top and bottom and raised off the ground on cinderblocks. it is therefore very aerated and we water it, but really don't turn it except to cover kitchen stuff we place in them daily. we only "harvest" the compost once a year..the bins are huge about 4 ft by 4 ft...but we have never had a problem with the fact weeds are in there as far as them spreading or anything.
i think the extended time composting and heat in the large mass composts them. once in a while we throw a little fertilizer in there if we think about it to help break it down.