Compost!
Harriet 3
Posts: 10
Hello! I am relatively new to gardening, my partner and I have just taken over his family smallholding and are learning as we go!
Anyway I would really like to be making great compost and feeds for my plants/veg etc. I currently have a compost bin which I have been filling with kitchen peelings etc and some bits of paper and card, it's not that big and Im wondering whether I should now leave it to rot down fully, or turn it and use what's on the top?
I also keep chickens so want to make a another heap with their poo and straw from their shed, again do I need to keep turning this? And how long before its ok to use?
We also have a tame lamb who is in a stable at night so she has her bedding, can this go in with chicken bedding or should I keep a separate pile?
I also have access to horse manure and may be getting a Shetland at some point so again does that need to be a separate pile or shall I put all animal matter together?
I also am clearing lots of nettles so could do with making something with that, but not sure 100% how to.
I have also been reading about hot beds which is my plan for the chicken poo next year as we will be getting a poly tunnel.
Lots of questions sorry!
Thanks!
Posts
I meant use what's on the bottom of the compost, which will become the top!
All the animal bedding and manure can go in the compost heap. Paper shreddings, cardboard and waste straw, but not hay as it often includes grass seeds. Add it all to the compost.
Take care with the nettles, absolutely no roots or seeds. Do not put any roots or seeds of perennial weeds in the compost or they will come back to haunt you.
Harriet the basic answer is you can compost the lot except for the nettle roots.
As you have space, I assume, you can have as many compost bins as your heart desires, and I'd use pallets as bins. There is a thread on here about pallets, with pics and links various info.
As for turning, yes, there are varying opinions on how often, but in general once a month is the average. There is a compost thread here as well with loads of useful and helpful stuff.
Don't be afraid to ask any questions, everybody will help, and plenty of advice will follow my post. I'm sure you'll have plenty of beautiful compost, you have all the right ingredients, and many will envy your luck.
The nettles can be made into a liquid feed Harriet. You soak them in a bucket of water and when they've rotted down you strain off the liquid and dilute it. I forget the proportions but someone else will give you a correct ratio.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Nettle and comfrey feed. Dilute to the colour of weak tea. Probably 10:1
Harriet 3, the real secret of good compost is pile it high and make it hot, bins will do the job over a period of time but one or two large bins will be better. I have two one to load one to use, they are made of wood and tall, side by side one will help heat the other though turning aerating and damping the compost once a month is the key.
Brought up on a small holding with animals everything went into a huge brick midden and my job was get in there and turn it, when you could take a handful and it was dark crumbly and smelt nice then it was ready to use.
A hot box is a different matter, My Father used them and would prepare in early January to bring on soft fruits and salad stuff also to start his seeds in boxes. I do not think chicken poo will work, we built the box put bales of straw in the base piled it high with raw horse manure, hot and steaming, more straw bales then a covering of well riddled garden soil, no compost in sacks back then. He had glass frames for covering part or all of the hot box and it worked. If you have the room think big for compost, Monty on GW has four in a row he shreds all the material then as it rots he throws it from box one into two then on until he has that lovely compost he uses from the last box although sometimes some of the rough stuff can be used as mulch.
Hope this helps, Frank.
Great help Thankyou!
Don't be afraid to put skip-loads of paper and cardboard in with the green stuff. The end result will be a better crumbly texture of compost. Too much proportion of green (yes avoid weeds anyway) makes for a slimy mess. On the 'nettle tea' subject, I'm not yet convinced. I tried making this plant food last year - enduring the pungent smells - but I can't say it made any obvious contribution to cropping which many chemical solutions seem to produce. I'd be interested to hear further.
Using nettles depends on if you want to be organic! I use it every season on my tomatoes and cucumbers. Harriet don't cut down all of the nettles as they are beneficial to many insects and birds. I have a 'wild corner' that contains nettles as well as comfrey.