First Time Composter

[Mike]

I feel like a real rookie when I start every thread with, basically, this will be my first time doing this. But, that's how you learn and, hopefully, in a few years I'll have a lot of the dos and don'ts to share with other members of this site.

Anyways, after reading a post by @Meadowlark this morning, talking about compost, I thought I'd like to get started in trying some composting. After checking out YouTube for a bit, I come across the following video that I thought would work great for me. Probably too late to get it going in the garden this year, but definitely by the time I start the fall veggies I should be able to have a nice composting material to add to the garden.

After watching the video, though, I do have a few questions.

The basic materials are green material, brown material, and water. Green material, that's no problem. I have a large yard, as does my mom, so we can use the grass clippings (we both bag our yards already anyways). We also drink coffee regularly, so there will definitely be coffee grounds in the mixture, as well as many fruit/vegetable scraps.

As for the brown material, my wife gets a lot of cardboard boxes in, usually filled with shipping paper, so we can use all of that. Obviously I'm assuming I'll want to cut the tape and any spots on the boxes that are printed on off. I don't think I want that ink in my garden. I also dabble a bit in woodworking so I may have a bit of sawdust to use as well.

My questions are these...does chicken droppings count as green or brown material? What about the straw hay? Would it be enough to make a good compost if I simply use the straw hay from the chicken coop, mixed with the grass clippings from the yard?

I'm not so much worried about there being seeds in the straw because the chickens scratch around in it all day long and I'd assume they've already eat almost all of the seeds out, but what if the grass clippings have stickers, or weed seeds, in them? Will composting kill those off, or should I only use the clippings from the good parts of the yard where there are very few weeds and almost no stickers?

Finally, we have a lot of wide open area around here, with not much to block the wind. I'm worried my piles can get blown away. Can I do this in a giant tote cut in half, with most of the bottom removed? Basically, I'd just be adding 4 sides with the tote, but leaving enough of the bottom so the weight of the compost will help hold it to the ground when the winds get up.

I can't believe how simple it looks like it could be to make my own compost, especially after watching the video. I thought it was some year long process, and needed constant work, but this guy makes compost in like two months and just, basically, shoveled it around once a day. I'm really looking forward to trying this out. Seems like it could be great fun, and will be incredibly beneficial to the ol' garden!

 

[Meadowlark]

My questions are these...does chicken droppings count as green or brown material? What about the straw hay? Would it be enough to make a good compost if I simply use the straw hay from the chicken coop, mixed with the grass clippings from the yard?

I'm not so much worried about there being seeds in the straw because the chickens scratch around in it all day long and I'd assume they've already eat almost all of the seeds out, but what if the grass clippings have stickers, or weed seeds, in them? Will composting kill those off, or should I only use the clippings from the good parts of the yard where there are very few weeds and almost no stickers?

Chicken droppings, straw hay I count as brown. Grass clippings mixed in are excellent especially if you have yard of the month green

I wouldn't count on the chickens myself...get that compost mix hot, above 135 deg f for example, and those seeds are history. Turn it regularly and add moisture if needed.

 

[Meadowlark]

Finally, we have a lot of wide open area around here, with not much to block the wind. I'm worried my piles can get blown away. Can I do this in a giant tote cut in half, with most of the bottom removed? Basically, I'd just be adding 4 sides with the tote, but leaving enough of the bottom so the weight of the compost will help hold it to the ground when the winds get up.

I can't believe how simple it looks like it could be to make my own compost, especially after watching the video. I thought it was some year long process, and needed constant work, but this guy makes compost in like two months and just, basically, shoveled it around once a day. I'm really looking forward to trying this out. Seems like it could be great fun, and will be incredibly beneficial to the ol' garden!

That should work. Yes, it is incredibly simple...Nature is absolutely wondrous. A little tip that will work to "heat up the mix" is to throw a little fertilizer on it.

Personally, I'm cautious about cardboard...If I don't know what is in it, I do not allow it in the garden soil. That's a rule I follow without exception. Some say unnecessary but I can tell you for certain undoing is incredibly difficult in garden soil.

 

[Mike]

Personally, I'm cautious about cardboard...If I don't know what is in it, I do not allow it in the garden soil. That's a rule I follow without exception. Some say unnecessary but I can tell you for certain undoing is incredibly difficult in garden soil.

Thanks for the tip! As long as the straw hay, paper, and sawdust can be used, I'll have more than enough brown material so I won't even need the cardboard anyways. Might not even need the paper! I keep about a one foot deep stand of straw in the chicken coop and change it out twice a year, at least, so that'll be quite a bit of straw hay to use. I'll have to mow both of our yards a few times to match that in grass clippings. And yes, both of our yards are beautifully green during the summer months and mom has patches of rye grass during winter months so we can throw that into a batch, maybe this weekend, to get something started.