Compost questions

[GT2]

I have a large amount of piled up top soil that has a fair amount of organics in it (grass, weeds, small brush, etc.)
Can I mix it in with my compost pile over time and expect it to compost as well?

 

[Mousefield]

Things like brush will take longer than some other items. Depending on the weeds you have you may want to make sure they are well composted or else you could find (and/or seeds) them growing again. At our place I keep the barn (goat) and chicken compost in one pile and other stuff either gets burnt or I dump weeds/grass and the like in a place close to our property line away from everything else. It's a bit of a low spot so slowly filling it in. We like having the "pure" goat and chicken composted dirt to add to our raised garden beds.

 

[ShenandoahJoe]

The Internet is full of dubious information about composting. Let's see what I can do to add my share.

Mousefield is right: You have to get the pile good and hot, or those weeds will be your crop next summer. You'll need lots of animal manure. Layer it in fours: manure, your dirtpile, manure, dead leaves, and repeat. Get it bigger than a cubic yard, as always. If this were high summer, you could use fresh grass clippings instead of manure, but I've never had any luck with that in October.

 

[easygo]

If it has a lot of dirt that also helps by adding some bacterium to the compost pile thus aiding the process. I add just about anything from old hay, horse manure from a near-by horse farm, kitchen, garden scraps and grass clippings. But as it was said before nothing heats up the pile as good as a great big shot of green grass clippings. That is the NITROGEN "BOMB" for your compost. You can also add blood meal to heat up the pile as it has high nitrogen content, but it can get expensive for that purpose.
Layer that puppy and it will work well. I love it when this is what I see.

 

[GT2]

Thanks for the reply s, I wasn't sure how my large dirt content would affect the composting. I'll be sure to layer it in.
Thanks again, Tim

 

[RobertN]

Three are some answers in here:
El Dorado County - Articles Archive - Master Gardeners
My wife is a Master Gardner in this group.

Your local University extension should have a Master Gardener group. They are a great resource, and can answer general questions, or questions about you particular local. It is a US nationwide program thru the state universities.

 

[GT2]

OK, I've got another question.
Can you mix ashes (from burn piles) into the compost pile?
Before or after?
Thanks, Tim

 

[bp fick]

I love ashes. However, it depends on just what was burned. Sometimes burn piles mean petro starters, pressure treated wood chemical residues, and other things that I wouldn't put on my gardens. Might use them elsewhere, in place of lime. If the ashes are clean, they go right on my garden straight.

 

[randy41]

you can work ashes into the pile but not right before using the compost. it can raise the ph too much.

 

[Mousefield]

I use the ash from our two wood stoves but have never used the ash from the burn pile. Because there may be a bit of OSB or other manufactured or pressure treated wood I just won't use it in my compost. I take the pail of ash from the wood stoves and just spread it over the compost pile. Every 4-6 weeks we clean out the goat pens and chicken coop so the ash gets layered and is not too thick so mixes nicely

 

[forgeblast]

I just put the ash right on the garden beds, it sits there all winter and then in the spring is turned over into the garden. I havent had a problem with the ph. There was a nat geo article on these very fertile areas in the amazon. Turned out the black soil there was soil that was almost fullly amended with ashes.
Black Is the New Green | Conservation Magazine

 

[GT2]

There was a nat geo article on these very fertile areas in the amazon. Turned out the black soil there was soil that was almost fullly amended with ashes.
Black Is the New Green | Conservation Magazine

Interesting reading.
If you google " geochar " there is a lot of info and DIY's.

 

[SPYDERLK]

What do yall think about weed seeds, or any, surviving a compost pile? Im talking ~100+ cubic yards of horse manure, shavings, leaves, grass. It runs hot. It a steambath to stir w the 7520.
larry

 

[easygo]

I would not worry about it. Whatever gets through the composting without proper decomposing will be a very small amount compared to what might be in the ground in the first place. Some people put 5-6" of horse manure on their garden in the fall without too much composting. I do both. Till in the horse manure in the Fall and the finished compost in the Spring. I also use a thick layer of grass clippings or old hay as mulch and that works very well to keep the weeds in check. When the garden is done that stuff goes on the compost pile too.

 

[SPYDERLK]

What do yall think about weed seeds, or any, surviving a compost pile?
larry

cont. - We occasionally cut weed seed heads out of our fields and I want to dump the load into the compost. Since its going to go back to the field my wife says no. I think the viable seeds will just sprout and die in the warm pile. ... ???
larry

 

[honorbound]

Most seeds will be killed off in a compost pile if done right. The standard mixture is 50-50. That is 50 percent brown material such as leaves, paper, soil, straw etc. The 50 percent green material such as manure, grass, and kitchen waste is what provides the heat needed as the green material starts to decompose. The ashes from the wood stove can go right in the garden or mix into the compost itself. The burn pile only if it is clean material that has been burned, as I agree there are usually too many chemicals in the ash to use in a garden. The pile of compost should be turned weekly to keep it mixed and working. I have a very large compost pile but my problem is I never have enough green material, even though I bag all my grass and put it in the pile. The manure is hard to come by as anyone who has it wants to sell it.