advice NEEDED on compost please.

I would like some advice on making a compost pile. Today I made a pile along side the the bush line. It is a layer of straw out of my coop, a truck load of sunflower plants and then some mud. Tommorow I'm going to add leaves , water, more straw from another coop ( seems these days all I do is clean coops! Lol ) and a big heavy black screan.


Now I was told on another form (after the fact) that it won't work in the shade as its to cool. I thought it would help the pile stay moist and there fore break down faster?? I'm not about to move it lol, but maybe I should leave it and start another pile in a sunny area?
Help

I am NOT a composter. I always thought of compost as kitchen and garden scraps and since that attracts bears here, we do not do it. What we call compost the bears call a smorgasbord.

What I do know is that any hay/straw that gets piled in the horse manure pile takes FOREVER to break down. A poo pile stays fairly moist and creates a lot of heat and you'd think it would eat that hay/straw up. Nope. That stuff is tough and carries a lot of seeds.

I can't say whether your mix is good or bad, but I doubt it will be quick. This might be a compost pile you have to leave for 2 seasons to get it well rotted. If at all.

No doubt someone will know more.

Why not make a hugelbate with it? A large pile of earthy stuff like straw and leaves, covered with a hefty layer of soil and then you plant stuff on it. Squash and pumpkins and zucchini. I had a couple. I call them burial mounds. Essentially raised beds that will eventually rot away. Which is what you want, right?

uno wrote:I am NOT a composter. I always thought of compost as kitchen and garden scraps and since that attracts bears here, we do not do it. What we call compost the bears call a smorgasbord.

What I do know is that any hay/straw that gets piled in the horse manure pile takes FOREVER to break down. A poo pile stays fairly moist and creates a lot of heat and you'd think it would eat that hay/straw up. Nope. That stuff is tough and carries a lot of seeds.

I can't say whether your mix is good or bad, but I doubt it will be quick. This might be a compost pile you have to leave for 2 seasons to get it well rotted. If at all.

No doubt someone will know more.

Why not make a hugelbate with it?  A large pile of earthy stuff like straw and leaves, covered with a hefty layer of soil and then you plant stuff on it. Squash and pumpkins and zucchini. I had a couple. I call them burial mounds. Essentially raised beds that will eventually rot away. Which is what you want, right?

I was also told not to put any thing cooked ( other than coffee grinds) into the pile or it would attract the wildlife. We live along the river. LOTS of wildlife!
.. I like your idea about making burial mounds. Although I think I may change the name lol. Was your pile straw? How well did your s/p/Z grow? Did you find it need more watering due to having a strw base or did the strw hold the moisture?

OK, I am going to rest your weary mind and call bullcrap. Yes, you can use bullcrap for the compost too, smiling. I have had many compost piles in the shade, and let me tell you, when things begin to break down and compost, shade, sun, part shade, part sun, full sun.....that compost will break down. Puleeeze, don't listen to that bullcrap. Now, on the other side of the coin, if you have a sunnier spot, even one with some rays of sunshine that hits it, that will compost way, way, way faster than compost pile in the shade. You have worked hard, clearly, and your work is not yet done. If there is any way to move it to a more sunny spot, of course the compost pile will work in such a degree so much better. BUT....anything will compost in shade, it just takes longer. Do move it if you can. I would suggest that, but if you have no option, leave it in the shade, just don't expect results as quickly. Compost piles compost much more quickly also, if there is sufficient water that is in the layers. when I make my big compost pile (I have already began this with compost all summer and garden refuse), when I add layers, I have the garden hose beside me and I water each layer. Water, as much as air helps to decompose organic stuff. If you can't get water into the pile, don't worry, it will get water from the earth, the sky, wherever, whatever, but it does help to work stuff. The compost pile will not work much in the wintertime. Too cold. The bacteria that break down the organic material are dormant. Yes, some composting will begin. The worms will be in the centre or long below ground, trying to keep warm too, so that is slowed down as well. But when warm weather begins in spring, everything comes alive, even that pile of compost. I should grab a picture and show you one of my compost piles from last year....you may have seen pictures, but I'll go look for one. So anyways, don't let ANYone tell you that compost will not decay in the shade, it will, it will just be a much longer time to properly decompose. And as I said, if you can move it to a sunnier spot. If not leave it. If you move it, that would be a first step in the decomposition, as it is getting mixed up and air going into it. Air is very, very important, that's why the fastest compost made is that of the compost that is turned over. Hope this has eased your saddened mind about the pile not working in the shade. Have a most wonderful day, CynthiaM.

Cynthia M is right.  It will work eventually but sunshine (warmth) really speeds things up!  My Mom and Dad have the same composter as I do and their's is super fast compared to ours.  They get to fully empty it 2-3 times each year....spring, late summer and sometimes again in the fall.  Ours takes over a year to properly break down. The ONLY difference?  They live on the valley floor where it is much warmer we are in the sam community but much higher up in the mountains.  Neither of us add any products like "Rot it" to speed things up just layers of grass, leaves, manure and kitchen scraps.  Incorporation of air is very important as most of the hard working compost bacteria are of the aerobic nature (needing oxygen) as opposed to anaerobic bacteria that work in the absence of oxygen.  Using some established compost teaming with microorganisms will help kick start the process as well.  Keep up the good work.....your plants will love you for it!

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I didn't have much luck with my hugelbeet because I have lots of shade. Nothing grows very well here, so my experience is not a good reflection on how good or bad a hugelbeet is. BUt if you are going to have mounds of dirt sitting around anyway, why not put them to good use? THey will still be composting as plants grow on them.

Obviously you will not be piling wood underneath yours. You don't need to if you only expect them to be temporary. Mine were very small mounds of old, dead limbs and small trunks covered with old straw and leaves and pine needles I raked up. Over that, soil. I think this would have worked well except mine were too small and pointed on top, all the water ran off. I could not keep them watered. IF yours are big enough and you can make a flat spot on top, watering should not be such a problem.

Seriously put your products down like a "very" large lasagna. Put your browns down, then greens, then browns. Just keep piling. Manure would

be considered greens. No meat, food oil, or anything like that. But you can put newspaper in and even toilet paper rolls when they're empty.

Then in the spring if you can, put a bunch of chickens on it to really mix it up.

There actually is a book called Lasagna gardening. Takes after Ruth Stout, who started it all, but unfortunately she's not mentioned. Look up both books you will find it very interesting.

That's how I built my small garden out on our front lawn. Then added a load of topsoil, only because it hadn't had time to rot down.

Read the books, they are great!