Fastslappy
Well-Known Member
I'd love to raise bunnies but my dogs would stress the fuckers to death
Greasemonkey's Compost Pile
- Thread starter greasemonkeymann
- Start date
greasemonkeymann
Well-Known Member
Whats up my brother?
so I never really worry much about any weird fungi or anything
hell I throw in huge mushrooms into my pile
but all those fungi are gonna fine, even if it were harmful molds or spores, those are vastly destroyed through the compost procedure.
Same philosophy for bugs, the ones that eat your plants? aren't in your compost. (the exception maybe fungus gnats)
and the same can be said for fungi
DonTesla
Well-Known Member
I'm gonna start scooping up these giant paper bags of leaves on the curb!!
Ill just search for dog shitty ones and toss em out!! Saved me a trip out to the forest bud!!
Mohican
Well-Known Member
I had a beer tub like they use at parties and I placed six inches of promix in there. Then I put a #20 smart pot with my worms and promix and food on top of the layer. Then I used a bigger smart pot to cover the first smart pot to keep the bugs out.
It worked great and the bottom layer of promix was saturated with worm juice!
That batch of compost grew some of the best plants I have ever grown.
It worked great and the bottom layer of promix was saturated with worm juice!
That batch of compost grew some of the best plants I have ever grown.
calliandra
Well-Known Member
Hey Grease, I went to check on my leaf compost, and lo, it seems my garden mice moved in sometime in November - and the pile looks a bit Swisscheesy now from all the tunnels they have dug into it 
So my first reaction was yay! I've got some helpers to do the turning for me
But is there anything I am not thinking of, that I should be aware of regarding mice in the compost pile?
Cheers!
So my first reaction was yay! I've got some helpers to do the turning for me
But is there anything I am not thinking of, that I should be aware of regarding mice in the compost pile?
Cheers!
Fastslappy
Well-Known Member
Well ya get there piss & shit plus any feather fluff they bring in .
BUT around mice I've got around here been sources of plague & a bad virus
I treat nests as toxic to handle myself,gloves mask moment
The dust of the piss,shit & dander is the danger
BUT around mice I've got around here been sources of plague & a bad virus
I treat nests as toxic to handle myself,gloves mask moment
The dust of the piss,shit & dander is the danger
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whitebb2727
Well-Known Member
Look in the rabbit feed section. they have small bags of alfalfa pellets and alfalfa bales.So I finally did the thing I had been dreading and avoiding for months, and visited out local farmers supply joint.
The place that should be my paradise, where I find alll the lovely things I need and didn't need
Ah it was disastrous, they have nothing, know nothing and while the guys themselves went way out of their ways to try and help and even apologized for being so chemically monostocked, there is no hope!
The only thing I could get from them would be a bale of alfalfa (700Kg, tad large for my bike? lol - but transport aside, I don't have anywhere I could stockpile the rest aaand I don't even know if it was nitrogen fixing alfalfa or not)
I could order fish meal at 2€/kg, would arrive "in a week or so", but nooo information about source or quality... so I'm not particularly enthusiastic - that is, I'd prefer to just let the pile go on its own, it's sitting with center temps at 28°C now, and last time I turned it I saw earthworms were beginning to explore from below...
The only thing I could get otherwise would be horn and hoof meal (also no source info, but at least it's freely available). I found a C:N ratio of 3 for it (in https://books.google.at/books?id=R5wHSeMQsV0C&pg=PA45&lpg=PA45&dq=C:N+ratio+of+horn+and+hoof+meal ), so it would be comparable to fish meal in that. But not sure whether it is really a replacement in terms of the other goodies fish meal contains, if that is at all relevant here...
But if that were the case!
How much fish meal would you add to 15cuft of broken down compost like mine to get it back up and going?
greasemonkeymann
Well-Known Member
well, fastlappy has a valid point..Hey Grease, I went to check on my leaf compost, and lo, it seems my garden mice moved in sometime in November - and the pile looks a bit Swisscheesy now from all the tunnels they have dug into it
View attachment 3847939
So my first reaction was yay! I've got some helpers to do the turning for me
But is there anything I am not thinking of, that I should be aware of regarding mice in the compost pile?
Cheers!
rodent feces can be sketchy at best..
but I really would be shocked if it created a problem, however it's good practice to wear gloves and maybe get a lil filter for your nose and mouth when turning compost piles anyway
that being said I never do... (but that doesn't mean anything)
the biggest concern would be dried feces that is airborne, but typically a compost pile is NEVER dry and dusty..
I think you'd be fine, but i'd feel well beyond shitty if you got sick from anything.
just wear latex gloves and a good paper filter for you mouth to be safe
calliandra
Well-Known Member
LMAO thanks but no, if you wouldn't feel the need I definitely won't!
I think we have similar degrees of germphobia... with me possibly winning, I mean you're in Safe-land, after all
Nah these mice are squeaky clean, they've been living in my garden plot since before I started tending to it. The first year we had some differences as to who gets to eat the potatoes, but we've been getting along great ever since they moved their burrow under the cypress. They seem to especially love the seeds of the hollyhocks and knappweeds.
Something to keep in mind if I ever start composting in places where the rodents have access to putrifying matter, though, so thanks for the heads up guys
But otherwise?
I won't even be thinking of doing anything with the pile before March.
By which time, it'll be OK to destroy their home (if indeed they're living in there, and didn't just romp through in search of goodies), carefully, so no one gets hurt.
And then I'll see whether any effects, positive or negative, are visible. Exciting!
For now, I've just covered the entry holes with dry leaves to keep the heat in more. I noticed that while the top 4-5cm are frozen now, the tunnels are mushy and moist inside, almost all the way to the rim, so warm air is escaping from them. Oh, core temps are now at 12°C and the core has sunk just about to ground level. We've been having around -5° day and night the past week, so small wonder.
Cheers!
Fastslappy
Well-Known Member
Sounds like u have plan caution rulz around vermin ,it's the dust that dangerous if inhaled
gloves are my standard tool in my garden & piles .been hospitalized twice due to infected cuts/thorns on my hands..........gone bad while gardening.it was 2 weeks with cacti throne in my thumb one time
gloves are my standard tool in my garden & piles .been hospitalized twice due to infected cuts/thorns on my hands..........gone bad while gardening.it was 2 weeks with cacti throne in my thumb one time
calliandra
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I imagine you'd get cautious having experienced that!
Though I have begun using gloves in some cases too - whereby I'd need a whole body suit to keep me "safe" from the roses, I usually look like I got into a fight with tiger when I'm done with them
Fastslappy
Well-Known Member
Old leather coat, leather gloves when took down mine weeks ago, the root stock had disease's
Got any rat/corn snakes in your area? Point one down a tunnel and it should keep the mice in check.
Did this for a friend that had mice and squirrels living in the walls & attic of his log cabin. Feces on the kitchen counter was the final straw. It worked, over time and the snake left after the food source ran out. Never saw the snake once it went into a mouse hole.
Wet
Did this for a friend that had mice and squirrels living in the walls & attic of his log cabin. Feces on the kitchen counter was the final straw. It worked, over time and the snake left after the food source ran out. Never saw the snake once it went into a mouse hole.
Wet
greasemonkeymann
Well-Known Member
oh, this is what happens when you do a compost at the base of a bigass 150 yr old redwood
these are redwood tree roots... and they are BURLY.
it's literally like the roots ATE the compost, nothing left
no joke.
talk about a chore...
these are redwood tree roots... and they are BURLY.
it's literally like the roots ATE the compost, nothing left
no joke.
talk about a chore...
greasemonkeymann
Well-Known Member
ah, and the aforementioned (purple) pink lotus
they are fading pretty badly, but I always do my pheno-hunts in smaller container ( poor plant, i use 1 gals, for that cram more in there, and just to see which are keepers or not)
the purple is a deeper darker purple in person, my camera didn't really capture it
@MustangStudFarm
and @calliandra
you two mentioned that you wanted to see pics.
this plant grown in a proper environment is going to be NICE
looks like another 2 weeks or so till it's done
they are fading pretty badly, but I always do my pheno-hunts in smaller container ( poor plant, i use 1 gals, for that cram more in there, and just to see which are keepers or not)
the purple is a deeper darker purple in person, my camera didn't really capture it
@MustangStudFarm
and @calliandra
you two mentioned that you wanted to see pics.
this plant grown in a proper environment is going to be NICE
looks like another 2 weeks or so till it's done
Fastslappy
Well-Known Member
My fig tree dose that in matter of weeks
greasemonkeymann
Well-Known Member
yea...
but I just happily think of how much that redwood tree loves me now
it got a dose of fish meal, fishbone meal, neem meal, kelp meal, etc.
I just wish I could see the actual top of the tree to see if it's visibly happier than the others
cept its like 150 feet or higher
probably a ten foot diameter at least
my neighbor cut down a redwood tree (prick) similar in height and width and I counted the rings, it was 179 yrs old
he cut it down for his new internet dish... seems like a travesty to me.
just boggles my mind to think of that tree germinating around the time that the first American settlers were filling in to California..
MustangStudFarm
Well-Known Member
I guess that you have not seen me F some stuff up then!!!
greasemonkeymann
Well-Known Member
yea but you live in the weird like black-hole of the united states where weather is weird and can simultaneously hit you with lightning whilst the tornado carries you off to a place laden with yellow brick roads...
all the while where 20 miles away there is a blizzard, and 10 miles after that a drought.
ah, and speaking of the middle of America
you ever watch that cool show
"carnivale"?
that's a cool show, also is some fantastic boobage in it as well
hmm.. did we have this conversation already?
MustangStudFarm
Well-Known Member
LOL yeah man, It was 9F last Sunday and this weekend it is going to be mid 60's! Tank-tops and shorts for xmas...
Was that you carrying a dog around with you??? Tornadoes and flying monkeys!?
Was that you carrying a dog around with you??? Tornadoes and flying monkeys!?
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