Compost questions

I’ve been trying to experiment with compost for teas and such, I take all of my green fan leaves from defoliation and trimming wait a couple days till there so dry you can turn into a powder basically and i mix it in the dirt,i also added some bio char and small amount of dr earth compost starter and throw it all in a 3 gallon bucket, it was just plain peat moss at first,the plant store alot of nutrients in the leaves,now if you compare the first to the second you’ll see the dark black soil,I just am waiting for it to maybe break down a little idk if anyone does this or more familiar does it need time to break down or cook?

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Yes definitely

Hi patriots781. I think focusing on compost and organic growing I think focusing on compost and organic growing is the smart Way to go. I’ve spent all my time on hydroponic. But deepdown I know organic is superior. I salute you and hope many Worms come to your garden

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I highly recommend making your own compost at home. I’m not familiar with putting stuff in a bucket to decompose. I’ve always used an outdoor compost pile made out of scrap oak pallets for walls. As the years went on, I started to feel my age and the old days of turning my pile with a pitch fork just seemed so unappealing.
Instead of giving in to father time and abandoning my DIY nature, I bought turn barrel composters. Currently I have (2) 45gallon turn barrels. One for indoor and another for outdoor use. Couldn’t be happier and my lower back and knees are thanking me.

From there I dove into unconventional farming techniques and discovered lactobacillus and yeast. That lead to making a composter to use in the house and it has made a world of difference in the quality of my outdoor compost. The indoor method I’m speaking of is called bokashi, and it’s essentially a form of composting that operates on the fundamental of fermentation. It has ZERO stink and actually has a moderately pleasant sweet/sour smell. As an added bonus to this style of composting is nutrient packed lechate that loaded with the lactobacillus bacteria and actually imparts probiotic attributes to my soils as a drench or even as a nutritive foliar. It can be stored in cold or stabilized for storage in warm climates.

From there I dove head first into vermiculture (worm farming) to produce my own high quality castings. I needed another means of using my bokashi compost, and so I fed it to my worms. They love it. My gardens have never been so productive and the taste and color of ALL my gardens is top notch. I don’t buy produce from the grocery store that I can cultivate here at home, and my cannabis is a show stopper.

My final stop in this journey of composting is KNF (Korean natural farming). It’s addictive to say the least! Everywhere I go now, I’m looking around at anything and everything saying to myself… “hmm, I bet I can fermented that” or “Ooooook that’ll make a nice bloom nutrient”
LOL, a hobby turns into a passion, turns into an obsession. I ferment everything NOW.

So long story short… yeah it’s definitely worth composting!

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Sounds like a wonderful journey! Well done on the sustainable garden you’ve created. I’m hoping to build a worm farm with an old bath tub I have lying around once I tidy up the yard somewhat :sweat_smile: I have made LAB before, KNF and jadam methods just make sense to me.

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Some pics of a my lil outdoor pile. I have two 65 litre bins as well.

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Looking good @HealingHerb.
Organic is so much more rewarding at the end of the day, yes it’s more work, but the flavor and color are top notch, not to mention the nutritional benefits of any produce grown organically. Kudos to you dude!! It looks like your surrounded by woods, a good place to get leaf mold and all your “browns” for the compost pile in addition to all the microbes that are indigenous to your location.

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Absolutely agree on organic 🤌 Thanks my wife and I were lucky enough to purchase a 1/4 acre property with a 5 bed house last year. Lots of room I have so many plans, but such little time right now lol. I have also built a chicken enclosure just need to add some more fencing then chook and worm poop for days :sweat_smile:

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That’s so awesome!! Chicken manure is is an excellent fertilizer, your very lucky to be able to make use of your land. I’m in the big city and although we can have up to 5 hens, we have to submit blueprint plans with the city first, then get approval based on how it’s going to impact my neighbors. And Zero tolerance for roosters! Lol, how in the hell can I get the hens to lay eggs at the very least without a rooster. They must want me to get a feather suit and show off in the back yard for the hens. Ugg, I absolutely hate city living!

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I keep an outdoor compost pit. I’ve always believed if you grow it on your property, compost it there, if at all possible.
We never pile it for some municipal entity to take it away .
All my leaves get mowed up,and collected, to go in the compost pit. Branches are burned for the char.
We alo keep a sealed up bucket under the sink, for all vegetable ends/rinds, any throw away peelings, then once a week, or less once the garden hammers out vegetables, but I grind that into a slurry, we call, dinosaur vomit.
I then scoop that out, to all my ornamentals, and the rest get poured onto the pile.
It really helps the heat in the pile.
It never smells, and when you pour it around the base of established plants, you can not see it the next morning.
I’m eyeing up the rabbits in my garden area now, I may capture a few, and feed them my cannabis litter.
Their poop is fantastic garden fertilizer.
When I live trap them now, I give them to the local state park to live out their lives.
Same with ground hogs, hate to kill them, so I trap, to relocate them.
Hey they are refugees, and deserve a chance elsewhere.

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Rooster suit pics incoming lol! Yes we are lucky with no zoning council rules in regards to most animals. Had to purchase property out of town, Covid jacked up prices ridiculously on the Sunshine Coast and the whole country really. Funny thing is the town we moved from (15 min away) is bursting at the seams with new ppl now lol! A few neighbours have roosters around us they’re mostly fine. Lucky I’m an early riser anyways! We will end up getting chickens from one of them.

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I like the dinosaur vomit idea of thanks and nice description :joy: I’d like to get some rabbits one of these days, I’ve heard their poop is great to top dress fresh and or mix in fresh.

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