FIRST FROST`

[ducks4you]

I will need to put my girls (hens) out to eat some bugs before I compost this year. No worries, though, bc there is PLENTY of soiled bedding from the horse stalls all winter! I like your idea, so that it will leach into the soil all winter.

 

[digitS']

Pampered soil, RICH.

Always wish that I could have just the right product, in just the right quantities, to do the proper job.

If I did, I'd be putting more emphasis on growing and hauling material and making compost than growing food plants. John Jeavons says 60% of produce should be "compost crops." Might be about right ... in an ideal world .

Steve

 

[ducks4you]

I keep telling y'all, get to know your local stable!! They DON'T want to keep all of that manure and bedding. You can pick out the manure, hit the local stores that didn't sell that straw that they let the rain get to and you will have Great compost!

 

[Nyboy]

Stables here sell it nothing given away free

 

[ducks4you]

Plan B: Find local chicken owners. They buy their feed in 50 lb plastic bags, too. DO check out the local grocery/other stores that tried to sell straw bales and left them outside in the weather, now want to sell cheap. You only will need 1-2 bales. There were years when it didn't rain and I cleaned up on cheap straw for my stalls, some were $2.00/bale at that time. Right now, the 50 bales of straw from my hay man were $3.00/bale, heavy, clean and beautiful, JUST like I want for a stall. Locally, it is NOW $6.00/bale, maybe more, but still available.
I cleaned up some straw from my loft last year, used it for gardening, left the wheelbarrow out in the rain and then dumped it between beds. Not ONLY did it keep all the of the weeds from sprouting AND killed the weeds/grass that were growing there, but it heated up almost too hot for the touch, so it was breaking down. THAT's why you will want to mix the manure with the straw.

 

[digitS']

About 10 or 12 years ago ...

Stables near Dad's place where I got horse "manure" was too sanitary about it. By volume, it must have been over half shavings.

It broke down well enough to compost with ammonium sulfate ... These days, if it would not compost with 2 or 3 bags of chicken manure, I'd prefer not to haul it around.

Steve

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

About wood shavings. My rabbits have pine shavings in boxes and I throw the urine soaked shavings in the compost bin, but I am not building bins like DH did and it really is not a compost bin, but a pile and not breaking down fast. I found a rabbit urine question on a board and they were wondering what to do with pine shavings and somebody posted this link. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/news-blog/p-is-for-plants-human-urine-plus-as-2009-09-04/ I would think rabbit urine would be same as human or better. I have wood ash from the woodstove. I am thinking of putting some of the pine shavings in 5 gallon buckets of water and soak and then pour off into another bucket with wood ash, let it sit a few days and then pour on the garden.

 

[baymule]

About wood shavings. My rabbits have pine shavings in boxes and I throw the urine soaked shavings in the compost bin, but I am not building bins like DH did and it really is not a compost bin, but a pile and not breaking down fast. I found a rabbit urine question on a board and they were wondering what to do with pine shavings and somebody posted this link. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/news-blog/p-is-for-plants-human-urine-plus-as-2009-09-04/ I would think rabbit urine would be same as human or better. I have wood ash from the woodstove. I am thinking of putting some of the pine shavings in 5 gallon buckets of water and soak and then pour off into another bucket with wood ash, let it sit a few days and then pour on the garden.

Don't forget to pee in the buckets.

 

[Nyboy]

Finally had our 1st hard frost last night. Had to wait for car windshield to defrost before driving this morning

 

[digitS']

I think that there has been some records set in your corner of the world, @Nyboy .

Here, we are 6 weeks into a fairly conventional fall. What seems remarkable to me was how it was much like a switch was thrown from dry, hot summer weather - snap! But then began, the silliness of being able to fight off light frosts night-after-night for about a month!

Nothing could grow, except greens in the very protected backyard beds. Our first morning in the teens (F) hit just this week, killing the 2 potted cherry tomato plants at the foot of the stairs off the deck.

It has begun to rain this morning and that should melt our 4" of snow from last weekend. Doubt if there be any flooding or horrible icy roads overnight.

That may not be true in @thistlebloom 's neck of the woods. This week does make me feel that we have just been drug into winter, tho. After a 6 month summer we may have just seen a 6 week fall.

Steve