Out Around the Barn

On the farm there are many useful ingredients for making compost.  We have cattle, horses, chickens and g0ats.  I have read and also heard that horse and chicken manure is the best for this particular project so that is what I use, the rest goes out in the spreader to the pasture.  Being that 2008, was my first try at this, I am still learning.  So this is what I know.

I began to worry last Spring, when my compost didn’t seem to be composting.  I wanted to spread it in my garden and use it in my planters mixed with potting soil to fertilize the plants but, it just didn’t seem to want to heat up.  I finally figured out why.  We had a pretty mild winter and I did not water my pile of compost.  I did not realize that it needed to be kept slightly moist in order to heat up and also, it needed to be, at least, three feet deep.  So in February, I began watering the pile every other week, unless it rained.  I added some horse manure and then continued to pile on my kitchen scraps daily.  Every week I would turn the pile in order to mix up the ingredients.  Finally, after about four weeks it began to compost nicely and due to the fact that here in Illinois it rained all Spring, by the time I could plant and work my garden, it was ready.  I was very pleased, it saved me a lot of money on potting soil.  I used it in everything from my vegetables and herbs to my flowers and shrubs.  It has worked out w0nderful.

Now that I have used up my supply for the year, last weekend my son and I cleaned the chicken coup and started a new pile.  I had continued all summer putting kitchen scraps in the small pile but had done nothing with it.  So we started layering with manure then scraps from the small pile and then more manure and so on.  Now I have a nice 6′ round wire pen of compost to compost through the winter and a smaller one to add to daily.  I will take some from the small pen and add to the larger one every other week as I water.  By Spring, we should be ready to go.

I have gardened for years but, this was my first attempt of making compost.  A lot of trial and error involved but we did it.  Compost is a wonderful garden supply and it is inexpensive.  If you live on a farm or ranch, why not make your own, it is definitely worth it.  Also, many folks from the city that want to have a small garden will purchase some from you.  It is all natural and makes the garden grow.