Compost making

[Gorsty]

Hi folks

I have access to stables nearby but they use wood shavings as bedding rather than straw.

Some of the girls, when mucking out, separate out the droppings and put this into bags for me but are asking if I can make use of any of the urine soaked shavings.

I know shavings do take a long time to rot down but what do you think the best way of making use of this free supply would be??

Any advice much appreciated

Gorsty

[Matt94]

you could always add some to the bean trench - they will help hold water in the summer months.

[solway cropper]

I mix shredded wood with grass clippings and bag it up and leave it for 12/18 months. It produces a reasonable compost for mulching or mixing with other stuff.

How much time have you got?

[Bigmallly]

I used to shred branches and found that the chippings were an excellent accelerant (sp), the compost got really hot.

[Gorsty]

I mix shredded wood with grass clippings and bag it up and leave it for 12/18 months. It produces a reasonable compost for mulching or mixing with other stuff.

How much time have you got?

We have got places where we could stack bags out of sight for 12-19 months *but* would prefer to get it composted asapl. I have noticed that the muck (or should I say shavings) pile at the stables steams like billy-0 - my compost heap never does that.

I just wondered if I incoporated some shavings would it help my heap to get going?

[Two_Sheds]

You need to mix browns (carbon) with greens (nitrogen).

Nitrogen really gets the heap cooking/steaming: grass clippings, wee, poo, comfrey etc

But, you must have enough of the carbon to balance it - newspaper, sawdust, cardboard etc

You can keep your compost hot if you keep turning it, but it's not necessary: a cold heap will take longer but will still work (it's not just heat that does it, there are many many organisms that do the composting, and some of them prefer cool conditions).

[kathyd]

When you say wood shavings, I assume you mean the ones that are sold specially for animal bedding rather than wood chippings which you might make yourself from branches in your garden? If so, I use those for my chickens and just chuck the whole lot on the compost heap where they break down quite nicely if I mix with lots of green stuff as Two_Sheds says. Mind you, there'll be a lot more from horses than a few chickens! So I'd take as much as I knew I could match with green stuff. I'm sure Monty Don said you could have 80% 'brown' stuff to make good compost? But I may be wrong - I'm sure Two_S will put me right if so . But at least 50-50 should be fine I would have thought. Should be easy in the spring and summer with grass clippings?

[Two_Sheds]

The mix is down to personal preference imo. I say 50/50, but I've never measured it. I have lots of plant waste, plus I compost all my newspapers (8 a week) after they've been reused as pet bedding. Cardboard boxes all go in the mix too.

PS. the best easiest way to get carbon in your kitchen scraps is to wrap them in a sheet or two of newspaper, chip shop stylee

[di]

PS. the best easiest way to get carbon in your kitchen scraps is to wrap them in a sheet or two of newspaper, chip shop stylee

It's tidier too. I peel everyhting onto a sheet of newspaper, wrap it up and pop it in a bag. If you 'forget' about it for a day or two, you don't get the smell either.

[Two_Sheds]

Nor the fruit flies. It's all good

[Gorsty]

Hi folks

Thank you all so much for your input - so basically I should grab it with both hands (ugh, perhaps not) - we have a huge lawn so they'll be plenty of green stuff to mix it with very soon.

Our compost heap is right at the top of the garden - miles away from our veg plot so not an ideal position and it is under trees. Question - should we move it out into the sunshine? Will it do better with some sun?

[zazen999]

Wouldn't it be better near the veg patch?

[salome2001]

agree with zazen. and in the sun. definitely

[Two_Sheds]

Our compost heap is ... miles away from our veg plot

So move it ... it'll be getting a lot of use


And in the sun as they ^ say ~ it'll rot down quicker

[allotment grower]

Wood shavings can be composted but dont use in a trench..

when wood shavings rot down / decompose they rob the soil of nitrogen..

the same as manure.

manure with straw rots down quicker .

manure with wood shavings- sawdust takes longer and should becomposted first to break down the shavings.