Use Aged Wood Chips as Compost?
RedSun (Zone 6, NJ)
9 years ago
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grubby_AZ Tucson Z9
9 years agoRelated Discussions
He dont like leaves, wood chips, sawdust for compost
Comments (21)mxbarbie, if you have three weeks of spring weather before planting, that should be long enough for the soil organisms to incorporate the chicken manure, I would think. But maybe you don't, in PNW BC? Here it sometimes goes from winter straight into summer; planting early greens like spinach into chicken-manured soil might not be a good thing then, we'll see... It's nice to see somebody else admit to spoiling their hens. Every week or so when it's been very cold I've put a pot of quick oats on the wood stove, added a handful of flax seed (=> omega 3 eggs!) and a bit of bacon fat maybe, and given them that. It is amusing to see them wipe their beaks afterwards. I attribute the hens' productivity through darkest winter to this diet, but their age and the amount of light in the coop are other factors. (Look at the rash of question marks and exclamation points on this forum lately! Punctuation: use it or lose it, I always say.) Patrick, about the lady in Halifax, she just went ahead and kept chickens. The controversy flared up when a neighbour found out and complained to the authorities - he was afraid the chicken feed would attract rats. That lady effectively started a very necessary public debate about urban gardening, food security, etc. Smart chick! The city stuck to its guns re: livestock, ordering her to get rid of them - they've gone to an urban farm/museum - but delayed the actual date by two months to allow for debate. Research is being carried out, a decision will be made next summer. Are Kathleen and Cecelia bi-polar is a very interesting question ann, or annp or annpat (not sure what to call you any more). I don't think so. They're a year older than Gladys and Trex. Kathleen was mean and dominant toward them until Cecelia put her in her place. Typical behaviour. When we go into the coop, though, something inside Gladys winds up - she struggles to resist it - then gives in, comes flying at us and gives us a sharp peck on the sleeve, hard enough to pull a thread from a wool winter jacket. Maybe she thinks we're food? Maybe we are? But we can also pick her up and hold her for minutes on end. Does this sound bi-polar? And is grabbing somebody by the feet and carrying them around upside down a recommended treatment for bi-polarism, as I've seen suggested for chickens who behave like Gladys? I don't expect answers to all these questions....See MoreChickens, wood chips and the compost pile
Comments (10)My experience is with wood chips alone [wi/o fert.] and our climate [semi-arid,mediteranian] affects the results. About 8 months ago I took delivery of a dump-truck load of chipped eucalyptus. It has all been distributed in my yard in [1] pathways .. pleasant woodsey look and feel underfoot. In some places it has already composted down to bare earth. [2] deep mulch in non-watered side yard .. mostly to give a neat appearance and control weeds. This material is about 1/2 composted down due to an unusually rainy winter. [3] deep mulch around roses to cut down on water use [we're rationed]working well, so far. [4] used as a brown in my compost pile [no-turn, slow][5] mulch around vegetables and fruit trees. I don't notice appearance of nitrogen loss/deprivation. This mulch seems to 'compost' more quickly than in the unwatered yard and much less quickly than in the pathways. I hope this will give you an idea of how well wood chips will compost. I envy you your chicken flock. No room on a small city lot, which must also accomodate 2 dogs....See MoreMulch: wood chips or ... this compost-like stuff I have?
Comments (7)I'm just surprised you talked him into giving it to you it if was supposed to be reserved for the parks and recreation board. Where you use it depends on how you use it. If you are going to put it directly on top of the ground, then yes, I think stuff will sprout in it. The only way to avoid that would be to put down a layer of something between the ground and the soil/mulch mix. That "something" could be newspapers laid 12-20 pages thick, cardboard, or woven (not perforated) landscape cloth fabric. That layer will keep anything that sprouts in the soil/compost mix from rooting down into the soil underneath up to a point, but you'll still have to pull up whatever sprouts because eventually the roots can work their way down through the newspaper, cardboard or woven cloth landscape fabric. Mulch in and of itself, of course, never means that you'll never have weeds--just that much of the weed activity is suppressed, weeds that sprout in the mulch are easier to pull than those that are in the ground, the ground is kept cooler and the bed has a more finished look. Mulching never stops either. The mulch breaks down and continually replenishes the soil so you keep having to add mulch on top of old mulch. I add mulch to one garden bed or another almost every week during the growing season. I'd go ahead and use the stuff I picked up as mulch immediately because, if you don't, then you run the risk that rain and wind are going to start blowing/washing away the soil in the soil/mulch mix. Wherever you use it, it will keep weeds down somewhat but weeds eventually will sprout and, at that point, you can pull them up before they get big and then go back and get plain wood chips to lay on top of the wood/soil mix. I hope your husband can just relax and tolerate the piles for a while. Creating a nice landscape takes time and all those piles that might seem a little unsightly now are an investment in your yard's future beauty. That's why I call my husband long-suffering...because he tolerates my piles and my experiments and, whenever there is a crisis, he drops what he is doing to shoot a venomous snake, rescue a guinea from the talons of a hawk, cover up tomato plants in the face of an impending frost, repair a fence that a deer has crashed into (but not sailed over!), etc. Sometimes I think non-gardening spouses have to be the most patient people on earth. Of course, he gets to be the "good guy" too, carrying tons of excess produce to work to share with his co-workers, which makes him a "hero" in their eyes. Dawn...See MoreNewbie NJ garden- need tips on wood chips/soil/compost layer order
Comments (5)You generally want the wood chips on the top of the soil. When they mix in with the soil their process of breaking down will compete with your plants for nitrogen. They "tie up the nitrogen" meaning the wood chips are hoarding the nitrogen temporarily and will release it as the chips finish composting. So, I'd rake the chips to the side, Spread out the compost and work it into the soil. Plant your plants then spread the chips back down. Studies seem to show that they don't mess with the nitrogen so much when they are on top. But don't obsess about it, worst case scenario is they mix with the soil and you add a little nitrogen after your plants get established if they seem to need it. In my more established beds I do layer. I brush away any old mulch from around the plants, put down a layer of compost, then a layer of mulch on the top. There are already plenty of worms and soil biome to move that compost down into the soil....See Moretoxcrusadr
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