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agar
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Registered: 11/21/04
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Agar's Home Made Compost recipe for bulk substrates 1
#5341136 - 02/26/06 01:45 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Easy compost ingredients, means, & method.
Meant for folks with limited space. Who cannot do normal outdoor compost piles. (best done in warm weather spring to fall)
Requires: A small outdoor space & area that compost drainage will not harm.
Items needed.
55 gallon plastic drum, with lid (often found at surplus supply stores for cheap)

Small drill & ? inch bit

3 or 4 bricks. (to set the drum of so it has drainage)
Drill ? inch holes every 2 inches, in rings 3 or 4 inches apart, all around the drum. Drill 20 or 30 ? inch holes in the bottom of the drum, for drainage.
Drill 20 or 30 holes in the lid. (drainage, when you tip drum upside down)
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Compost ingredients.
2/3rds bale of wheat straw (preferably shredded) (bale from feed & seed store, around $6 each)
3 or 4 five gallon buckets of horse or cow manure (preferably shredded) (gathered from wherever, free)
2 or 3 five gallon buckets of fruit/produce refuse (preferably shredded) (check with local grocery produce man, or produce market, free)
(side note, you can add coffee grounds, potato peelings, spent brewery grains (think local micro-brewery), minor amounts of kelp meal, bone meal, cotton seed meal, soy bean meal (think organic garden supply)Hot air popped pop corn - makes a GREAT additive .
(Stay away from adding bagged store bought steer manure).
3 or 4 cups of garden type gypsum powder . (think garden supply, cheap)
Quart of vegetable oil. (any type - cheap)
Prepare space for drum to sit on bricks. Have enough space - you can tip drum on it?s side & roll it. (back & forth)
On a tarp, in a tote, or in a wheel-barrow, mix all ingredients.
Fill drum FULL, but not TIGHTLY COMPRESSED or COMPACTED. (content needs to breath)
Use hose or bucket to add about 5 gallons of water to drum content.
Seal drum, upright - sitting on the bricks.
In a few days, tip drum on its side, roll it back & forth.
Set drum upright on bricks again.
Add another 5 gallons of water.
Wait a week.
Add 2 or 3 gallons of water. Tip drum over, roll it back & forth.
Then, stand drum upright, on bricks UPSIDE DOWN.
Wait another week, tip & roll drum again.
Stand upright, RIGHT SIDE UP. Add 2 or 3 gallons of water. Seal drum.
Wait another week & repeat process.
In around 1 month, the compost should be ready. (variables are outside temperatures, Rh, sun/shade conditions)
Inspect now & then. When it is about finished, or finished. It will have a high fiber consistency, a garden soil odor & all content should be a caramel like brown color.
If you can manage. Staggering 2 or 3 drums will give you a constant supply. For a winter supply. Sun dry however much & store in burlap bags. In a cool - clean - DRY place.
If you want to speed up the composting process. Most garden supply places, have bottled compost starter solutions. Buy a bottle & add some to the the first & second waterings. No need for it - after that.
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Edited by agar (02/26/06 03:17 PM)
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willmafingerdo
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Re: Agar's Home Made Compost recipe for bulk substrates [Re: agar]
#5341165 - 02/26/06 02:00 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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sweet write up agar!! nice easy to follow instructions!! gonna have to give it a try this summer.
1 questions though "Drill ? inch holes every 2 inches, in rings 2 or 3 inches apart, all around the drum." so thats over the entire barrel from top to bottom right??
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I am not lost.. i am going there looking for it.. and when i get there and find it, i will know what it is.. "The way to stop violence is not to go out and let your head be beaten in but to say, you want to take my life risk yours!" "are you sure u want to eat all them shrooms??" "yes i want to hear what my mind has to say..." remember opions are like assholes, everyone has one and they all stink.
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Snaggletooth
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Re: Agar's Home Made Compost recipe for bulk substrates [Re: agar]
#5341171 - 02/26/06 02:03 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
For a winter supply. Sun dry however much & store in burlap bags. In a cool - clean - DRY place.
Would you place it on a tarp thinly and let dry.....completely?
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Atheist Chat
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agar
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Registered: 11/21/04
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Re: Agar's Home Made Compost recipe for bulk substrates [Re: willmafingerdo]
#5341178 - 02/26/06 02:04 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Space rings around drums about 3 or 4 inches apart, TOP TO BOTTOM.
Start first ring about 4 inches from the drum top. Have last ring about 4 inches from the drum bottom.
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agar
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Re: Agar's Home Made Compost recipe for bulk substrates [Re: Snaggletooth]
#5341214 - 02/26/06 02:14 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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2 or 3 inch deep layer. Then raked around, now & again. You want it dry enough, it will stop composting & not mildew, or ROT, when stored.
The drier, the better.
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tiny_rabid_birds
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Re: Agar's Home Made Compost recipe for bulk substrates [Re: agar]
#5341230 - 02/26/06 02:20 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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AFOAF's girlfriend's father farms chicken eggs, so there's a very large supply of nitro rich chicken shit that I could get my hands on for free. Your other recipe designed for composting by the ton calls for the use of chicken shit, so I was curious if it'd be beneficial to add chicken shit to this recipe, and if so, how much?
Also, I just wanted to say this is friggin awesome. I've wanted to work with compost so badly but never had a way that I could feasibly do it, but this seems like a very doable summer project for me. Great job.
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agar
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Re: Agar's Home Made Compost recipe for bulk substrates [Re: tiny_rabid_birds]
#5341254 - 02/26/06 02:32 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Chicken manure runs around 22% nitrogen.
Which is about 10 times to hot. It also lacks fiber.
So, you could use the above recipe, without the horse/steer manure.
Add a lot more straw & about 1.5 gallon of chicken manure.
(I would place the chicken manure in a 5 gallon bucket, add water & make it into a slurry. So when you add it to the remaining mix, it gets evenly spread out, in the total mixture.)
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tiny_rabid_birds
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Re: Agar's Home Made Compost recipe for bulk substrates [Re: agar]
#5341271 - 02/26/06 02:39 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Ahh, I see. So when it came down to a showdown b/t the horse manure based compost and the chicken manure based compost, the horse would probably be a better choice, wouldn't it? That's fine. I can get the horse poo just as easily as the chicken poo, I was just wondering if adding the chicken poo would bulk it up any. Thanks again.
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Tien
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Re: Agar's Home Made Compost recipe for bulk substrates [Re: tiny_rabid_birds]
#5341291 - 02/26/06 02:43 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Holy shit agar, thats a fucking nice one.
Pluto
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agar
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Re: Agar's Home Made Compost recipe for bulk substrates [Re: tiny_rabid_birds]
#5341294 - 02/26/06 02:44 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
tiny_rabid_birds said: Ahh, I see. So when it came down to a showdown b/t the horse manure based compost and the chicken manure based compost, the horse would probably be a better choice, wouldn't it? That's fine. I can get the horse poo just as easily as the chicken poo, I was just wondering if adding the chicken poo would bulk it up any. Thanks again.
H/poo based would be more optimal.
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willmafingerdo
the noob


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Re: Agar's Home Made Compost recipe for bulk substrates [Re: agar]
#5341364 - 02/26/06 03:02 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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agar would u be able to use 2 - 3 5 gallon buckets of grass clippings instead of the 2 or 3 five gallon buckets of fruit/produce refuse?
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I am not lost.. i am going there looking for it.. and when i get there and find it, i will know what it is.. "The way to stop violence is not to go out and let your head be beaten in but to say, you want to take my life risk yours!" "are you sure u want to eat all them shrooms??" "yes i want to hear what my mind has to say..." remember opions are like assholes, everyone has one and they all stink.
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agar
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Re: Agar's Home Made Compost recipe for bulk substrates [Re: willmafingerdo]
#5341422 - 02/26/06 03:14 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Grass clippings work.
Trouble with them is this.
They tend to ball up in tight wet clumps.
If you spread them out - WELL, in the overall mix, they do fine.
I just prefer fruit/produce refuse.
As, it usually contains a higher fructose/sugar content.
The higher sugar content, gets the composting going - QUICKLY. (microbes love their sweets, like little kids love candy)
A mixture of fruit/produce refuse will also contain a wider range of trace elements, as well as macro/micro nutrients. (especially banana's, apples & the like)
Another GREAT ADDITIVE, is hot air popped pop corn.
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willmafingerdo
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Registered: 02/08/05
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Re: Agar's Home Made Compost recipe for bulk substrates [Re: agar]
#5341809 - 02/26/06 04:56 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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question.. "The higher sugar content, gets the composting going - QUICKLY" could you mix up some kayro/water to add to the mix if u were using grass clippings.. or would that just be messy and not work??
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I am not lost.. i am going there looking for it.. and when i get there and find it, i will know what it is.. "The way to stop violence is not to go out and let your head be beaten in but to say, you want to take my life risk yours!" "are you sure u want to eat all them shrooms??" "yes i want to hear what my mind has to say..." remember opions are like assholes, everyone has one and they all stink.
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agar
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Registered: 11/21/04
Posts: 9,056
Loc: Somewhere Else
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Re: Agar's Home Made Compost recipe for bulk substrates [Re: willmafingerdo]
#5341851 - 02/26/06 05:06 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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I would not suggest doing so.
Check with your local grocery. Produce guys have a LOT of wasted product, they will give away. If you have the nuggies to ask.
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willmafingerdo
the noob


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Re: Agar's Home Made Compost recipe for bulk substrates [Re: agar]
#5341863 - 02/26/06 05:10 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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what would you say it was for??
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I am not lost.. i am going there looking for it.. and when i get there and find it, i will know what it is.. "The way to stop violence is not to go out and let your head be beaten in but to say, you want to take my life risk yours!" "are you sure u want to eat all them shrooms??" "yes i want to hear what my mind has to say..." remember opions are like assholes, everyone has one and they all stink.
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Jaeger
Dreamer
Registered: 10/01/05
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Re: Agar's Home Made Compost recipe for bulk substrates [Re: willmafingerdo]
#5341886 - 02/26/06 05:15 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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A compost pile? lol
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A0999
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Re: Agar's Home Made Compost recipe for bulk substrates [Re: agar]
#5341892 - 02/26/06 05:16 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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thanks for this, seems easy enough.
one thing id like to know is: where do you guys go for poop? random stables & ranches? feed stores? that would prolly be the hardest to require for me.
-------------------- Not necessarily stoned, but beautiful
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agar
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Re: Agar's Home Made Compost recipe for bulk substrates [Re: willmafingerdo]
#5341903 - 02/26/06 05:18 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Rabbit food, mini pig food, giant iguana food, or compost.
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FooMan



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Re: Agar's Home Made Compost recipe for bulk substrates [Re: agar]
#5341907 - 02/26/06 05:19 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Another great writeup Agar! 
You really should make a bunch of journal entries with all of these teks you have. It would probably be the most comprehensive DIY guide out there! Just food for thought.
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Quick WBS Prep
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agar
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Re: Agar's Home Made Compost recipe for bulk substrates [Re: FooMan]
#5341979 - 02/26/06 05:33 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
FooManShroom said: Another great writeup Agar! 
You really should make a bunch of journal entries with all of these teks you have. It would probably be the most comprehensive DIY guide out there! Just food for thought.
LOL, the fine female in my life, keeps mumbling.
Write & publish a BOOK. 
Hell, you wrote most of it ~ already.
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