Composting, compost teas and humanure

[WormFarmer 90]

Wormfarmer,

We must catch up again and compare notes. Today I declared war on one neighbours chickens, just two that seem to have developed a taste for my worms. They will lose this battle.

IA.

Hi IA - You could kill two birds with one stone (pun intended) by stopping them taking the worms and providing a roast dinner

WF

[IsaanAussie 1,684]

Wormfarmer,

We must catch up again and compare notes. Today I declared war on one neighbours chickens, just two that seem to have developed a taste for my worms. They will lose this battle.

IA.

Hi IA - You could kill two birds with one stone (pun intended) by stopping them taking the worms and providing a roast dinner

WF

Well I pointed out just how expensive compost worms are to buy to the owner of the birds. Suggested we should weigh all the birds now, then again after they eat my worms and I kill them. I will pay for the original bird weight and he can pay for the worms at replavement cost. He must have decided to keep them at home, didnt see one all day.

[WormFarmer 90]

Wormfarmer,

We must catch up again and compare notes. Today I declared war on one neighbours chickens, just two that seem to have developed a taste for my worms. They will lose this battle.

IA.

Hi IA - You could kill two birds with one stone (pun intended) by stopping them taking the worms and providing a roast dinner

WF

Well I pointed out just how expensive compost worms are to buy to the owner of the birds. Suggested we should weigh all the birds now, then again after they eat my worms and I kill them. I will pay for the original bird weight and he can pay for the worms at replavement cost. He must have decided to keep them at home, didnt see one all day.

Oh well - there goes dinner!

[aquaponeer 2]

Greetings,

does anyone know where to find liquid seaweed, / seaweed extract . There used to be a product in Australia called Seasol for gardening/ foliar use. i am unable to find this, or similar liquid seaweed anywhere.

Thanks in advanced.

[DixiePig 12]

jandtaa-- you know your rotting stuff, that's for sure.

Here is how I do compost tea-- I use a 100 liter plastic garbage bin, 5 kilos of finished compost tied off in cheesecloth and a small aquarium air pump. after one day I add sugar, maybe 1/3 kilo (rough measure) and a large handful of fresh cut rice grass or chpped water hyacinth (water hyacith is preferable if you can get it.) After two more days braodly apply.

[animatic 4,686]

We are doing a 1st compost now,

in a pit 1.5 m deep x 2.5m wide x 3.5m long

Using overgrown green yard clippings / grass / vines,

that naturally arrives if unattended, ie a local natural guild.

Some palm leaves and banana leaves that have fallen,

and both elephant and water buffalo manure that is available close to home.

Kitchen cuttings, coffee grounds, egg shells etc round out the mix.

Presently watered by hand, covered with a light tarp. A heavier black

rubberized one will replace it next week.

The contents are not chopped much, more broken up.

I was wondering about where to find a very low priced chopper/grinder

to just chuck the stuff through when layering a compost?

We have terraced the top half of a rai, to stop water erosion and preserve newly

placed dark earth, mixed with worm casing, and assorted vegetables and legumes,

but needing to make a continuous cycle ongoing.

While waiting for the compost to do it's thing,

I was thinking can I do a elephant manure tea in a trash can with aerator,

some earth and worm castings and make it worth while to use?

Also not finding any info on southern Thailand plant guild groupings.

The family is mountain farmers, so they just do it in the old ways,

but I am trying to do this more permaculture / scientifically, better yields for the labor.

Any sources for sweet pea seeds?

Thanks.

A

[IsaanAussie 1,684]

We are doing a 1st compost now,

in a pit 1.5 m deep x 2.5m wide x 3.5m long

Using overgrown green yard clippings / grass / vines,

that naturally arrives if unattended, ie a local natural guild.

Some palm leaves and banana leaves that have fallen,

and both elephant and water buffalo manure that is available close to home.

Kitchen cuttings, coffee grounds, egg shells etc round out the mix.

Presently watered by hand, covered with a light tarp. A heavier black

rubberized one will replace it next week.

The contents are not chopped much, more broken up.

I was wondering about where to find a very low priced chopper/grinder

to just chuck the stuff through when layering a compost?

We have terraced the top half of a rai, to stop water erosion and preserve newly

placed dark earth, mixed with worm casing, and assorted vegetables and legumes,

but needing to make a continuous cycle ongoing.

While waiting for the compost to do it's thing,

I was thinking can I do a elephant manure tea in a trash can with aerator,

some earth and worm castings and make it worth while to use?

Also not finding any info on southern Thailand plant guild groupings.

The family is mountain farmers, so they just do it in the old ways,

but I am trying to do this more permaculture / scientifically, better yields for the labor.

Any sources for sweet pea seeds?

Thanks.

A

Take a bag of left over cooked wet rice and place in an open upside down bag on the ground under a tree. Left it for a week and then go look what is under the rice. You should have a natural growth of bacteria and fungii. Put that on your compost materials and cover with straw even grass clippings sparely to keep it moist. Coffee grounds would be ideal, but that is a lot of coffee. It should spread through you compost accelerating it markedly.

Shredder/grinders are a get what you pay for deal. The cheap ones will either handle wet or dry material but seldom both. I have just ordered a 22HP unit at under $2,000 but have for years just used a combination of a cheap petrol engined brush cutter and a bush knife. The smaller the particle size the better for materials that break down quickly. For those that don't, so what, let them provide some air gaps.

[loong 2,438]

I have often thought that it would be a good idea to have some sort of grinder or whatever that could be used for composting materials. Ideal would be an auger type, ie something like an old fashioned meat mincer or what they sometimes use to make crushed ice. Obviously would need to be on a larger scale though. I woulddn't think that they would be too expensive to produce, but I guess that there is not the demand.

When you mention sweet pea seeds, are you talking about ornamental plants? If so, I haven't seen any sweet pea seeds available in Thailand.

If you mean sugar/snow pea for eating, they are called Tua lahn Dtao ถั่วลันเตา and are available in most seed outlets. If these are what you want and you still have difficulty finding them. PM me with your address and I'll send you a packet or 2. Can't help you if you need large quantities though.

[IsaanAussie 1,684]

I have often thought that it would be a good idea to have some sort of grinder or whatever that could be used for composting materials. Ideal would be an auger type, ie something like an old fashioned meat mincer or what they sometimes use to make crushed ice. Obviously would need to be on a larger scale though. I woulddn't think that they would be too expensive to produce, but I guess that there is not the demand.

You can buy oversize meat mincers here for making granules (pellets) but I dont see they could be used as a mulcher. Too much wear and way too power needed. The design is wrong for that. The staged compression of the auger would just make the materials jam up as solids before they got to the cutter.

[loong 2,438]

I'm not sure if it is related or not, but since adding EM to my compost heap, I have seen an explosion of black soldier fly larvae. My heap is writhing with them. I'm amazed at just how quickly they chomp through kitchen waste.

I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not. If I kept chickens then I would be happy enough and could then harvest them for feed.

I know that BSF larvae excrete goodness, but when they move off from the pile, they are also removing a certain amount.

If I forget to cover the heap the locals' chickens are in there and totally rip it apart to get at the larvae.

Can anyone with more knowledge than I have tell me if the benefits from the larvaes' excretia outweigh the nutrient loss when they move off to pupate?

[IsaanAussie 1,684]

What you do with them is you put them all in a box and send them to me. The larvae are great protein source and the leavings are good to feed to compost worms. Exactly what I need but unfortunately no BSF around here.

[loong 2,438]

I'd be happy to send you some IA.

Would they need oxygen while being transported?

Or would you prefer that I try to trap them at pupae stage?

[IsaanAussie 1,684]

I'd be happy to send you some IA.

Would they need oxygen while being transported?

Or would you prefer that I try to trap them at pupae stage?

I believe they burrow into the soil to pupate? Perhaps if you grab some leaving the compost heap and put them into a bucket of dirt and wait until they at the pupae stage might be easier.

I had a friend on Samui try to send some to me by post twice, but was knocked back. Perhaps on a bus to Sisaket? If you can do that then I'll get cheeky and ask for a range of stages. Some little ones in a bag of compost, and some pupae. As many as you can. I wouldnt worry about the air they are pretty hardy.

This is great... at last!

[loong 2,438]

I had a friend on Samui try to send some to me by post twice, but was knocked back.

What do you mean? Would the post office not allow him to send? How would they know what was in the package?

Do you know if there is a direct bus from Khon Kaen to Sisaket? About 300 Km I would guess. If so, that may be the way to go

[IsaanAussie 1,684]

I had a friend on Samui try to send some to me by post twice, but was knocked back.

What do you mean? Would the post office not allow him to send? How would they know what was in the package?

Do you know if there is a direct bus from Khon Kaen to Sisaket? About 300 Km I would guess. If so, that may be the way to go

Apparently James' wife took the package to the post office and they asked what was in it and she told them it contained larvae. They refused to accept it in the post. A week later he tried and when asked told them it was a tee shirt, they wanted to look and that ended that.

I am sure there is a bus running between the two. I have sent worms, even compost by bus no problems.