In this video, I'll show you two methods of composting I'll be using to enrich my garden bed soil this fall. Check out our Amazon store and help support our channel www.amazon.com...
I produce soil professionally, and also on my farm as my own custom made compost based garden soil. Complete with crushed clam and lobster shells to balance the ph. Quality control tests have taught me alot. Now im makig it work for me on my farm, and i make yearly, more than half of my professional wages just on my farm soils.
I like to work in layers of "live" green material...grass clippings, cut weeds, pruned clippings from whatever...it really heats up quick. I did a big pile last year making the sandwiched stack up from fresh grass clippings and wood chips, spraying down each layer as you did. Stirred it several times and then left it alone. By November, mushrooms were fruiting all over the pile. I moved the whole pile to turn it one last time, and this spring, there were mushrooms going all through this stuff. It has been the most amazing fertilizer. I have to add wood chips on top or it will grow anything that lands on it.
It helps me a lot as well Subscribed I now live in Thailand. It is hard to get some composting material But hay and chicken manure no problem The soil here is very sandy So good compost will help a lot. I am worm composting at the moment But the time to start a compost as one vlogger said, Was yesterday That's for a great vid much appreciated Mark
I actually connected my run to my garden, put the hay in the garden, and then let chickens have access during the off season. They took care of the seeds and I didn't have to spread the manure. This spring will be the first season of growing so we will see how well it does. If this works well I may consider doing 2 gardens and rotate the chickens each year. But you are right. Those chickens broke it down quickly.
Hmm! Two gardens! Interesting! Would you plant a cover crop in the off-season garden, as forage for the chickens? I bet your fertility would really go up.
You know, never thought about a cover crop. I was just focused on letting them turn the soil and spread their wonderful fertilizer. That is a good idea. Thanks for the input.
@@troy1672, I've never grown a cover crop. My garden isn't big enough to warrant one. And I'm not able to keep chickens in my situation. :( I protect the soil, and increase fertility, by mulching with grass clippings in summer and putting down a thick layer of leaves in the fall. If I had your situation, and wanted to alternate between gardens, I might sow peas in the garden that's "resting". Peas put nitrogen into the soil, and should be a good source of protein for the chickens, which might cut your feed bill. You could add a layer of leaves or straw to help balance out the nitrogen the birds put down. It would be interesting to see how this might affect egg production. You can find info on chicken forage crops online, but here's a random link. www.ufseeds.com/product/packer-forage-pea-seeds/?attribute_pa_size=1-pound&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6o6XmKD14QIVCLnACh1ewA4ZEAQYBCABEgIM2fD_BwE
Hi Pete I'm new to texas by canton how do I know when I get hay its not been treated with pesticides or has grass burs in it only reason I haven't done hay yet
When you buy the hay, try to buy from the place it was grown and ask if they spray any broad leaf herbicide in their fields. But if you're using it to compost, then most if not all the herbicide should be composted out in 6 months to a year.
Hello Pete B. I have been watching you for a week. I live in Cuba Mo. And I love your videos of chicken coops. I want to build one but we have wild animals here. i just want to know does your coop really keep out the raccoons? Gene Setzer
I saw your swamp & you should probably add some subsurface drainage to reduce pathogen habitat... like hookworms... Maybe some field-tile or French Drain in the important areas. If installed properly you'll never regret it.
That hay in the coop is gonna take longer than you're expecting to break down. It turns to big lawn thatch, holds water, and you have to turn it pretty frequently, which is a little more work than it's worth at times. I started doing what you're doing, and eventually got tired of the mess. I started pitching the hay in a wagon and putting it in my regular compost pile when I would have turned it. I turn the compost pile at the same time, and more or less get what you're doing in the second pile. It works out nice.
I bin making compost for years but I carnt make it as well as my hens can I call them my waste management team. I run a 3 stage composting system 1st stage compost pile outside of run where everything goes in fresh. like Grass cuttings, wood chips, horse manure, after a month or so I move it in to the chicken run to the big compost pile I turn it from time to time to help them mix it up. then I move the good black rich compost out the run to let it rest befor i use it. I can tell you its good very good. I add wood chips in run fresh as well just not Grass cuttings as i find this can lead to problems so i like it to break down first outsit the run. my hens love compost and go mad for it.
Howdy Pete, Dan Wilson(The Retiring Renegade) here from down in Silsbee, Texas! Love Your channel and it's content, big props to Toby and Mia for being wonderful fur babies! I will be implementing the chicken run technique with quail hutches suspended in the run as well! Do You have a follow up on the compost heap? You and Yours stay safe and well! Enjoy the holidays Dan
Hi, Pete, (are you kidding with those jingle balls - toys for chickens. They're only interested in pecking - at likely food sources.) There are " homesteaders" that are growing potatoes in just hay/ straw. Ever heard of spontaneous combustion of the hay? Happens! Are we going to see the chicken tractor in action soon? Happy Spring.
I know I thought the same thing when it said chicken toy, I thought the chickens would be curious and push the balls around.......maybe better for cats 🙂 I'll have a chicken tractor update soon. Thank you
When u said that u had a bucket of chicken manure I thought to myself- "man that shit must smell bad "🤣 their poops SMELLS so bad!😆 this is only my first year so im trying to find different bedding and run ideas
The compost pile did not do well. The chickens broke down what I put in the chicken run in about a month. So I used the other pile to start another pile with leaves, hay and manure. Here's the video. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Q0-gQ_9Jq5M.html
I would suggest throwing all of your kitchen scraps in the chicken run. Whatever the birds don't eat will mix with the hay for faster decomp. Do you catch the grass when you mow? Alternating layers(lasagna style) of grass & hay, wetted down, should produce compost fairly quickly. After you turn the hay with the tractor, wet it down again.
@@petebeasttexashomesteading, I know that catching your grass clippings adds another layer of labor on the homestead, but I view the clippings as a free resource. But it makes sense when you're already mowing, and composting. I actually live in an urban apartment complex, and don't own land. But a cousin lives two miles away, and has a utility corridor running behind his back yard. 19 years ago, I arbitrarily decided the utility company wouldn't mind if I gardened back there. Haven't been kicked out yet! I collect loads of summer grass clippings and fall leaves from an older guy in my cousin's neighborhood, which saves him the trouble of bagging them for trash collection. I make loads of compost with these free resources. I do envy the room you have, not to mention the chickens... and a tractor!
Why didn’t you roll the round bale closer to the coop door ? Then you could have had it blocking the door so chickens couldn’t get out and you could have grabbed it in one easy motion instead of double handling xx
Throw seeds like sunflower seeds in the hair your ladies will terret up at a compost very fast PS next time put the hay all the way to the back of the run and work your way back so you don’t have to keep stepping over your work lol
I think your chickens would prefer a rotting log that you turn over every now and then, rather than a couple of plastic balls, lol. If you are going to give them balls, perhaps some real ones from a castrated animal would be of more interest.
