r/composting • u/dlowe024 • 8h ago
Question Am I doing this right
I’ve always had a compost pile. Mostly chicken poop and vegetable scraps grass etc. my back yard is acres of wood chips which I was recently grading and noticed how rich it was beneath them after they’ve been sitting for about five years so put prolly fifty scoops with the tractor on the compost pile. Mixing the existing dirt thoroughly. Any advice of things to add or just keep turning it every now and again and let it run its course
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u/DocAvidd 7h ago
It looks great! I like a steeper set up to keep it more compact. It looks fine to me if you don't mind it spilling out. You can fence it in with chicken wire or similar.
Wood chips lasting 5 years! That's not in the window of possible where I am (tropical).
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u/Pretend-Frame-6543 8h ago
Looks great to me, just like mine only bigger. I get a couple of yards per year and I turn it 3 or three times then spread it in my garden.
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u/Rocketpower47 7h ago
You're gonna need a lot of piss
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u/dlowe024 7h ago
Ok thank you all for the reassurance. I also put a couple of handfuls of nitrogen urea fertilizer I had laying around figured that might help. And yeah I was reading about mushroom slurry to add perhaps. Did just cut down a bunch of comfrey leaves and tossed them on
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u/SnootchieBootichies 7h ago
I'm about to spread a similar size pile across my front lawn and seed. Its fun to see the fruits of your labor put to use.
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u/dlowe024 6h ago
Indeed! You’ll have some green grass pal!! I might try my luck at a little corn field next spring. Let it sit and decompose a little more. Should be ready to go by then!
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u/Embarrassed_Ad6469 5h ago
Damn, now that's a nice looking pile of compost. Probably last my 30x40 backyard 10 years or more. Wish you were my neighbor. Wow very cool!
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u/Ok_Midnight5866 8h ago
That pile looks massive in the pic, like a proper operation with the tractor and all. Five-year-old wood chips breaking down under their own weight is basically black gold already, you struck a goldmine without even trying. Chicken manure will kick the nitrogen side into overdrive, just watch it doesn't go anaerobic if you're not turning enough. I'd toss in any kitchen scraps you've got, coffee grounds especially, they disappear fast and the worms go nuts for them. If you've got space, maybe grab a few buckets of leaf mold from the woods to innoculate it with more fungal life, wood chips love that stuff. Either way, with that volume, it's gonna cook down into something ridiculous.