[Market-farming] Cotton Burr Composting

BCLuton at aol.com BCLuton at aol.com
Tue Feb 12 11:12:49 EST 2008


The sites under construction - hopefully some pics when its up and  running.
 
Moisture management tends to be more of an issue for us prior to screening  
and use and/or sale.  Our sales primary sales season is of course early  spring 
which also tends to be somewhat rainy and often times we're complicated  by 
snowmelt.  We use compost covers on the finished piles that will be  screened 
first thing in spring.  The covers (I believe Compost Tec or  something) are 
like Goretex jackets for the piles they breath but shed  rain.  We don't worry 
about the active piles to much.  We tend to have  plenty of moisture based on 
our feedstocks and weather.  If things are  little to wet we'll turn more.  If 
there is a lot of free water under the  piles (leachate) that has less to do 
with moisture and more to do with the pile  C:N ratio.  In that case you'd need 
more carbon.  A pile with  good C:N ratio (30:1 to 40:1) will typically 
maintain itself at  proper moisture levels.  This is upstate NY though and 
conditions are  certainly different than Texas.
 
We don't add anything for nitrogen but blend our feedstocks to achieve the  
desired C:N ratio.  I've heard you can add Nitrogen if necessary but I  think I 
would tend to try to do so with another compostable material and not  Urea.  
It seems Urea would be a little overly "hot" and might harm the  bacteria 
you're hoping to do the composting work for you.
 
I don't have any experience with Cotton Hulls but would suggest you try to  
send a sample out to a lab for analysis that includes C:N ratio.
 
Brian
 
In a message dated 2/12/2008 10:48:23 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
TxBeeFarmer at HotPop.com writes:

Ok, now we're talking!  Getting some really good ideas.  Now,  how about this 
one - how do you manage the moisture content from rains, or do  you worry 
about it?  Do you put urea on your pile to speed things  along?  Got any pictures 
or a web site?
 
Thanks
TxBeeFarmer (Mark)
West Texas Zone 7b

----- Original Message ----- 
From:  _BCLuton at aol.com_ (mailto:BCLuton at aol.com)  
To: _market-farming at lists.ibiblio.org_ 
(mailto:market-farming at lists.ibiblio.org)   
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 9:26  AM
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Cotton  Burr Composting


In my opinion the best way to turn with a loader is what I'll call the  "Up 
and Over Method"  Make the pile of such height and width that you  can position 
the tractor perpendicular to the pile, scoop in at the base and  lift the 
material up and dump it over onto the far side of the pile.   You'd do this 
repeatedly down the length of the pile.  Your composting  area should take into 
account the fact that you'll need space to maneuver  you're loader forward and 
back and also the pile will move  laterally(about its width) each time you turn. 
 You could turn twice in  one direction and then come back to save space.  On 
the site here  we start fresh piles on one end of the pad and they all 
migrate in one  direction across the pad - ultimately being finished at the far  
side.(this allows us to be constantly creating new piles and harvesting old  
piles)
 
Another really nice addition to the loader turning technique is a  dedicated 
turning bucket.  You could look for an old bucket and  old round bale spears 
we've welded spears onto the bucket about every  8" - 12" protruding about 12" 
- 18" off the front of the  bucket.  When you dump the materials out of this 
bucket  the protruding spears really help to mix and aerate the material  as it 
dumps.(a rock bucket works pretty well to but begins to let  all the compost 
flow through it when it nears maturity and  the particle size is reduced.)
 
Brian
Zone 5-ish 
Nedrow, NY 
_www.toadhollowfarms.com_ (http://www.toadhollowfarms.com/) 
(under construction!)

 
 
In a message dated 2/12/2008 9:39:18 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
TxBeeFarmer at HotPop.com writes:

 
Thanks Bill.  I do have a front end  loader.  Figured there must be a way to 
use it to turn the  piles, but not sure how.  Do you have any special  
technique?
 
TxBeeFarmer (Mark)
West Texas Zone  7b


----- Original Message ----- 
From:  _Bill Bradshaw_ (mailto:billbradshaw at hughes.net)  
To: _Market Farming_ (mailto:market-farming at lists.ibiblio.org)  
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2008  7:56 AM
Subject: Re: [Market-farming]  Cotton Burr Composting


Mark we have an old manure spreader, tractor pull type. We load it  with a 
front end loader. The loader would also be nice to turn your  compost pile. Bill 
(Texas)

----- Original Message ----- 
From:  _TxBeeFarmer_ (mailto:TxBeeFarmer at HotPop.com)  
To: _Market Farming_ (mailto:market-farming at lists.ibiblio.org)   
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2008  7:15 AM
Subject: [Market-farming] Cotton  Burr Composting


I'm still trying to figure out how to  create and use compost for my garden.  
Two problems seem to have  me stumped.  Number one - how do you turn the 
piles as the  compostable material breaks down?  I'm guessing it'll take two  
cubic yards of compostable material to get one of finished  compost, 2:1.  Any 
thoughts on that ratio?  If that ratio  holds true, to create enough compost to 
cover one acre 4  inches deep will take 1,046 cubic yards of compostable  
material.  Number two - how do you spread the compost  over the garden?  Compost 
for one acre at 4 inches deep  is about 538 cubic yards.  How do the rest of you 
do  it?
 
TxBeeFarmer (Mark)
West Texas Zone  7b
 
 
 
 
 
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