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Subject: Market Farming
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- From: SaladG AT aol.com
- To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
- Subject: [Market-farming] Making your own compost
- Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:33:50 EDT
Try again. Good alfalfa seed can cost some money but in the long run
it can be well worth the money. A lot of the cheaper seed out
there has a lot of weed seed in it. So start with good quality seed.
We have been using alfalfa hay for our compost for a while now. I
started by using moldy hay that the feedlots couldn't use in their feed mix then
that pretty much dried up for a source so started growing my own. We put
most of our hay up in big round bales because if it gets rained on for a week
before it gets baled it takes less time for it to compost. We flip the
bales in end, take the twine or net wrap off and us a chainsaw and cut it in pie
pieces and use the loader and tear it up and pile it in a large winrow, then
turn it about every 6 weeks until it is all cooked. It takes longer to
compost hay than it does manure, but I feel it is a lot safer for use in growing
food products. I usually spread and till in when ever the area is ready to
be worked up. Having the fresh mulch on hand all the time is really great,
if I pull plastic on an area that I have been growing on and I will take some
more compost that I have made and spread out before I till and lay new
plastic mulch and really don't have to worry about any manure properties
for contamination. We use it on about 7 to 11 acres we are using under rotation
for our gardens.
Phil
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- [Market-farming] Making your own compost, SaladG, 06/24/2010
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