Quote:
Originally Posted by BigDon
I wanted to start a thread on different things I know to do as far as plant and animal husbandry but I don't know why it works.
Things that aren't easy to solve by Googling.
The first one I wanted to start with was why does adding a strong nitrogen source like blood meal cause woody plant debris that wasn't composting to do so?
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Hi BigGuy. I'll tackle that one. The right ratio of nitrogen to carbon for soil bacteria to flourish in is about 1 to 30. Leaves are just about perfect, which is why they decay fairly rapidly in the forest till, and soon make a thin layer of topsoil when frost heaves mix them in.(except oak leaves). Grass clippings are a little heavier in nitrogen, and decompose a little faster, but can get into an anaerobic ferment if not aerated by tossing the pile. Stuff that's high in carbon and low in nitrogen...woody plants...require additional nitrogen to feed the fungi and bacteria as they do their work. So if you try to compost sawdust (which I got free at the Marshfield sawmill)..you need to beef up the nitrogen a little to get it cooking. Use urea, or slow release bloodmeal like you said, or some grass clippings, chicken manure, ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, ...
I used my daughter's rabbit droppings.
Turning the pile over selects aerobic bacteria over anaerobic and keeps the odor appropriate...it can stink quite a bit if it goes anaerobic. pete