Good idea though it would have to be long. One compost barrel is here: .
With a gear reduction system one might make a motorized one on a timer.
Posted on 04/27/2019 3:29:45 AM PDT by orsonwb
Fertilizer. What is it? How does it work? Is it safe to use? What's the difference between Organic and Synthetic fertilizer? Watch the video: https://youtu.be/IeMvR4tmMJ8
(Excerpt) Read more at youtu.be ...
What the hell did you think Milorganite is?
WARNING: This product can expose you to chemicals, including lead, known to the State of California
Blah, blah, blah. Pretty much EVERYTHING in the KNOWN UNIVERSE contains chemicals known to the State of California etc. ad nauseaum.
The rest of us have functioning kidneys and livers.
Little secret, most things you eat have small amounts of naturally occurring toxic substances. Sometimes those "toxic" substances are actually micronutrents. We have been around them so long we now need them (in small amounts naturally) to stay healthy.
But that is why you get sick when you over indulge in one food type even a "healthy" one. You have overwhelmed your body's filtration system.
Give it a bit of a rest and it will go back to doing it's job.
The question is whether it would be good to use this "leaf tea" for watering, esp for young plants. If not fully decomposed compost takes the nitrogen the plants need, but what about this water?
“But we replenish garden soil every year with home-gown compost heavy with well-aged chicken manure. “
I thought that was prohibited in the OT.
Ha! We don't have enough land to let it lay fallow every 7th year.
And on the 49th year it doesn't revert back to the Indians, either....
Water full of organics that is stagnant for more than a few days will become aneorobic and bacteria that produce toxins will begin to grow. Leaving compost uncovered can make it too wet in some climates and also lead to anaerobic conditions. Plant-based compost with adequate oxygen should never smell bad. If you put in a ton of new material it may smell like ammonia for 1 week but that is the only acceptable smell. Ammonia is naturally converted by bacteria to useful nitrogen for plants.
The water has nutrient value but I would not directly put it on any plants due to toxins. Especially not food crops.
Given how long it was stagnant, I would throw it out unless you are very short on chlorine-free water. I would maybe use that water for wetting a compost pile that is not used for growing food.
Hey thanks. That is quite informative and shows how much more I need to learn. My compost bin is a large 64 gallon covered trash barrel, and I try to only put shredded greens or decayed fruit in it, along with the leaves, and have had plenty of the former from a surplus food distribution we have been blessed to do.
However, mixing is done by pitchfork, which gets difficult once a lot gets in it, while due to the weather in MA, and the compost barrel not being able to get much sun then it is frozen for much of the year, and takes about two years to decompose enough that I would mix some into the garden soil. The latter has never been tested (I should have a basic tester soon) and i use bagged manure and some Hyponex 10-10-10 All-Purpose Fertilizer , and it has produced a lot, thanks be to God.
But I guess I will dump the water. Feel free to post on the garden thread, which could use your knowledge.
Sounds good. For mixing try to get a compost corkscrew or make one from rebar. Completely a game changer versus pitchfork
Good idea though it would have to be long. One compost barrel is here: .
With a gear reduction system one might make a motorized one on a timer.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.