Rhonda...

[Mamawolf]

Will the chicken straw be enough to begin the compost process, or do I still need to try to get a hold of manure? I'm having a hard to getting a hold of some, because most people here already compost their own.

[forestdale]

Hello Brinda , your chicken straw will be fine to start off with. It's probably got some chicken manure mixed in. The manure is needed to activiate the composting process.

Theoretically, you could dump a pile of organic waste in a heap with no manure, no turning and no care and it would turn into compost, but it would take a long time to do it. Manure speeds up the process and encourages all those bugs, fungi and microbes to chew their way through the pile, turning it into rich, life giving humus.

The herb comfrey also activiates and speeds up the composting process.

Don't worry if you haven't got any manure for now, but do try to get some. Continue to add to your pile, try to put some grass clippings on it and this will make the pile hot, which will also help decomposition. Just remember that you have to maintain the balance between green (wet) and brown (dry) ingredients. If you add too much green, the pile will be wet, mushy and smelly. If you add too much brown, nothing much will happen.

To summerise, start with your chicken straw and add all your vegetable peelings, apple core, coffee grounds, shredded paper, tea leaves, eggs shells etc. With those ingredients you've got your green and brown balance. Mix it all up and add a little water, enough to moisten the pile but not wet it. Just a light sprinkling will do. If you have a piece of black plastic you can cover the pile with it. It will keep it warm and keep the rain or snow out. Then just keep adding to the pile as you collect organic waste. You should be able to put things into the pile every day. Don't forget to turn it occasionally.

You want your pile to be about 3' square, this gives the ideal conditions for heating it up.

If you can't get fresh manure, can't you get those chicken manure pellets over there? They'll do exactly the same work as the fresh manure. But don't worry about the manure, just work on getting all your ingredients together, keep adding every day and when you get some manure, or pellets, add them too.

I love the idea of you working away on that compost heap. It's such a good thing to do for your environment - you're not just reducing the waste products from your home, you're also adding something to your soil and increasing its fertility.