Compost tea! WOW! | Page 3 | Food Production and Preservation | Forums

if you live anywhere near a zoo you can probably arrange with them to get elephant manure. i have way more than i can use really, there are lots of native elephants here being used to sell photos and hand feedings by tourists so i only have to drive up and pick up large black trash bags full of manure because they don't have anywhere to put it. works out for me very well.

as for my compost, i don't use bins so i layer it like lasagna. since i live on a sub tropical island there is tons of new growth every day. i'll use new green tree branches with green leaves, kitchen scraps, i've got a very large lawn and it's organic so i put the bagged clippings, i have to burn bamboo and dead trees at least once each week so i use the ash (and i find it crucial to include small coals, say up to 2-3in long as they serve as a home for microbes and keep the compost alive) and i rake my yard at least once each week and put the brown leaves in the compost as well. since we have hot sun all day i use the hose to make it rain on the pile at least 2-3 times each week because a dry compost pile is useless.

so basically this compost pile builds and after 3 months is as big as i can handle so i start a new pile in another location and start shoveling out my compost from the first pile. it never gets turned, i've found no need for it really since i'm constantly adding new layers of carbon, nitrogen and ash.