Hello.
Neighbours pruned or completely felled some 200 trees. They were gonna burn everything, so my wood chipper has been working overtime. I have several piles like this and more on the way. There is no way I get enough nitrogen to compost these piles. What would you do?
I'm considering a few bags of urea. Anyone done something of this sort? I don't want to have these gigantic piles sitting here for an eternity before they break down. They get super steamy and pass 70°c for a few days then cool down even when kept moist. Then the mushrooms take over. Cool, but I need these to compost before my family kick me out of the house.
by Creative_Rub_9167
7 Comments
I’ve only been following this sub for about a week but knowledge gathered in that time dictates you gotta piss on it
If you don’t have time to wait for it to breakdown use it as mulch and put it on top of your soil / garden beds as is.
Urea seems like a good idea. Other than that, see if you can source some shit or a ton of clippings.
Still, if that’s just part of what’s to come, maybe you’d be better off trying to sell and just keep one big pile for you to work with.
Seriously, you could add the perfect balance of nitrogen, but you’ll still be working this pile alone for a looooong time. It’ll be a bitch to do by hand, and you’ll still have a huge pile in your yard at the end, unless you have a massive garden.
I’d keep a big pile for future use, then see if neighbors want woodchips, then see if my local compost company wants to buy what’s left.
Urea is pee
You could do some fungi work.
What type of wood? You could easily grow edible mushrooms on this and they would break down the wood. Oyster, Wine Cap are some examples.
Use the wood chips as mulch and they will break down in about two years. Use them as browns in your compost pile over time and you will have rich earthy compost. You don’t need to be in a hurry. I had a huge pile of wood chips and it just disappeared. I used it as mulch, mixed it into my compost, and before I knew it I was ordering another load.