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Durgan
My Garden
My Time
| | Posted on Monday, April 09, 2007 - 05:24 pm EST : |   
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Chipper Shredder and Composting.
http://xrl.us/pdxv 2 July 2006 Operating the shredder.
http://xrl.us/q7gy 24 July 2006 Turning compost bin over.
This ten horsepower machine is used to chop up all waste foliage. I make a pile of foliage, and when there is enough I wheel the machine out, and chop up the waste. It only takes a few minutes. I use to do this with a machette on a wooden block. It disposes of the branches and waste plants in a clean and quick manner. Unfortunately, one has to justify the cost, and it probably wouldn't be economical with a small yard. Anyway it is probably easier than taking garden waste products to the dump.
The amount of composted material is very minimal. All I get is about 6 cubic yards of garden ready material, which I spread on the garden in the spring. I even get my neighbors grass clippings from two properties. I leave my grass clipping where they fall.
Leaves can be a hassle in a compost pile, since they tend to stick together and eventually become like a paper book. Leaves compost just fine if chopped up with the lawnmower into small pieces by running over and over a pile.
http://Compost2.notlong.com
2 April 2007. The city supplied wood chips, mostly deciduous, were picked up in October 2006 and the compost is garden waste brewing since October 2006. The two were mixed together in the shredder/chipper and will be left for further brewing for about a month then spread on the garden beds.The deciduous wood chips are used to create a more friable soil to insure water gets to the plant roots.
http://xrl.us/nqca
4 May 2006 City vegetative compost.
Adding Compost (half a cubic yard shown). I pick up about half a yard per day from the City depot during the month of May. Two fourty five gallon garbage cans. I have a wooden box in the back of the van that takes exactly one-half yard, which is two 45 gallon drums in capacity. About 7 wheeelbarrows is equal to a cubic yard.
http://www.durgan.org/Blog/Durgan.html
Durgan
Durgan
- Ontario,
Zone "5"
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Stephie
| | Posted on Sunday, July 01, 2007 - 12:32 pm EST : |
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I just bought a chipper and have loads of blackberry clippings--do you think they would be okay to use as a mulch? I also heard one can use cedar mulch in areas you don't want anything really growing--and to ask if your horse manure has cedar chips in it just in case.
Stephie
- B.C.,
Zone "8"
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Durgan
My Weather
My Garden
My Time
| | Posted on Sunday, July 01, 2007 - 07:15 pm EST : |
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At first I was cautious about evergreens. Now I chip everything except heavy grasses, since the chipper doesn't shred these very well. The screen at the front of the shredder was removed to prevent clogging. This means the shredding is more coarse, but this is probably an advantage. The shredder does a great job on sod, but they have to be torn apart a little by hand to prevent clogging, and the moisture content should not be too high to prevent clogging or too dry or too much dust is created. A tarp at the outlet helps to shield the dust in extreme cases.
Raspberry bushes I do all the time, so blackberry bushes should chop just fine. I love green branches from almostd any tree probably less than one inch in diameter. These machine make gardening simple, since one can get rid of all the spent vegetation. I put it in a pile and spread after about eight months. Sometimes I put it through the shredder again before spreading, but it doesn't seem to matter, since the coarse stuff even disappears in the garden very quickly and it opens the soil for moisture. Never have I had a weed seed or grass problem from the residue. I have had my Yard Machine for six years. Don't leave home without it.
Don't fret over tha compost mixture. There is too much silly hype about composting. The quantity of compost produced is very little from all my vegetation, probably only five or six yards for the year. Throw the vegetation in a pile and forget it for eight months, and all will be fine. If the neighbors collect the grass try to get it and add to the pile. It keeps the composter working and is free fertilizer. I leave my grass clipping where the fall.
http://www.durgan.org/Blog/Durgan.html
Durgan
- Ontario,
Zone "5"
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