RE: [compost_tea] Sheep poop

From: Stephen Steyn <ssteyn_at_wcaccess.co.za>
Date: Tue, 24 May 2011 06:16:30 +0200

Jeff:

How has this post of yours contributed to the discussion. Or are you simply=
 touting your book again?

SS

 

 

From: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com [mailto:compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com] On B=
ehalf Of Jeff Lowenfels
Sent: 23 May 2011 20:48
To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [compost_tea] Sheep poop

 

  



Plant A Row For The Hungry...and read "TEAMING WITH MICROBES: THE ORGANIC G=
ARDENER'S GUIDE TO THE SOIL FOOD WEB."


On May 23, 2011, at 8:46 AM, Ben Rara <barfarm05_at_yahoo.com> wrote:

  

Dennis,

 

I also started with 3 to 4 year-old poops. I had a stackpile of poop collec=
ted for 3 or 4 years as I did not know what to do with it until someone sug=
gested that I feed it to worms to produce worm castings for fertilizers. Th=
at's when I started vermicomposting. I started first with a small worm bed =
of about 1 1/2 meters by maybe 3 meters, about 20 inches deep. Filled it up=
 with old, dry goat and sheep poop(3 to 4 years old). Watered it till it wa=
s soaking wet. Covered it with tarpoulin to initiate thermophylic decompos=
ition. I could tell decomposition was going on as it was hot to touch. Afte=
r three or four weeks when the heat was gone, I introduced my initial batch=
 of African Night Crawlers. After about six months, my 3 to 4 years stockpi=
le of goat and sheep poop were all gone and converted into wormcastings. No=
w, my herd of goat and sheep can no longer cope with supplying substrate fo=
r my worms, I have to outsource other animal manure from neighboring farms.

 

Don't worry about the nutrients being washed away. It's the decomposing mic=
robes your worms will need to be able to convert those materials into excel=
lent organic soil amendments called worm castings. Hope this helps.

 

Ben







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Received on Tue May 24 2011 - 04:37:52 EDT

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