Lobster compost

natureboygrower

natureboygrower

Well-Known Member
DCcan said:
Ascophyllum nodosum is Norwegian kelp/ rockweed/ wrack, is that what you mean by bubble seaweed?
Thats what you want, vs sugar kelp , dulse, nori. Skip the broad growth stuff, that takes forever to break down. Stems will outlast the lobster shells.
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Yes,rockweed.I was going to let it dry out some in the sun(same as the kelp) before I mixed it into my pile.
 
DCcan

DCcan

Well-Known Member
MustangStudFarm said:
I'm no expert, but Clackamas Coots said that barley seed has chitinase which would break down chitin.
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Mix a few fish totes of spent beer mash from your local brewery, then keep adding lawn clippings for the hot months, keep it hydrated, full of enzymes and worms happy.
That sawdust will need dolomite lime to offset initially, the shells will take longer to breakdown.

Added charcoal would help
 
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natureboygrower

natureboygrower

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Had to turn and add a bunch of straw and peat moss(thanks Thump)The pile was way too wet,got way too compressed and the flies found it.Good lord,looked and smelled like a crime scene.I will no longer be using the sawdust as frequently (for a few reasons)
There's probably close to 400 shell bodies in there now.Pile is back on track now,minimal smell,and no flies as I've covered everything really well.
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natureboygrower

natureboygrower

Well-Known Member
Added a second bin to be able to turn the pile easier.Absolutely no smell or flies on the left hand side(finishing side).Just turned the right side and added another 100 bodies/claws.Id say theres between 1000-1200 lobster carcasses in there lol.So far so good.No critters except for a baby skunk rooting around now and then.Adding biochar when I turn the right side to the left,as well as em1,greensand.
The smell is not horrible,a mild lobster smell mixed with the sweet smell of the straw.Biggest complaint is the flies,which so far,ive kept mostly under control.Turning helps
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thumper60

thumper60

Well-Known Member
natureboygrower said:
Added a second bin to be able to turn the pile easier.Absolutely no smell or flies on the left hand side(finishing side).Just turned the right side and added another 100 bodies/claws.Id say theres between 1000-1200 lobster carcasses in there lol.So far so good.No critters except for a baby skunk rooting around now and then.Adding biochar when I turn the right side to the left,as well as em1,greensand.
The smell is not horrible,a mild lobster smell mixed with the sweet smell of the straw.Biggest complaint is the flies,which so far,ive kept mostly under control.Turning helps
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looks good reminds my I got some work to do on my bin. garden lime works great on the smell.
 
natureboygrower

natureboygrower

Well-Known Member
thumper60 said:
looks good reminds my I got some work to do on my bin. garden lime works great on the smell.
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My problem seems to be finding enough 'brown' material to match all my shells and veggie scraps.Ive had to buy a bale of peat a week which I dont mind the cost,just wish i could source my own brown.I realize wet,just cut grass clippings are considered 'green' material,and they really help heat the pile up.Do you know if dried grass clipping would be considered brown?
Also,new shell lobsters are just starting to show up around me.Ive been putting all hard shells in there up until this point.I would imagine the softer shells on these shedders will break down faster.
 
DCcan

DCcan

Well-Known Member
natureboygrower said:
My problem seems to be finding enough 'brown' material to match all my shells and veggie scraps.....Do you know if dried grass clipping would be considered brown?
Also,new shell lobsters are just starting to show up around me.Ive been putting all hard shells in there up until this point.I would imagine the softer shells on these shedders will break down faster.
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I think so. I think it just vents a lot of Co2 initially. Anything left out in the sun for a week is brown this time of year
The shells are much thinner, but pliable. Once they dry out, they will go quickly.

I'm growing horsetail, borage and yarrow for micronutes, and a few buckets of kelp here and there.
 
thecosmicgoat

thecosmicgoat

Well-Known Member
DCcan said:
I think so. I think it just vents a lot of Co2 initially. Anything left out in the sun for a week is brown this time of year
The shells are much thinner, but pliable. Once they dry out, they will go quickly.

I'm growing horsetail, borage and yarrow for micronutes, and a few buckets of kelp here and there.
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Horsetail is so invasive where I live. Steady supply year round.
Do you grow your horsetail in a container?
I'm making some horsetail tea right now.
 

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thumper60

thumper60

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Flavorcraver

Flavorcraver

Active Member
You ever try the lobster compost from "coast of maine" brand? I love ther bagged soils and compost.(as far as store bought soil and compost go) ive tryd making my own... Now I still use rock weed but have omited the lobster/crab...

Awsome composting tho! I admire your dedication! Awsome thread!
 
natureboygrower

natureboygrower

Well-Known Member
Flavorcraver said:
You ever try the lobster compost from "coast of maine" brand? I love ther bagged soils and compost.(as far as store bought soil and compost go) ive tryd making my own... Now I still use rock weed but have omited the lobster/crab...

Awsome composting tho! I admire your dedication! Awsome thread!
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Thank you. It's become a bit of an obsession. I no longer throw ANY lobster shells in the trash and most of them have made it into the compost pile. Its been a great learning experience which I've had a lot of fun doing. I plan on revamping the bins next spring, and all the compost we made this year, I'll use to help "start" the new pile next year and to mix in with the shells (rather than buying bagged peat to mix)
When the tide is right I plan on grabbing a bunch of rockweed. That will be added during my last turning of the pile heading into winter.
Yes, Ive used all kinds of COM products. Im currently mixing their lobster compost into my grow mix.Great stuff. It's why we started doing it ourselves. I figured why pay for it when we had so much access to the shells themselves (and ample space to do the composting)
Found a great source for leaf mould, i can grab as much as I want. Im going to wait til I can get just straight leaves from them, this truckload had pine needles in them.( From what ive read, they take a long time to breakdown)
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natureboygrower

natureboygrower

Well-Known Member
Added one last fish tray of shells, along with cabbage leaves, corn husks and other green material.Going to be turning it all over to the finishing pile on the left(under the brown tarp) in a couple weeks in preparation for winter.Hoping the seaweed will dry a bit but not too concerned if it doesnt. It will be sitting all winter. I plan on grabbing a small soil sample from the left before I turn it all.The compost on the left was only disturbed every 2 weeks to turn, so it should be pretty well broken down. I want to compare the mix now, to next spring when everything has had a chance to breakdown over winter.
Fun project overall. I'd like to try some on my indoor over the winter but Im a bit concerned about bringing in bugs. May just have to wait and try it on an outdoor crop next summer20191101_164328.jpg20191101_164627.jpg
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natureboygrower

natureboygrower

Well-Known Member
I've kept the pile going with just kitchen scraps so far this winter. I'm turning greens into it once a week and spraying it with activated em-1. Pile is staying around 45° even the with single digit, negative windchill we've been having.
I recently discovered that the sphagnum peat I've been using has a really low ph, so I'm hoping my woodstove ash I've been putting on it will help correct it. I've noticed when I clean out my stove ash there's usually a little charred hardwood, so I like to think it will act like biochar. Looking forward to revamping the bins and screening a little compost early spring.
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natureboygrower

natureboygrower

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I'm going to use a little screened compost in my next indoor in a couple weeks. I had planned on letting it sit another summer, but I'm out of compost, my grow shop is out of compost and I dont plan on going out hunting for any. This is my first time rejuvenating my water only soil, so we'll see what happens.
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MustangStudFarm

MustangStudFarm

Well-Known Member
natureboygrower said:
I'm going to use a little screened compost in my next indoor in a couple weeks. I had planned on letting it sit another summer, but I'm out of compost, my grow shop is out of compost and I dont plan on going out hunting for any. This is my first time rejuvenating my water only soil, so we'll see what happens.
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I've been making homemade Grokashi but I wasn't using the beet juice that is listed in the recipe. I started to wonder what I was missing out on, so I set out to figure it out. I found a podcast with Alan Adkisson(founder of Grokashi) and he said that beets live in the rhizosphere of Streptomyces bacteria. So, I started reading about Streptomyces and it turns out that it produces chitinase too. It's just a little tidbit of information that I came across. I think that he was using beets for the streptomyces culture.
 
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