Composting people... educate me on how to do it right

[BroncoMo]

Those who live in Colorado and other arid snow environments, feel free to chime in.

I live in the western plains; arid, windy, long snowy winters, late summer droughts, currently in one of the rainiest springs on record. How do I best create a compost bin situation?

I have a random concrete pad I would like to use. Do I need to shelter this crap (literal) from all the bad weather? We get strong northwesterly winds about 8 months out of the year. I worry about it drying out too much. Which, I can water it, but then we can randomly get torrential rain or massive snow. Then the thing will freeze in to a block. Do I block the north west side from the wind? Does it need a roof of sorts? Or just let mother nature work on it, water it if dry, turn frequently, and sort of just wing it? I would like to make actual nutritious compost for gardening, spreading, and if I have a surplus (haha!) sell it.

[S1969]

Haha - I read this as “how to compost people.” Make sure I do it right!

If your compost is in the process of breaking down, it should be warm enough not to freeze as long as you get enough moisture. Once it’s done cooking, it may freeze, but that’s usually ok because it’s just like soil by then and you probably won’t be trying to move it during the winter.

I flip mine from time to time and it composts well enough. I use it in gardens and as “fill” in areas that need it and it seems ok. I’m sure there could be ways to make it even better, but for my use it’s fine.

I would probably try to wing it for a season and get a sense of what it might need. I think a big issue is type of bedding - what are you using? Shavings are tough to compost.

[Annie10]

You do know composting people is frowned upon?
Personally I prefer to dump
Them in areas where there are hogs

[BroncoMo]

I’m not even going to fix the title. It read just fine in my head when I posted this…

I don’t use much bedding as my horses live out 24/7 but I do bed some of their sheds lightly during snow or rain. The heavy bedding use is during foaling season which is comprised of pelleted bedding and straw. But 98% of the time, it’s just manure. I might be making a mountain out of a mole hill here. Maybe I just make a bin and see how it works.

My current piles have been around for a long time and are either A ) been around long enough they have become part of the earth, B ) dusty broken down pulverized poop dust, or C ) sopping wet acidic mess that in no way resembles something I would put on grass or a garden.

[BroncoMo]

I sure whiffed on the title. But it’s amusing enough that I’m not going to fix it.

[S1969]

If it’s mostly manure, that could be part of the problem. Composting properly requires a mixture of “greens and browns” – which manure (green) + hay/straw and shavings (brown) usually works just fine. But if you have mostly manure it might not be enough “brown” stuff like bedding. And/or if it’s dusty broken down poop dust - it also needs water.

I have a 3 sided “bunker” – treated lumber sides and concrete base. So it will pile up pretty high which keeps it hot. But it fills up and I have to move it elsewhere, so I still try to pile it high so it cooks longer.

Oops forgot the link: https://www.honestlymodern.com/composting-greens-and-browns-ratio/

[BroncoMo]

@S1969

https://www.honestlymodern.com/composting-greens-and-browns-ratio/

Good info, thank you. If it’s broken down dust, is it a lost cause? It would seem to me that at that point it has lost it’s nutrients.

[Scribbler]

No it’s fine.

[Scarlet_Gilia]

Actually, composting people IS a thing; it’s now legal in six states.

Human composting

[BroncoMo]

Well I wasn’t expecting that…

[clanter]

@S1969

So it will pile up pretty high which keeps it hot.

here it gets hot in the summers, there have been more than one compost pile at barns that have caught fire, some required days to extinguish using bulldozers

There are composted pits designs with information that are provided by state ag departments that would be specific to OP’s request

such as the tip from ours

Experience will quickly demonstrate the most suitable height of the pile for any particular refuse. Four to five feet is about the maximum height for any refuse, and 3 1/2 feet is the minimum for most shredded home compost piles. The height can be greater in cold weather than in warm weather.

https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/earthkind/landscape/dont-bag-it/chapter-4-building-and-maintaining-a-compost-pile/

[S1969]

Well, yes, you can’t pile it too high. My bunker sides are about 5’ tall so it keeps the pile at least 3’ high without it spreading. When you just make a pile without sides it’s not as easy to keep it from tapering down on the sides, which - in winter, might mean it is too cold and freezes.

[goodhors]

Well you could add the brown dusty stuff to the wet pile. Do you have a loader bucket to move things with? Nutrients are still in there. Any yard trimmings, old hay, scrapings from round bale feeders you could add for greens? As said, you can’t compost well with just poop in the pile.

The best piles seem to be contained in bins, not continually spreading wider with additional material. You probably will want to invest in a long stemmed thermometer to check interior Temps in the piles. Too hot WILL combust, whatever the outside conditions! My friend piles manure in winter, found it starting to burn in the snow!! She quickly pulled it apart with her loader and got fire out spreading it around on snow, hosing it down. Not making a big pile again!

Most folks do the three bin method, with “one bin cooking, one fresh, and one empty” to move the cooking or fresh pile into when they get too hot. Cement pad, treated wood sides to prevent rot. A firm surface under is easier to scrape things off of to move the bin contents.

I would wear a mask moving the dusty brown stuff! Don’t want to breathe in horse poop contents to settle in your lungs!

[BroncoMo]

Yep I do have hay waste from the round bales to throw in there. And I have a skid steer for turning and moving it. Good to know the dusty stuff still holds nutrients!

[enjoytheride]

Oh. this isn’t advice on how to subtly deal with my husband.

[Leather]

Horse manure itself has the ideal C:N ratio of right around 30:1 and moisture level for composting, so depending on the situation it can compost just fine on its own. Location/weather, what the horses eat, and design of the compost system impact whether anything else is needed.

(Cattle/swine/poultry manures have a lot more nitrogen/green, so when composting them you need to add carbon/brown.)

This is one of the better videos on the “science” of composting horse manure that I’ve seen. It discusses carbon to nitrogen ratios and moisture and the impact of things like bedding (both amounts and types) on the composting process. It also discusses a fairly simple windrow type composting system.

Horse Manure Composting - Livestock and Land Program

[Simkie]

I find composting pretty straight forward and idiot proof, tbh. Maybe I’ve just been lucky? But poop and soiled bedding goes from the barn into a 8 x 16 bin. When necessary, I push and pile what I dump from the wheel barrow up and back with the tractor, which also aerates. When the bin is full–takes about 3 months, with 4 horses–I move everything over to the next empty bin. Then 3 months later, it’s reduced by about half of what I started with, it’s full of worms, and it’s really dark, rich, crumbly soil.

I do also compost carcasses. Works great! Haven’t tried a whole person …

[BroncoMo]

I’m probably just over thinking it. I tend to do that with things that you can really get wrapped around the axel on, even if it’s more simple than googled instructions make it seem. It would appear that you can get super scientific with it, but really the average person can get away with a much simpler plan. I think I’ll try that.

It just seems that people post pictures of their neatly done compost bins with roofs and live in areas with perfect weather. And I practically live in a tundra 8 months out of the year with frequent straight line winds in excess of 70 mph, and we are either in historic drought or dealing with historic rain fall. So I do worry that my attempts will be squandered by the weather. But it sounds like it’s much simpler than I’m making it out to be.

[Simkie]

We also composted in MN, which was just really cold, with lots of wind, lots of snow. Only had one pile. Made sides for the bin by sinking t posts and using those to support pallets. Didn’t do anything complex. Worked great.

Fancy bins look pretty. If you micro manage the pile, it probably cooks faster? Handy with very little space or a lot of output. But you can keep it simple, see how it goes, and then if something seems to not be working, tweak your set up or management.

Do you have a plan for your finished product? We spread in MN but here in CT we tend to use for fill. It’s so nice and I’m eagerly awaiting my next load to fill in some low spots and build up a few slopes. We’ve been able to create useable land, and it’s been a huge bonus!

[BroncoMo]

That’s very interesting. What sort of areas do you fill with it? I do have lots of places that need fill but it’s in my dry lots that have wind and water erosion. Not sure compost would pack hard enough for that.

As of now my only plan is to put three sides on an already existing concrete pad. It’s 13 feet long, but admittedly I didn’t measure how deep. Probably 8-10 feet. Undecided on if I’m doing 1 or 2 bays. 3 wouldn’t allow me to get a skid steer bucket in it. I’m essentially going to sort of wing it and see how much I end up with. I have a little bit of grazing land to spread on (if I can get around to fixing my spreader), my mom has a small garden, my sister self sustains on her garden, and if all else fails I could probably sell some locally.