Clackamas Cootz, I have high expectations for his method!

After testing my soil about a year now, I feel like I have been dealing toxicity issues way more than deficiency issues. After listening to Jeff Lowenfels and reading one of his books(still reading it) I think that high Phosphorus is what has been killing me! Then I start researching some alternatives to reduce my P input and I fell directly onto Clackamas Coots. He says that high P will not only cause lock-out issues, but it will also impede fungal growth! So, I started to look for replacements for fish meal/fish bone meal and I now have lobster/crab meal for the chitin. He goes on to talk about how barley has an enzyme chitinase that will break down the chitin and I started to get impressed. Then he adds in the Karanja/Neem meal and I imagine that you will have a plant that has a very SAR value. To top it all off, he puts all of his amendments in his worm bin with leaf mold. Which is perfect for me because I collected 3-400gallons of leafs last November.

Anyways, I have all of the amendments that uses and I started to get cold feet when it came time to mix them together. From what I understand, he puts all of his amendments in the worm bin and only uses it for a 1/3 of his final mix. If anyone has maintained a worm bin like Clackamas, I would like to hear from you.

Here is a list of amendments that I presume that he uses in his worm bins.

Leaf mold
Manure

Basalt
glacial rock dust
oyster shell flour

Kelp
Karanja/neem
Crab or crustacean meal
Alfalfa
Malted Barley

I'm doing that very thing.

PM sent

Wet

https://www.kisorganics.com/blogs/news/basics-to-mixing-your-own-soil

Scroll to the bottom comment section, coot left comments regarding his worm bins you might like to read.

I give my rabbits alfalfa hay and straw for bedding and I use their bedding to compost. I am not exactly sure which grain the straw comes from but they do like to eat the tops. It doesn't look like wheat... I move my rabbits into my garage during the winter and put a tarp under them and the bedding collects urine, manure, and hair. I give most of my veggie scraps to the rabbits and my compost bins always turn into a worm bin.


This is composted rabbit bedding that I added basalt, glacial rock dust, oyster shell, and biochar. It composted all summer and this pic really does not do justice to how many worms were in this, they showed up on their own and I didn't have to buy worms. They are already in the ground, but again, I live in a wooded area and it's not hard to find leaves around here.


Here is my worm bin made out of 3'x3' pallets. This is leaves from my yard and this was from the last mow of the season, I let the grass grow tall before I collected the leaves. Next time, I might run it through a wood chipper after the lawn mower... I added the composted rabbit bedding to this before it got cold outside. I was trying to give the worms a thermal compost for the winter. It didn't keep it from freezing, but I really have not added any amendments yet.

MustangStudFarm said:

View attachment 4090633
I give my rabbits alfalfa hay and straw for bedding and I use their bedding to compost. I am not exactly sure which grain the straw comes from but they do like to eat the tops. It doesn't look like wheat... I move my rabbits into my garage during the winter and put a tarp under them and the bedding collects urine, manure, and hair. I give most of my veggie scraps to the rabbits and my compost bins always turn into a worm bin.

View attachment 4090634
This is composted rabbit bedding that I added basalt, glacial rock dust, oyster shell, and biochar. It composted all summer and this pic really does not do justice to how many worms were in this, they showed up on their own and I didn't have to buy worms. They are already in the ground, but again, I live in a wooded area and it's not hard to find leaves around here.

View attachment 4090632
Here is my worm bin made out of 3'x3' pallets. This is leaves from my yard and this was from the last mow of the season, I let the grass grow tall before I collected the leaves. Next time, I might run it through a wood chipper after the lawn mower... I added the composted rabbit bedding to this before it got cold outside. I was trying to give the worms a thermal compost for the winter. It didn't keep it from freezing, but I really have not added any amendments yet.

Click to expand...

now THAT'S a worm bin!!!!

ShLUbY said:

now THAT'S a worm bin!!!!

Click to expand...

I am thinking about adding lobster/crab, kelp, neem/karanja, and barley tomorrow. The leaves have composted a couple of months since I took these pics, but it has also been very cold and I seen ice chunks in there. The worms were still kicking, even in the ice...

MustangStudFarm said:

I am thinking about adding lobster/crab, kelp, neem/karanja, and barley tomorrow. The leaves have composted a couple of months since I took these pics, but it has also been very cold and I seen ice chunks in there. The worms were still kicking, even in the ice...

Click to expand...

Make up a "fix it" mix of equal amounts of kelp meal, neem meal, and crustacean/crab meal and use that as a base. Other stuff like barley or alfalfa gets added individually. as needed.

Wet

If you mixed this coots style compost/ewc with peat would it be advisable to add some lime/OSF? Or would the basalt and crab be enough?

I'll be trying to make some awesome thermal compost come spring. Rabbit manure high n. Greens will be comfrey, dandelions, nettles and brown leaves as carbon.

Here's a thread from a little while ago, might be helpful
http://rollitup.org/t/do-you-need-to-add-amendments-to-soil-mix-with-already-high-quality-compost.939008/

Never got around to doing what I wanted to do but this year should be more productive.

If you don't want to buy all of the core ingredients indivually (some only come in 50 pound bags and it will last years), you can buy a Clackamas mix directly from build a soil. You just add it to peat and compost and an aeration medium.

It works very well. I'm on my third grow with it and it is great stuff.

dubekoms said:

If you mixed this coots style compost/ewc with peat would it be advisable to add some lime/OSF? Or would the basalt and crab be enough?

I'll be trying to make some awesome thermal compost come spring. Rabbit manure high n. Greens will be comfrey, dandelions, nettles and brown leaves as carbon.

Click to expand...

Yes, you would need to add lime.

Basalt pretty much has zero buffering ability and crab, not so much due to mesh size, it's too coarse to be effective.

I always treat and add my liming agent totally seperate from any other minerals, rock dusts, or amendments. It saves a LOT of confusion in the long run and keeps the pH properly buffered.

Wet

Wetdog said:

Yes, you would need to add lime.

Basalt pretty much has zero buffering ability and crab, not so much due to mesh size, it's too coarse to be effective.

I always treat and add my liming agent totally seperate from any other minerals, rock dusts, or amendments. It saves a LOT of confusion in the long run and keeps the pH properly buffered.

Wet

Click to expand...

second this, add the lime. 1/2-1c of OSF per cuft.