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Posted By: ND farm girl chopping corn stalks - October 19th, 2006 at 07:26 AM
I have the boring job of mowing corn stalks after they are combined. I was thinking - raking up a few bags of these to layer with my kitchen scraps all winter would probably be a good thing? My husband said they should be full of fertilizer and good things. ??
Posted By: LandOfOz Re: chopping corn stalks - October 19th, 2006 at 09:24 PM
I have heard that anything corn (ears, stalks, etc) takes a long time to break down. (In fact, if it weren't for native americans that dried, boiled, and baked corn they would've never had enough protien in their diet to sustain a smaller-sized population. You have to dry, boil, and bake the corn to get the protiens broken into a digestable form!) The smaller pieces you use, the faster they will decomp for you. I am actually trying out the corn stalks in my own garden and they've been in there for about 2 months and look exactly the same however, I didn't chop them. In short, I'd use some, definately, and it would probably make a real good mulch for next year if not composting it. Good luck and keep us posted!!
Posted By: datazmom Re: chopping corn stalks - March 6th, 2007 at 12:47 AM
I agree if composting them , chop them . If you dont want to chop them use them for mulch . I tried them and did not chop them and they took forever to break down .
Posted By: Amigatec Re: chopping corn stalks - March 6th, 2007 at 01:20 AM
I was reading in my tiller book about using the tiller to compost them. till along beside them, and then turn around and place the tiller where the axle pushes the stock down so the tines can chew them up.

This was in the Troy Bilt tiller manual. Last year I just mowed them down, but this year I plan to use the tiller in them. So far i haven't found any trace of the stocks in the garden, but I did till it a few times this winter, just to keep the weeds stirred up.
Posted By: weezie13 Re: chopping corn stalks - March 6th, 2007 at 03:29 PM
I use them in the Fall time when I am starting my new bins...
I lay them on the ground and then start throwing in some of the old compost from emptying the old bin.. then throw in the ncw things for the compost and chop up the remaining stalks and spread them out in layers between the new stuff in..

They are hollow in the middle and add air to the mixture.. and break down slowly..

They keep air to the bottom of the pile for me, which is hard to keep air down there when you can't get all the way to the bottom to turn...

And they will last a few times in different bins, and what makes that good is it's innoculated with the old compost stuff and helps kick start the new bins when I'm just starting them...
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