clippings into gold

[Wildwood]

Sometimes I lie awake and imagine what it would be like if I could magically turn all the grass clippings into something valuable, like...say...MONEY!
Perhaps I could invent a machine that compresses them into bricks strong enough to build a wall. Or make grass clipping wine...nah.
Hey! What about selling them by the pound for futon filling?

Alas, all they will ever be good for is creating a pile of stinking festering garbage. Unless???

[mdb landscaping]

unless..... we find a way to make the mower engines run on lawn clippings, like some car i saw on tv. youd be creating free gasoline basically.

[Wildwood]

the more I think about it the more that Grass Clipping Wine idea is beginning to appeal to me. Hey I had some dandelion wine once...can't remember much after that..

[kutnkru]

Try composting your clippings. Turn your piles every third day and throw some basic-plain-old cat litter on them as an accelerator. Once these piles have broken down and decomposed mix them with some topsoil and you have a Black Gold.

You can use it when your planting, you can use it for topdressing seed, but you can use it.

And you thought your idea was some sort of Fairy Tale -LOL.

Just think of it as a soil ammendment or peat moss that you have produced for virtually no expense at all, and reap the rewards of your effort by charging clients for it when you can use it to benefit your services.

Good Luck this season!
Kris

[Currier]

what about repeated composting and tilling and eventually bagging and selling as soil pep/soil enricher?

[lawrence stone]

Originally posted by mdb landscaping
unless..... we find a way to make the mower engines run on lawn clippings, like some car i saw on tv. youd be creating free gasoline basically.

Since decomposing lawn clippings produce methane this is
actually possible.

Many years ago there was a guy in the UK that ran his
Mini on methane from pig feces.

[SummitFarmer]

Kru
You mean by adding kitty litter to your compost pile, it will accelerate the decomposition?? I've never heard of this. Do you know the explaination behind it? Learn something new everyday!!!

[kutnkru]

Yes thats right. They sell activators to aid in the decomposition of the clippings. Organic Gardners are opposed to them, so they use the untreated kitty litters to accomplish the same thing. Its safer for the environment and works just as well. ;)

My moms an organic gardner, so she grabs me by the ear every now and then to set me staright. Mom knows best in my book :)-LOL

Try it it really works. The key is to turn your piles like every 2 and a half days. The internal temperature reaches its hottest temperature then. By continual turning in this fashion it breaks the clippings down better as well. Usually by the third turn, the air has dissapated from the piles and then its strictly decom time!! :)

I have literally seen three stakebody loads of clippings turned into about a yard of clippings in less than three weeks.

Black Gold in my book!
Kris

[dmk395]

Hey Stone ever see the Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome movie where they ran a while city with Methane gas? I mean it was just a movie but I am sure it would be possible.

[Greenkeepers]

I agree w/ Kris... CLippings are compost which can be turned into good soil. You can also add some fertilizer or lime to the pile and make it go to work...

Black Gold... A little differen than the Clampets though!!

[joshua]

Originally posted by Greenkeepers
I agree w/ Kris... CLippings are compost which can be turned into good soil. You can also add some fertilizer or lime to the pile and make it go to work...

Black Gold... A little differen than the Clampets though!!

i dump my clippings a top soil company and the mix it in with soil. great deal for me i don't pay to dump because it makes the soil better.

[kutnkru]

We did that when I worked for the guy whos business I bought. Then they wanted me to continue to exchange services for dumping. That I would not do, so I have been using anoher site ever since.

Good idea though.
Kris