SF, DLM is IMO the way to go. I use natural bedding materials (Not purchased) in my coop. I use the same materials in the run. When I clean out the excess from under the roosts, I simply push it out the clean out door into the run. The girls work the litter in both coop and run. It starts the compost process in coop, and finishes the process in the run.
If using COMPOST in the garden, it should be broken down to the point that you no longer recognize the original materials. It should be dark, moist and crumbly and have a nice fragrant aroma, like a fist full of black humus from a forest floor. Compost can be tilled into the soil. That is, if you still engage in tilling! Unless I'm breaking new ground that is concrete hard, I no longer till!
HOWEVER, there are as many ways to "get the job done" and garden as there are gardeners! Raw sawdust, wood chips and shavings CAN be used ON TOP of the soil in the garden with little impact in terms of robbing nitrogen. It's when these materials get mixed into the soil that nitrogen robbing becomes an issue. Case in point was a video by a gardener who was raising fantastic sweet potatoes in a raised bed that was made up of SAWDUST! I'd have to go find that video to get the details. But that simply shows that there's more than one way to garden!!! I am in the process of converting my entire garden to a Back To Eden garden.
I put in a BTE orchard several years ago. My Dad spent a number of years as a crops fieldman for Agway. He visited all of the orchardists in his district and helped them with their pest management and nutrient programs. He will be 93 years old this summer. He took a look at my orchard last summer, and was truly impressed with the health and new growth on my fruit trees. All this accomplished on nasty heavy clay, rock/boulder studded, too moist sub soil that should not support the growth of a fruit tree.
The BTE approach involves heavily mulching the ground with wood chips, the very materials that have a reputation of robbing the soil of nitrogen.
If you want more information on the BTE approach, check out this video:
https://www.backtoedenfilm.com/
If using COMPOST in the garden, it should be broken down to the point that you no longer recognize the original materials. It should be dark, moist and crumbly and have a nice fragrant aroma, like a fist full of black humus from a forest floor. Compost can be tilled into the soil. That is, if you still engage in tilling! Unless I'm breaking new ground that is concrete hard, I no longer till!
HOWEVER, there are as many ways to "get the job done" and garden as there are gardeners! Raw sawdust, wood chips and shavings CAN be used ON TOP of the soil in the garden with little impact in terms of robbing nitrogen. It's when these materials get mixed into the soil that nitrogen robbing becomes an issue. Case in point was a video by a gardener who was raising fantastic sweet potatoes in a raised bed that was made up of SAWDUST! I'd have to go find that video to get the details. But that simply shows that there's more than one way to garden!!! I am in the process of converting my entire garden to a Back To Eden garden.
I put in a BTE orchard several years ago. My Dad spent a number of years as a crops fieldman for Agway. He visited all of the orchardists in his district and helped them with their pest management and nutrient programs. He will be 93 years old this summer. He took a look at my orchard last summer, and was truly impressed with the health and new growth on my fruit trees. All this accomplished on nasty heavy clay, rock/boulder studded, too moist sub soil that should not support the growth of a fruit tree.
The BTE approach involves heavily mulching the ground with wood chips, the very materials that have a reputation of robbing the soil of nitrogen.
If you want more information on the BTE approach, check out this video:
https://www.backtoedenfilm.com/
