Carp For Fertilizer

[mic]

Does anyone use carp or other junk fish as fertilizer? I saw a show out of Michigan where they used carp as fertilizer, but they didn't explain. I was wondering if you had to compost it first or put it straight into the ground. If the later, do you chop it up or put it in whole? I don't eat carp, but I've been wanting to fly fish for them.

Just an FYI...They also said that if you take out the mud line and smoke it, the smoking process takes out the oils that most people don't like. The show host was pretty positive about the taste.

[fishinwrench]

Asian carp are THE BEST fertilizer...... that's what they are here for, take all you can use.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Rainbows do a good job too.

[Stoneroller]

you will want to let it completely sundry, then compost it. you never want to put organic matter that isn't composted on your garden, otherwise it's a garbage pile that you are eating from. Lots of nasty stuff that can end up on food that goes in your mouth. You don't want that, trust me.

Sun dry completely, crush it up (grind it if possible), mix into the compost pile, compost, apply. The heat from the composting kills all the 'germs' (love that term).

[Greasy B]

I don't guess there's any way to hold down the stink while it's composting? Our compost pile is too close to the house, I'd like to make good use of my Bluegill waste.

[Stoneroller]

the faster you dry it out, the less smell there will be. DO NOT try to use your oven. That would be a really bad idea. The more surface area there is, the faster it will dry out, so chop up the leftovers as small as possible and spread them out in the sun. Flies are gonna be crazy for a while but by the end of the day the majority should be mostly dry. 3 days of this kind of sun/weather and you should be good to go.

Set up your drying station downwind. use a piece of screen to improve air flow and dry it faster. once it's dry enough there shouldn't be much odor from your pile. If there is, something might be wrong. You may need more dry matter in your pile. Brown grass clippings or shredded newspaper works well. Too early for leaves or they are also good. Compost shouldn't smell like a rotting garbage pile.

We always dumped 'wet stuff' like kitchen scraps (not eggs, dairy, meat) on top for a day to let it dry, then turn it over the next day. Depends on how you have your compost setup rigged. If you open up your compost pile and it's wet, inside, that's bad. Moist is good, actually seeing liquid is bad. Mix in more dry stuff and turn the pile more frequently. And don't be afraid to toss a shovel of dirt into the pile once in a while. especially if your pile seems to have slowed down even though you put the same amount of stuff on it. Might just need a bacteria boost.

[mic]

Thanks Stoneroller.