Thread: Help required starting a compost heap

Haven't done any real composting for a while, but I usually of two types - one with manure and one without (for carrots and other rooting veges that don't like manure).

A layer of refuse (about 100mm thick)
Sprinkling of Blood & Bone
A layer of refuse
Sprinkling of manure
A layer of refuse
A sprinkling of lime
Rinse & repeat until the bin is full

On the way through I give it a bit of a hosing so that it's like a wrung out sponge for dampness.

Then, and this is the critical part, plunge a crowbar through the cage to let air into the heap. Perhaps 6 holes per face face of the cube.These holes will start steaming in a day or two - that's when you know you done good and there's nothing else you should of done.

Stick you hand in that after two days and you'll get burnt!

When it starts to cool down (10-14 days?), turn it inside out into the next cage. making sure the moisture level is still like a damp sponge (add if necessary), plunge the holes again, and leave for another 10-14 days.

Once it cools right down it should be good to go on the selected garden beds where manure can be tolerated.

I got that recipe from a book and I must say it works like a charm.


Cold compost (without manure) can take something like 10 times as long to break down mainly due to the lack of heat.

Thanks for the info Brett. I'll start prodding the pile today.

Heat and moisture. I love to compost. Its weird! Love it!

Black plastic on top. Moisture if it's dry. I stick Garden Grubs in.... long lengths of electrical conduit with lots and lots of holes drilled into it. Shove them all the way in. I also pour the water down them occasionally. You want that pile HOT. Hotter the better.

I add everything vegitable based from the kitchen, no exceptions. Also to go in are sweepings, leaves, chipped branches from prunings, but not grass or weeds. The grass is left on the lawn using a mulcher-mower. Weeds into the bin (Ive a terrible problem with sticky weed ATM)

Originally Posted by Evanism

Heat and moisture. I love to compost. Its weird! Love it!

Black plastic on top. Moisture if it's dry. I stick Garden Grubs in.... long lengths of electrical conduit with lots and lots of holes drilled into it. Shove them all the way in. I also pour the water down them occasionally. You want that pile HOT. Hotter the better.

I add everything vegitable based from the kitchen, no exceptions. Also to go in are sweepings, leaves, chipped branches from prunings, but not grass or weeds. The grass is left on the lawn using a mulcher-mower. Weeds into the bin (Ive a terrible problem with sticky weed ATM)

Onion and citrus aren't good for the compost bin, or so I've been told. But if it works why not?

Originally Posted by Grumpy John

Onion and citrus aren't good for the compost bin, or so I've been told. But if it works why not?

Oh yes, not those. My bad. No meat or eggshells either.

Originally Posted by Evanism

Oh yes, not those. My bad. No meat or eggshells either.

No garlic either: In fact no aliums. This also goes particularly for worm farms.

Regards
Paul

Grumpy

Your thread coincided with the building of a compost or two of my own. I stuck the compost down the back of the yard, but some of the materials were at the front so I had to barrow them to the compost and put up a plank as it got taller. Bad planning all round.

Compost 001.jpgCompost 002.jpg

Just before Xmas I made up a "compost turner." I have an old Fergie tractor (it really is a useless excuse for a tractor) and I adapted the fork frame to accommodate a set of spikes made from round bar that is pivoted in the middle. It is held level by two loose pins. Either one can be removed and the spikes full of decomposing material can be rotated by hand.

A second person is useful here otherwise you have to keep getting off the tractor.

Compost 003.jpgCompost 005.jpgCompost 006.jpg

Not a perfect solution, but one step up from shoveling. An improvement would be to have a dedicated frame that allowed a higher lift.

Regards
Paul

The compost pile is really cooking now. I sifted 2 1/2 barrow loads from it yesterday. Sifting using the frame I made up is a mugs game, I'm going to make a rotary sifter which will make life much easier.

Day 5_0059.jpg


Day 5_0062.jpg

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

................
Then, and this is the critical part, plunge a crowbar through the cage to let air into the heap. Perhaps 6 holes per face face of the cube.These holes will start steaming in a day or two - that's when you know you done good and there's nothing else you should of done.
................

Just noticed this, you've been following my threads haven't you Brett .

Yesterday I made a compost tumbler out of an old metal 44 Gal drum. Here's a few pics.

The Farm_0100.jpg

The Farm_0101.jpg

The Farm_0102.jpg

The Farm_0103.jpg

I'll be making a dedicated frame for the tumbler. The saw horse setup is just temporary.

Looks good GJ. Crying out for a handle though

Originally Posted by Grumpy John

Just noticed this, you've been following my threads haven't you Brett .

Jeez yer quick- only three weeks to spot it. My window for the biggest aggravation was brief, and has long since passed.

Hi John, here's a thread I did a while back on making hot compost from grass clippings, Hot Compost.

These piles will heat up to 60deg C overnight and remain that way for 4 or so weeks, in the following weeks they cool as the different bacteria do their work and then in about 8 weeks it will have cooled to ambient temp. At this point I could use the course compost as a surface dressing/mulch (and I do) and it will be fine but if I was to leave it another 3 months a better/finer and further decomposed compost will be produced, more like what we call humus which is as good as it gets for broken down mat'ls, nothing of the former ingredients are identifiable, it will be a dark crumbly sweet smelling end product.

Based on the pics of the wire cages it looks like primarily leaves, dry brown leaves will produce leaf mold but it will take 1 to 2 years before you get anything near useful, if it were me I would empty the leaves out of the bin and then shred them, (run over with the mower and catch them in the catcher) mow the lawn/s so you get 6 or 7 barrow loads of clippings, trim any shrubs that need to be trimmed and any that don't, shred all that, easiest on the mower if you keep to branches that are no bigger than about 10mm and green, go over to the neighbors and get their old/new grass clippings,etc etc, basically you want volume of stuff 10 (or more) barrow loads of stuff, green and brown stuff, shredded stuff, at least a cubic meter of stuff, a small pile will heat up but a bigger pile has a better surface to volume ratio, this means it will maintain heat for longer.

You also need correct carbon (C) to nitrogen (N) ratio 25:1 C to N is good, I don't get too hung up about the ratio, the pile will give you clues, your pile of leaves not heating up tells me primarily not enough N but also not wet enough and leaves are too bulky, shredded ingredients gives lots of edges on which the bacteria can work on. I would add at least 4 to 5 barrow loads of lawn clippings, fresh very green clippings will be about 15:1, this will heat up but most likely there will be some loss of N in the form of Ammonia given off and you don't want that, this why the addition of brown stuff, brown stuff can be anywhere from 80:1 to 500:1 depending on what it is, how old it is, sun exposure etc. etc. dry brown leaves about 100:1 maybe less maybe more.

So basically shredded brown and green stuff into one big pile and watered as you go, with dry brown leaves definitely water, a constant fine spray as you make it is good, if the C:N ratio is good and watered the next morning it should be hot, hot is too hot to push your hand into the pile and leave it there, warm to the touch and it will be about 40deg. It needs to get to 60 or so to start killing any weed seeds or pathogens, I have never had to add a starter of any sort, I just bring the parts together, make it on the ground and away it goes at any time of the year, a new hot pile needs to be turned and watered within a day or two and repeated 2 or 3 times more with the same frequency, this turning brings the colder outside parts into the middle, aerates and waters the pile, when I turn my piles I move them next to where they were, I take all the outside off first and this becomes the center of the new pile, the heat generated by the bacteria drives off the water and this needs to be replaced, the bacteria need water to move about and if they can't move the hot composting process stops, they also need air, if the pile becomes too compacted conditions will become anaerobic (without air) and can start to smell bad and composting changes to a slow process.
I use a long handled 4 tyne pitch fork to turn my piles and then a square mouth shovel to clean up and compact the bottom edge of the pile, just trying to keep the pile together as much as possible to maintain heat.
I increase the time between turnings to 4 to 5 days adding water each time, I may be starting to think about whether I need to add water with consequent turnings, if the pile is still hot, whether there is any white fungus evident or if it just looks dry I'll continue to water, if the pile is in the cooling down temp 40 ish and it looks wet and is consistently dark through the pile I might not water but just turn, in general tho I water more than I don't.

In about 6 to 8 weeks the bacteria have done their work (pile will be cool) and it will be the work of fungi and critters to break down the tougher woody parts, you might see white filaments in the pile, these are beneficial and will/can form a partnership with plant roots, you can also run the compost thru a screen to filter out the woody parts and put them into the next pile.

This method of composting is just one of many methods and for further info on this method google Berkeley hot compost for more reading.




Pete

Just had another look at the pics, the barrow of sifted stuff is about the size of stuff you want to be starting with and what you have there in the barrow is far from a completed compost, good to use as a surface mulch tho.



Pete

Thanks for the detailed info Pete. You're right, there's a lot of leaf litter in there. My wife raises meat rabbits and guinea pigs for dog food and we have several cages with wire mesh bottoms that get moved around the property and as such I really don't need to mow. The main ingredients in my compost are horse manure, rabbit poop, guinea pig poop, dirt from the bottom of the chook pen and the rakings from under the trees. I will in future put the leaves through the leaf blower/vac to shred them before putting them in the compost. Looks like I'll have to get the ride on out occasionally, it doesn't have a catcher so I'll get some exercise raking up the clippings.