i know it needs to be somewhere in the sun, ideally out of the way. i have, however read differing views on certain subject. i was reading somewhere that a stack of tires with a loose fitted lid can work for compost, but read something that left me with questions about using such. (we have some old tires hanging out here.) i want to place probably two compost piles on our property (esp as leaves are staring to fall)... give me your feedback on compost and composting.... hints, help, etc...
Get rid of those old tires, This fall i'm using chicken fence that i bought at the local agway. it's 4 foot tall and i stapled tomato stakes to it. drive the stakes into the ground to form a circle. the fencing keeps oxygen flowing into the decaying leaves. in a month or so pull the fence up and put it next to the pile .Areate the stuff by adding it back into the circle. Moving tires around just seems like too much work.
I'm not sure how easy the whole tire idea would be, esp when you get to mixing and emptying your composter. Your best bet is to go buy one... they're usually inexpensive, and they're easier to work with. The chicken wire thing is a good idea too, make sure you leave some kind of a doorway at the bottom for emptying. Although, if you want something a bit more covered up, surround it with a black garbage back (to increase heat in it too!) or use a storebought one. As far as your fallen leaves thing - grass clippings and leaves take FOREVER to break down because you're putting in so much compost at a time. I would suggest that you just mulch all of these and leave it on the ground so it has the winter to decompose. (It's an awesome free fertilizer too, your garden will be much greener in the spring, and naturally!) Leave your composter to fill with kitchen scraps. If you have too many leaves though, leave at least half (pref at least 3/4) on the ground and the rest in the compost. Remember to mix often. Halloween is also coming up. A tip that really works for me: I usually carve a couple pumpkins each year, and on Nov. 1st I put all the empty shells directly in the garden and empty my compost in and around them. Come spring they've fully decomposed, and this also empties my compost really well before then. Because my husband and I compost so much, we also find that our compost fills too quickly in the winter, so we've started separating our compost by putting coffee and tea grinds directly in to the garden during the winter (oct-april) and everything else in the composter. This creates an awesome layer of soil, and our plants do really well every year! Hope that helps....
I agree about the tires: don't use them. But I also recommend noy buying a recycling bin either. I just have a pile in the back. It's not the most aesthetically pleasing, but it's probably the best way to compost. I think that those chickenwire things slow down composting because it airs out the organic matter and keeps it dry. A pile is basically sealed and retains moisture, which is essential for composting. One thing that I found useful is to put sticks into the compost pile. I was advised not to do this because it takes them years to breakdown, which is true, but one year I got lazy and just threw them on. A short while later I went to turn over the pile and found that it was basically all composted already: the sticks had created air pockets for all the worms and bugs to move around in. It was the fastest that I've ever got compost, so now I always throw in sticks, regardless of what people say about not doing so. It only takes a minute or two to sort them out when I finally use the compost.
Sticks ??????? HMmmm ..... food for thought - pardon the pun. Very interesting, I'm going to give it a try, thanks. Peace, poor_old_dad
Here's a good link: http://www.kitchenwitch.com/compost.html In point #7 he talks about layering the bottom of the pile with sticks and twigs, but I also throw them in as the pile grows. Depending on how small you cut the sticks, it can be kind of a pain when you have to turn the pile or want to use some of the compost.
Yea, that is a good link. Here are some links about the way I do my compost. http://www.hipforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=486951&postcount=2 http://www.hipforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=490334&postcount=6 http://www.hipforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=538044&postcount=13 I make a lot of compost, been making it for a long time, but I'm always on the look out for ways to improve my system. My biggest problem right now is "sifting". I try to produce 540 cubic feet of compost per year, about 90 cubic feet every other month and that's a lot of sifting. My current sifter is a heavy duty plastic tote commonly used locally for delivering groceries to convenience stores. The bottom of the tote is a lattice with holes about 1/2 inch square. The tote fits into a rectangular wooden frame. The frame is suspended on springs between four posts. Attached to the frame is a lawnmower connecting rod, which is connected to a crankshaft. On one end of the crankshaft is a pulley. A old fan belt connects that pulley to another pulley, which is mounted on a variable speed electric motor. The un-sifted compost goes into the tote. As electric motor turns, the crankshaft turns, the connecting rod moves back & forth and that shakes the frame with the tote in it. I slowly add compost into the top of the tote and the sifted compost falls out the bottom, with the large pieces left in the tote. As needed I turn off the motor, remove the tote and empty the large pieces. A total Rube Goldberg device if ever there was one. It gets the job done, but there's a lot of room for improvement. Anybody have a better "sifter"? Peace, poor_old_dad
I'm not producing compost on such an industrial level, but the tip I picked up from my market gardening grandad was to break up the layers with scrunched up newspapers. This aids air circulation - probably in the same way that leaving the sticks in does. One slight thought - I tend to go overboard on picking the leaves up - I'll even burn them and use them as an ash mulch against slugs and snails if the quantities are too big. I've always viewed them as a harbouring place for next years pests and diseases, and so look to give the garden a fresh start. This year, I and many others in the communal allotments lost our outdoor tomatoes to a grey mould infection just as the fruits were ripening. The plants collapsed virtually overnight and the leaves shrivelled up. I burned everything I could find, but would hate to go through the same thing next year because the spores were on dead leaves. In the wild, if this happened, the tomatoes would simply not come back next year or ever again and so leaving the leaves to rot down would be fine. But I'm interfering with that by wanting to plant the same fruit again next year at least somewhere on our plot. Now what I would like to know is - has anyone had any success with a wormery? They are supposed to be brilliant with leaves and grass cuttings.
Okay, I didn't know you were working on this scale. My stick inclusive method would obviously be a nuissance to your system.
I'm not sure if this is right, but I heard that newspapers are alright so long as there's no colour images on them; the black ink being soya-based. Still, I haven't used newspaper in my compost since it gets recycled anyways. I've grown tomatoes for a number of years but am still a little foggy on diseases. For a couple of years I grew them at a community garden; the first year everything was fine, but the next year I was switched to a different plot and used it for two years--and both years I had serious problems with the tomatoes. There's obviously something in the soil, but aside from using chemicals, I don't think there's anything that can be done about it in the short term.
Apologies - should have been more explicit - yes only the black print. As for re-cycling, well this is just re-cycling in a different way. Once the European Union introduced quota for re-cycling out of landfill, the market virtually collapsed here in the UK - local councils were left with mountains of paper they couldn't even re-cover the cost of collection on, so it seemed pointless to add to it. Funnily enough, the good old Norfolk Boy who was the previous tenant was a print worker and he dug in tons of newsprint over the years that he got for free. Even though the plot lay fallow for a couple of years, the soil is still in a very rich condition and didn't need any additional nutrients in the first year. The tomato's were due to heavy rain-storms just as the fruit was ripening in very humid conditions - it affected a lot of the East of England.
I think I will try adding newspapers, although it's a little too late this year as winter has basically arrived in these part. As for the tomatos; I don't think that the mold is something that will stay in the soil and cause problems next year if it was just the result of excessive moisture.
No, really, not a nuissance at all. I do need, and therefore make, a lot of compost. That's why I'm always looking better ways and methods. As far as I know, the main reason piles are turned to keep the pile aerated. Anything that improves or prolongs the aeration is bound to help. That's one of the reasons I built a shed for composting. The roof keeps most of the rain off the piles. The rain not only causes leaching but also compacting. The compacting causes the problems that turning (and / or the sticks) help prevent. Sure, on one hand, the sticks would be in the way. On the other hand they would improve the composting efficiency. One of the cornorstones of my philosophy on life, is that almost every thing is a trade-off. This sounds like there is enough of a chance for improvement that it's worth a try. Because even though I make a lot, I need more and have the raw materials for more. If I can't increase the output, I'll have to expand the current set-up's size. And besides, like most gardeners I know, I love to experiment. Here are a few of my favorite tomato sites: http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/HGIC2218.htm http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/Coop...ts/tompests.htm http://www.northerngardening.com/tomatoes.htm http://ipm.ncsu.edu/AG295/html/tomato_key.htm A couple of bigger, more general and REALLY good ones are: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/sele...t.tomatoes.html http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/tomato.html Peace, poor_old_dad
