Posted: 11/6/2010 2:08:37 PM EDT
| Im thinking about starting one but i be honest, it may be simple but i dont know how to start one. How is it done? |
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Some good info on that website. I bought this composter from Lowe's. Filled it up two weeks ago and it's processing nicely already. Very little effort on my part. |
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The simple formula is Greens + Browns + Moisture + Air
-Greens are nitrogen based goodies like grass clippings, manure, garden scraps, etc. -Browns are your Carbon based goodies like leaves, straw, sawdust, woodchips....even shredded newspaper or cardboard. -Make sure there is enough moisture for the composting action to take place, not soaked, but moist. -Air: If your pile is compressed, the reaction will starve for air, this is why compost piles are turned. You want to turn the pile, and fluff it up, giving the pile enough air for the reaction to take place. Don't buy any compost activator. If you really want/need to get the reaction started, go into the woods and rake up some of the 1st inch or so of dark matter from the forest floor. It's loaded with the composting enzymes. You will read about ratios of Browns:Greens all over the net. I've seen 30:1 many times. This isn't the gospel. Suffice to say, by volume, you want more Browns than Greens. Ever seen a pile of cut green grass breaking down? It's a soggy slimey mess , you don't want that. Things you don't want to put in your compost pile: Cat or Dog feces, dairy products, Meat scraps. Things that are fine for your compost pile: table scraps containing salads, fruits, vegetables, starches. Cow and horse manure are fine too. Right now is Fall leaf season at my place, and the compost pile is composed of mostly leaves and grass clippings. It was pretty dry a week or two ago, so I spread the pile out "flatter" right before it rained and gave it some overdue moisture. Then heaped it back up, mixing in the moisture. Today while dumping more leaves, i felt the pile, it was "cooking" nice and hot. For an open pile, they say you need about a cubic yard of material to support a good and thorough reaction, which involves maintaining a high temperature for a period of time. BottomLine is: Compost will happen. You can't stop it, it's nature breaking down the matter, just like it does on the forest floor. It's mostly a game of how fast and complete can you get the compost to decay, with aid of some water here, plant matter there, and routine turning. Go to Google, type "Composting" there will be enough reading for a few nights. You can make composting as easy-going, or as labor intensive as you would like. |