The Composting Garden Blog

How to use compost

2010-02-24T17:29:00.000-08:00

How to use compost: "There are many ways in which one can use compost effectively.

One can imagine the benefits that can be accrued from the use of this marvelous soil conditioner, yet one must keep in mind that compost in and of itself is often not very high in the nutrients that plants use and need. So, be aware that depending upon local soil conditions there may still be a need for supplemental feeding.

Compost as a measure of weight is not high in the essential nutrients (N-P-K and Ca). This is why many people doubt it's efficacy as a plant food source and soil conditioner. Yet it is the humus' soil developmental capability that is the most beneficial aspect of it's use. Besides the small amount of nutrients available in compost there are the humic acids which delve through the soil acting upon soil particles in such a way so as to free the nutrients naturally present in the soil."

compost pile@Everything2.com

2010-01-16T15:42:00.000-08:00

compost pile@Everything2.com: "A compost heap is a wonderful thing, converting organic rubbish into dark, moist, humus-filled garden fertiliser. Every serious gardener needs a compost heap and even the not-so-serious can enjoy watching the wonderful process of turning household rubbish into sacks of moist, black, fragrant compost.

Fragrant? Have you ever smelled a woodland waking up after a night's sleep? The smell of damp earth after rain; the smell of bluebells growing and butterflies feeding? That's what good compost smells like.

I think it is awesome, seeing a cold compost heap converting all kinds of blackened vegetables, slimy cucumbers and cold tea leaves into this rich, nutrient-filled fibre. It takes a few months, but set the heap up right and you can leave it alone, quietly performing one of nature's greatest miracles in a dark corner of your yard. A season or two later, the heap is crumbly, moist compost, filled with worms and centipedes; bacteria and fibre. Just right to feed a new generation of plants, helping them grow strong in the new year's sunshine.

You don't need a huge heap, nor do you need to keep it topped up with barrow-loads of vegetable matter. That's a hot compost heap, and those are only for the professionals, or near-professionals. A hot compost heap needs looking after; it needs feeding, changing and checking every few days. Hot heaps are wonderful because they do the job quickly, in weeks rather than months, and the heat kills seeds and disease-causing bacteria, making it safer to use on the garden.

A cold compost just sits quietly in the corner, minding its own business, feeding its host of industrious residents and slowly converting rotting cabbage and broken roses into a gardener's black gold. It generates a bit of warmth, but not much. Just enough to give the worms a peaceful home, slightly warmer than the cold winter air."

compost pile@Everything2.com

2010-01-16T15:08:00.000-08:00

compost pile@Everything2.com: "Start your compost pile in the fall. Collect all the leaves that fall, and pile them up. As you add the leaves, have the garden hose on the pile at full-throttle. Soaking the leaves is a critical part of the process. If the leaves are too dry, they won't decompose. You can't get them too wet.

If you're trying to start a new pile from scratch, you'll need to add some sugar. Don't waste your time with home center composting kits. Plain old sugar (about a 5# bag for about 7 trees' worth of leaves) will start a pile very effectively. Just spread it over the pile when you're done piling them up, and water liberally. The sugar will ooze into the pile and the bacteria will find it particularly appealing. If you have a pile already active from the last year, by all means spread some of the digested material into the fresh leaves. That will work better than sugar at starting the pile.

Work the pile as it starts to heat up over the first month. This working keeps the aerobic bacterial activity high. You don't want your pile to go anaerobic on you. The decomposition is slower, as not as much heat is generated, and it stinks! Working the pile will keep oxygen going into the center. Just stab it with a pitchfork and wiggle it around a bit, at least once a week. Do this throughout the pile.

Add any vegetable rubbish from your kitchen, such as used coffee grounds and peels. Not only will you be creating rich organic fertilizer from garbage, you'll find that you generate much less garbage for the curb. DO NOT add eggshells or other animal waste. They will attract vermin, and that will make your neighbors very unhappy.

It takes about a year for the material to be sufficiently decomposed for application to gardens. I don't advise using compost for indoor plants. Make a compost tea for that purpose.

If you like to fish, the compost pile is your friend. Worms by the thousands will discover your pile by mid-spring."

Eureka!...I mean, you reek ah!...er, I mean, Urea! | spiceoflife's Blog | Gardening Community

2010-01-16T14:21:00.000-08:00

Eureka!...I mean, you reek ah!...er, I mean, Urea! | spiceoflife's Blog | Gardening Community: "This was when the Agway employee asked me if I needed any help. They're like that there. (No, I don't work for Agway, smarta$$!) I told him my dilemma - I need a nitrogen source and I don't want to spend a lot of money. Voila! He shows me Urea. It's made by Espoma, it's organic, it's 45% nitrogen, and it's only $10.00 for a 5 pound bag. Sold!

With a few thank yous exchanged I take my compost supercharger back home and dutifully build my yard-waste lasagna by layers - brown leaves, water, sprinkle a handful or two of urea, a couple shovel-fulls of almost-finished compost. Repeated 5-10 times. Pop the cover on it and bake in the sun for 24 hours. Yummo!

I get satisfaction out of doing things well, and this includes making a good compost pile. Today, I get out of work and dash home to check on it. I grab my turning fork and start turning it over. And yep, I can feel that heat starting already! But then, I notice the smell. It's unpleasant, but not overwhelming. And there is the definite twang of ammonia. Darn it, I put in too much urea! The wee little beasties have too much nitrogen and can't metabolize it all and are just releasing it as ammonia. The ammonia smell was weak, and I didn't see any of the urea pellets in the pile, so I'm hoping that this is as bad it will get. I'm going to need to turn it every day or two until the smell goes away."

Urine for compost Grow Your Own - Growing, How To Grow Tomatoes Growing Fruit & Veg - Recipe Advice, Organic food Gardening, Chickens, Seeds for Sale

2009-11-28T15:25:00.000-08:00

Urine for compost Grow Your Own - Growing, How To Grow Tomatoes Growing Fruit & Veg - Recipe Advice, Organic food Gardening, Chickens, Seeds for Sale: "Pet poo helps too, especially from veggie pets such as rabbits, guinea pigs and birds! I wouldn't use cat or dog poo - it stinks and can contain all sorts of nasties, such as toxicara. Putting wee on the compost is obviously much easier for the male members of the Vine as they can do it direct (as long as no-one is looking). I use a bucket inside my shed and empty that onto the compost heap before I leave the lottie."

Urine for compost Grow Your Own - Growing, How To Grow Tomatoes Growing Fruit & Veg - Recipe Advice, Organic food Gardening, Chickens, Seeds for Sale

2009-11-28T15:23:00.000-08:00

Urine for compost Grow Your Own - Growing, How To Grow Tomatoes Growing Fruit & Veg - Recipe Advice, Organic food Gardening, Chickens, Seeds for Sale: "Think I've mentioned this before, buy one of my friends gets her little boy (infant school age) to wee into a plastic bottle and pour it on the compost heap. He thinks it's totally normal but it confused his teacher when he tried doing it in a pop bottle at school - she was called in to discuss his development."

Print Page - household ammonia to speed up the compost pile?

2009-11-28T14:48:00.000-08:00

Print Page - household ammonia to speed up the compost pile?: "There is no reason that you couldn't use ammonia, except that the concentration is too high. Ammonia is only harmful to microbes/earthworms/plants above a certain concentration. This not because ammonia is 'toxic' but because it causes a change in turgor pressure, which is osmotic pressure(water pressure) inside the cell. Water, like everything else, diffuses from an area of high concentration to low concentration. Solutions with a high concentration of ammonia have a low concentration of water. Because the concentration of water is now higher inside the cell, water flows out of the cell and it becomes dehydrated. Water will literally out of roots into the soil.

That being said, the solution is dilution. If you dilute ammonia enough(10:1) it can be safely added to compost. Household ammonia is all biodegradable. You should still use your urine, but I think this is a good idea. The ideal carbon/nitrogen ratio is 13:1, while leaves and tree waste are typically 200:1. It is unlikely you could ever get a pile of leaves to an ideal ratio by simply peeing on it. If you add ammonia that is diluted enough so it doesn't kill the microbes, over time they will absorb it,and then reproduce. This will result in the nitrogen being converted by microbes into an organic form that be available in the soil over a longer period of time."

Simple Composting How-To

2009-11-28T14:37:00.000-08:00

Simple Composting How-To: "You need to toss on a shovel full of dirt every now and again to supply the bacteria needed to break down the compost, and you need to keep it moist (about the consistency of a wrung out sponge, not sopping wet). It will break down faster if you go out there with a fork every now and again and turn it over. If your pile ends up being mostly carbon (usually in the fall, when all you have are dead leaves), fill your hose end sprayer to the top with plain old household ammonia and spray it every time you add a layer of leaves to the pile (ammonia supplies a lot of nitrogen).

It's also nice, but not absolutely necessary, to shred everything before adding to the pile (run your lawnmower over it) because smaller pieces break down faster. And if you live in a cold winter area and your leaves aren't completely composted by spring, use them as mulch around your plants and dig them in later.
Cindy in Newbury, OH"

Guide to Composting | Tips & Techniques

2009-10-11T14:28:00.000-07:00

Guide to Composting | Tips & Techniques: "How to Make Compost

Start with a layer of chopped leaves, grass clippings and kitchen waste like banana peels, eggshells, old lettuce leaves, apple cores, coffee grounds, and whatever else is available. Keep adding materials until you have a six-inch layer, then cover it with three to six inches of soil, manure, or finished compost.

Alternate layers of organic matter and layers of soil or manure until the pile is about three feet tall. A pile that is three feet tall by three feet square will generate enough heat during decomposition to sterilize the compost. This makes it useful as a potting soil, topdressing for lawns, or soil-improving additive.

Your compost pile may benefit from a compost activator. Activators get the pile working, and speed the process. Alfalfa meal, barnyard manure, bonemeal, cottonseed meal, blood meal, and good rich compost from a finished pile are all good activators. Each time you add a layer to your pile, sprinkle on some activator and water well."

Derby Friends of the Earth - Derby Incinerator: D.I.Y - Don't Gasify - COMPOST!!

2009-10-11T14:04:00.000-07:00

Derby Friends of the Earth - Derby Incinerator: D.I.Y - Don't Gasify - COMPOST!!: "We’ve found that a layer of soil over the veg waste, plus bio-digester, acts in quickening the compost process. The size of our lettuces, garlic, peppers, etc are proof. Anything can go in – grass cuttings, shredded paper, hair, bits of your gone-off salad, – as long as the mix is roughly equal. It’s a matter of trial and error.

For more info and a detailed method – ‘Handbook on Composting and the Bio-Dynamic Preparations – George Corrin – (this is a little bit witchy and has some high-faluting terms in it, but good practical advice) via the Bio-Dynamic Agricultural Association, Rudolf Steiner House, 35c Park Rd, London NW1 6XT. Tel 01453 759 501. Also the Henry Doubleday Research association, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Coventry, West Midlands or visit your local library."

Should compost bins be open to the air or closed to seal in heat? - Yahoo! Answers

2009-10-09T17:02:00.000-07:00

Should compost bins be open to the air or closed to seal in heat? - Yahoo! Answers: "Should compost bins be open to the air or closed to seal in heat?
Some people say you have to let the air get in and others say you have to close it up in order for the heat to build up which hastens decomposition. Who is right?
Also looking for ideas on
*how to do a home made compost bin.
*Steps in creating good compost.
*how to attract worms
*can I use chopped up twigs
*should I mix soil in with the compost to hasten decomposition."

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
great info here...

http://www.compostguide.com/

you can make this easy or more complicated.... a pile in the back corner is easy.... a tub, 'machine' , or other container is not as easy.... the whole deal is to do it!!....

there's piles that are turned a couple times a week... some daily in barrels... some never get turned at all... some are done with everything under the sun, some with only leaves and grass.... and yes, soil is a good kickerupper!... the worms will find YOU.....

the magic recipe is greens plus browns plus water plus air.... that makes it cook!...

read the site and you'll be ready to do it!!!....

Compost?????????????????? - Yahoo! Answers

2009-10-09T16:58:00.000-07:00

Question

what can you put in a compost?
Also can you put grease in a compost?

Compost?????????????????? - Yahoo! Answers: "In theory you can put in anything that once lived. But, unless you have a very tight vermin proof bin, there's certain things you should avoid. According to a book i have called 'Compost' by Kenneth Thompson, you shouldn't put dairy products, fish and meat, oil and fats. If you're putting in garden waste, avoid anything that might have fungal diseases and virus. I recommend the book i mentioned above, it is a very no nonsense, practical guide to composting, especially in a small home situation."

Composting Livestock Manure

2009-10-09T16:54:00.000-07:00

Composting Livestock Manure: "MAKING AND MAINTAINING A COMPOST PILE

ABOUT THESE GUIDELINES

These guidelines apply generally to any composting effort, but are specifically adapted here to assist owners of horses in the management of horse manure/bedding material waste. Horse owners are fortunate in that horse manure is an ideal composting material. Horse manure has a C:N ratio that is almost perfectly balanced to the needs of the micro-organisms which perform composting action.

If you maintain the structure and moisture level of the compost pile in accordance with the guidelines given below, three things will be accomplished:

1. naturally occurring chemical compounds in the manure will be rapidly stabilized and this will reduce the potential for them to escape into the environment with an adverse impact;
2. the manure and bedding material will produce a rich soil amendment; and,
3. the volume of the material will be reduced to about 1/3rd of its original mass.

An efficient compost process will stabilize the breakdown and loss of valuable nutrients in the manure. The stabilized nutrients can then be made available for future plant growth. Fresh manure tends to lose its' valuable nutrients into the air and water when the C:N ratio is out of balance or when the pile is exposed to uncontrolled amounts of rain water. Leaching nitrogen compounds can have a negative impact on nearby bodies of water and produce nuisance odors. Sound waste management is 'Waste Reduction' at its best.

The information provided here is adapted from guidelines developed by the Northeast Regional Agricultural Engineering Service Cooperative Extension. This adaptation is a cooperative effort of Klickitat County Solid Waste and the Washington State Department of Ecology."

Can I compost without direct sunlight? - Yahoo! Answers

2009-02-05T16:00:00.000-08:00

Can I compost without direct sunlight? - Yahoo! Answers: "Can I compost without direct sunlight?
My back yard has little to no direct sunlight due to the otherwise beautiful oak trees. I'd like to start a compost pile, but don't know if it's worth it without any direct sun to heat the pile. Any ideas or comments are appreciated!"

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
It really depends what you're composting as to how you should construct your compost heap or bin.

Kitchen waste is best in a wormbin which will be no bigger than a average dustbin.

The heat, you are referring to does not come from sun it is caused by bacteria and insects in the heap, the better the conditions ie good mixture of green materials high in nitrogen and High carbon materials such as leaves , woodchips.
The more it will heat up. If it starts to smell bad it is probably too much green materials.

As mentioned above a sheltered shady place will be ok. its stopping it from drying out or getting too wet The main priority.
Source(s):
I speak from experience I have my own allotment and run my own business , doing garden maintenance. And spent three years at a horticultural college

How to make compost on a bigger scale? - Yahoo! Answers

2009-02-05T15:57:00.000-08:00

How to make compost on a bigger scale? - Yahoo! Answers: "How to make compost on a bigger scale?
i want to make compost as a bussines"

I agree with some of the mentioned above.

You would need to have permission from the local council , and possibly a licence to deal with waste. Not certain on the details.

This is something I thought of doing myself.

But my way would be , as part of a bigger company.

Like one charging companies to bring you the green waste. And processing it the machinery to do this is very expensive.

green waste. Woodchips from tree surgeons plus logs for processing for firewood.

Grass clippings , hedge cuttings from garden maintenance companies.

Waste manure from feedstock.

Soil from skip yards/ landscapers

just about anything You can process or compost.

As mentioned above , use the compost finished product to grow vegetables possibly even have some chickens , ducks.

It all depends how big you want to go.

It's definitely something we need more of to stop green waste going into landfills.

You could even grow worms and mushrooms as a byproduct to sell.

Possibly use a mixture of very well rotted compost and top soil to grow turf to sell.

But prepared for a lot of negativity , especially if the site , is near homes.

Passive Composting of Manure - eXtension

2009-02-01T13:57:00.000-08:00

Passive Composting of Manure - eXtension: "Passive composting is probably the most common method used today because it involves simply stacking feedstocks and leaving them to compost over a long period of time. Very little, if any activity is performed on the pile once it has been constructed. Initial composting parameters can be controlled but are not usually maintained during the entire process. This process relies on mother nature to draw cool air and oxygen into the pile as the warm air is released. This process is commonly referred to as the chimney effect."

Passive Composting

2009-02-01T13:55:00.000-08:00

Passive Composting: "Making Compost With Passive Approach
Making compost using the passive method is very simple. Anything that is organic from the kitchen or the yard is fair game. We are talking about weeds pulled from the garden, grass clippings if you don’t leave them on the lawn, leaves falling in autumn, and kitchen garbage (no meat products). The exception might be unshredded sticks and branches which take years to decompose and make working with the material in the pile very difficult. Although many books and articles describe precise formulas and ratios of materials for a compost pile, they are unnecessarily complicated. All that is really necessary is a supply of organic yard waste and a place to deposit it. Use a bin or a wire cage, or just dump the material in an open pile."

Vermiculture Growing

2009-01-27T16:24:00.000-08:00

Vermiculture Growing: "Vermicomposting: using red wiggler worms (E. foetida) to decompose plant wastes into castings.

Why Use Vermiculture?

Worms are good for the garden soil for many reasons. Unparalleled as soil excavators, earthworms spend their lives ingesting, grinding, digesting and excreting soil--as much as 15 tons per acre goes through earthworms bodies in a year. These 'worm castings' are richer in nutrients and bacteria than the surrounding soil. Their underground burrows also create channels in the soils, which makes the soil more porous, allowing water to move to greater depths in the soil column. Worm burrows also allows for drainage after heavy rains reducing erosion.

Worms also help plants grow better. Plant roots require oxygen and worm burrows provide passages for air to get next to the roots deep within the ground. This is called aeration, analogous to what homeowners often do to turf lawn with heavy machinery. It should be noted that these deep tunneling worms also bring subsoil closer to the surface, mixing it with topsoil that has more organic matter.

Slime, a secretion of earthworms, contains nitrogen, which is an important plant food. The sticky slime helps to hold clusters of soil particles together in formations called 'aggregates.' Soil aggregates (clumps) lying next to each other permit air to move between the spaces."

Worm Bed Garden

2009-01-27T16:20:00.000-08:00

Worm Bed Garden: "As much as I am a die-hard worm composting fanatic, I have always considered it as one “piece of the puzzle” in terms of creating sustainable systems - and oh, what an amazing little piece of the puzzle it IS!
:-)

I remember coming across a fascinating video online a number of years ago. Unfortunately I was never able to track it down again after that. It featured a ‘living machine’ system, containing a series of stages that all fed (literally) off one another - the waste of one stage essentially became the ‘food’ for another. It set up by Dr John Todd, a personal hero of mine who has been involved in this type of work for many years (he was one of the founding members of the New Alchemists back in the early ’70s)"

Farm Compost

2009-01-03T14:08:00.000-08:00

Farm Compost: "It may seem ironic that the very animals you may produce your worms for would also be the predators you have to protect your worm farm from. If you just give the worms away to the predators, there isn't much point in trying to raise them for profit by selling them to the people or businesses that use them to feed the very same types of predators!

You must keep other things from harming your worm farm, of course. One of those things is the medication residue that is left in the manure you may get from livestock farms to feed your worms. Allowing children unsupervised access to your worm farm could be hazardous for your worms."

Worm Composting

2008-12-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

Worm Composting: "How does worm composting differ from traditional composting?

Like traditional composting methods, worm composting (sometimes called vermiculture) is a way of recycling food and other organic material into a dark, earthy material called compost that can be used to enrich the soil. The largest advantage of worm composting is that it can be done both indoors and outdoors, affording apartment dwellers and others the opportunity participate in a valuable recycling effort.
How do I go about setting up a vermiculture system?

There are three main concerns when starting a vermiculture system - the container, the bedding, and the worms."

Tips To Really Get Your Compost Heap Cooking - Gardening Articles

2008-12-28T15:02:00.000-08:00

Tips To Really Get Your Compost Heap Cooking - Gardening Articles: "
1. Turn your heap over, exposing it to air, watering if dry.
2. If your heap dries out it will stop breaking down. Water the heap every few days in summer if conditions are hot and dry.
3. Add ingredients that are as small as possible. Use a shredder, mulcher or lawn mower to chop up larger ingredients such as prunings and larger leaves.
4. To speed up the composting process add lots of nitrogen-rich ingredients such as clover, manure laden straws, herbal activators (see below), washed sea-weed or fishmeal.

Herbal Compost Activators - some herbs are well known as particularly impressive compost activators. Add them to your heap to speed up your results.

Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) is rich in calcium, nitrogen, phosphates and potassium. It has large hairy leaves that break down very quickly.

Dandelion (Taraxacum sp) also accelerates the breaking down of materials in the heap. It is rich in copper, potash and iron, all valuable goodies in your compost.

Valerian (Valeriana officinalis) has a reputation for attracting earthworms to the compost heap. It's leaves are also rich in minerals.

Yarrow (Achillea sp) can have the most dramatic effect in your heap, even in small amounts. It will enrich your compost with nitrates, potash, phosphares and copper, so is a very valuable addition.

Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) has the ability to concentrate potassium from the soil where it grows. Adding Tansy to your compost means adding potassium.

If you have the room, it's best to have two or more compost piles on the go. One that you are preparing by gathering materials, one that is semi-matured and one that has already turned into that gorgeous, black, earthy plant tonic - ready to use.
One more tip is to make sure air can get to the middle of your heap, especially if you don't plan to turn it often. Place garden stakes or pvc pipes through the middle of your heap so that you can 'jiggle' them every few weeks allowing air to the centre.
Try some of these tips and I'm sure you will speed things up for your compost heap and you will be topdressing your veggies with your own compost in no time. "

How to speed up your compost heap.

2008-12-28T13:05:00.000-08:00

How to speed up your compost heap.: "Compost piles must hold a minimum of organic material before they will maintain rapid decomposition.
So the pile should be at least 3-feet-by-3-feet and 4-feet tall. Naturally piles can be larger.
Moving leaves to the pile, then chopping them up with a lawn mower or leaf shredder before they go on the pile aids composting considerably, as small particles decompose faster than large ones.

There are other things we can do to accelerate composting and make it more efficient.
As slightly wet leaves decompose quicker than dry ones and rain may not penetrate the pile center, I'd dampen dry leaves before adding them. Ground limestone may also be scattered in if we add a bunch of oak leaves and we're concerned about the acidity they may generate in our pile. Scatter about a pound of lime for every five leaf layers. But do not use lime if your compost will be given to acid loving plants such as mountain laurel, blueberries, azaleas, rhododendrons and potatoes.
Adding lime to compost is an option rather than mandatory. "

How to Compost Autumn Leaves | eHow.com

2008-12-10T15:18:00.000-08:00

How to Compost Autumn Leaves | eHow.com: "In order to have an efficient compost pile the ratio of brown (dried leaves, etc.) material to green (fresh mown grass, etc.) material should be around 50/50. I start a new compost pile in the fall just for leaves and end-of-the-season grass. The brown and green material is layered with a little garden dirt and watered if need be, and turned every time I add new material--about once a week. When I have far more brown material than green, I get lawn clippings from the neighbors (they think I'm nuts), but I always have the best compost on the block.

My old compost pile is made of material I have collected all spring and summer with the addition of kitchen scrapes. Again, no meat, fat or milk products of any kind. I made three wire bins which enables me to fork each pile into an empty bin (much easier and efficient than 'turning'). During the winter I cover the piles with a tarp t"

Composting: I’m A Leaf Thief And A Composting King

2008-12-10T14:36:00.000-08:00

Composting: I’m A Leaf Thief And A Composting King: "I’m A Leaf Thief And A Composting King
By Anthony Tripodi

Every autumn, home owners rake up their leaves, place them in bags and put them out on the curb. Every autumn I gas up my mini-van, drive around my neighborhood and steal them. I’m a skilled leaf thief and can usually fill the van two or three times in a weekend. Unlike regular thieves, I don’t fence the goods on the black market because the leaves are more valuable to me and to my garden. Leaves are a great ingredient for making compost and gardeners can’t get enough of them.

A person becomes a leaf thief because you can only produce so much yard waste on your own. You rake up your leaves, mow your lawn, clean up your flower and vegetable beds and it just isn’t enough yard waste to make compost for a moderate sized garden. Remember that after it’s decomposed it’ll be a lot smaller. So when I see people throwing out this excellent garden resource I have to take the law into my own hands."