Post by desertwoman on Mar 29, 2015 9:55:24 GMT -5
I'm dry too though not as hot as Las Vegas. I have always been a "lazy" composter. In other words I throw things in the pile and it's then on it's own. I do cut everything into very small pieces- kitchen scraps at the sink and yard debris as I am cleaning up. I toss in a bag or two of coffee grounds from a coffee house. Some manure if I have it. Crush a whole bunch of leaves It gets turned once during the summer. Twice and I consider myself doing an extraordinary job. It never gets watered except for the rare rains we have.
And eventually it does become back gold. It just takes longer.
And like MrsK it sometimes goes into the garden partially decomposed. It all works.
Northern New Mexico 7000' desert plateau Zone 7a (formerly Zone 5, then 6a, 6b) Posting since 2005
I find that the more I turn mine the better. I'm adding new material by the day and run the tiller over it to work it in. I like to get green stuff turned under right away, and catch all that nitrogen. Once, or if I'm lucky twice a year I put it all on the garden and till it in. This method might not work somewhere else.
Update: I finally got some dried leaves from my neighbors trees by picking them up all over my yard (I was hesitating on going out in the hot sun to get them) so I put them down in a little corner and poured what was in my bin all over them. What was in the bin was pretty warm, and not from being in the heat, I think. I could feel the heat coming from the soil and stuff and the orange peels that I threw in there a while ago were very fragile so that's a good sign right? This was about a week ago so I probably have to go out and turn them pretty soon here but I'm very excited. I also started sprouting some cilantro and I'm pretty pumped about that too.
Another question I have is whether or not I should be using the compost as soil when it's finished? I mean, yeah, it goes with the soil but should I buy more soil to plant in or just use the compost? Because the dirt in my backyard is not very good. Should I just pick the rocks out of that dirt and mix it in with the compost I'm making? I don't have any idea where I would put the dirt if I shoveled it all out.
If your heap is good and you help adding oxygen by turning it you can get useable compost in about a month. Most of the added food scraps should be gone or nearly gone. You are making black gold. Use it as you will. You can start a bed several ways, by smothering whatever is growing on top. And just adding your finished compost when you get it. Google lasagna gardening..you just improve where you want things to grow. The biggest problem that I had was where to put the compost during winter. I tried a honey pot..hole in the ground with a pipe for air vent and a lid. You lift the lid and add your food scraps and close it. It worked beautifully. It's a lovely area now to grow. For the past 2 years I've been using an old garbage can w a locking lid that I drilled holes into the bottom and sides for drainage and air flow. I now have a garbage can that's half full of beautiful compost just from the last couple of winter months! If / when you start your next batch...just add a couple of shovelfuls of the already done compost and that will start up the action.
I don't think I ever have let my compost get all the way "finished"...I normally wait until it's about half done and then use it as mulch, replenishing as necessary. This past year I have been getting a lot of greens donated (a friend of mine works in a food pantry, and every week he brings me the produce that is spoiled/past the expiration date) so I have been frantically raking leaves every week after he brings the stuff by. Luckily I have plenty of trees but think that this fall I will ask folks living in town for bagged leaves...it might save me some time and energy by not having to rake them all myself!
I mix my finished compost into my garden soil or sometimes I will put some into a planting hole. I just did that for my artichoke seedlings that supposedly like a very rich soil.
I also put finished compost on top of the asparagus bed after I finish harvesting spears and again in the fall when I put the garden to bed.
When weed whacking yesterday, I came across a fine specimen of a thistle. No flowers on it…should it have gone to the compost heap to dry in the sun? In my exuberance, I whacked it in to nothingness. Only the root survived the event. Perhaps a dose of vinegar will finish the job. I’m just wondering what nutrients my compost pile missed by the whackfest?
The thistle was growing about a foot behind the compost “corral”.
I know…old thread.
Gardening like I'm gonna live forever, right here in central Iowa. Posting since 2008. 👩🌾
Post by gardendmpls on May 20, 2022 5:54:49 GMT -5
Usually use a drain (trenching) spade to get the root loosened enough to pull up. Sometimes my weeds go to the chickens, sometimes to the compost. I guess in this instance you were composting in place.
Abigail, all 9 kids grown and 24 little gardeners.