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Post by datgirl on Jun 16, 2015 12:45:48 GMT -5
Now thats a compost pile!!!!! (
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Post by desertwoman on Jun 16, 2015 16:58:05 GMT -5
That reminds me of my Aunt Ida's pile- who was my inspiration for organic gardening and cooking, when I was a kid
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Post by thomis on Jun 17, 2015 9:39:27 GMT -5
I have to admit compost has been my weakest facet of gardening and orcharding. I built a square bin 4' x 4' x 3' tall out of 2x12's and fill it with whatever. The insides of the wood are painted with exterior latex paint to make them last a little longer. Something is definitely wrong because it just sits there. It can sit there for a year and won't break down.
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Post by desertwoman on Jun 17, 2015 10:22:15 GMT -5
Tomis, Have you poked around inside, towards the bottom of your pile? I'd bet there is at least some usable compost underneath.
There are things you can do to hasten the breakdown, but compost happens whether it is on the fast or slow track. There are some good tips in the above posts. Keep us posted. I know you can get some good stuff!
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Post by lilolpeapicker on Jun 17, 2015 11:18:46 GMT -5
It can sit there for a year and won't break down. Perhaps you need more nitrogen food....green grass, coffee grinds, veggies, manure .....turn it more often....if not it will eventually breakdown just very slowly.
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Post by wheelgarden1 on Jun 17, 2015 14:19:24 GMT -5
Great thread (and what were we thinking?!) lisaan...good links, too. It stands to reason that too much compost isn't a good thing. If I had the Compost Pile of My Dreams that brownrexx has, I'd probably be in danger of overuse in my smaller clayish garden. ;)
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Post by lisaann on Jun 17, 2015 18:20:26 GMT -5
I was ohhing and ahhing over My Buddy Rexx's compost pile......................
Chicken poop is your friend, Rexx!
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Post by brownrexx on Jun 17, 2015 20:03:00 GMT -5
I never expected to cause compost pile envy! If I get energetic, I dump in one or two 5 gallon buckets of horse manure each year too LA.
I spread that whole pile on my 2 gardens each year in the Fall and then start a new one. Having access to a tractor makes the pile turning really easy and it decomposes a lot faster that way.
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Post by tbird on Jun 19, 2015 10:29:47 GMT -5
living the dream Rexx!
I didn't have much going on compost-wise, on my unburried compostables from winter which I reported on previously (which was itself dumped onto some old stuff that was in a black bag (weeds and such) that turned into some good soil with a lot of heafty twigs in it - more twigs than soil. I heaped up some cheap topsoil from the supermarket, and planted some flowers on it. Next year, it will be part of the veggie patch, but this year, just wanted something planted there before the weeds found that patch of freedom and staked on outpost!
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Post by kimmsrđź•Š on Jun 20, 2015 6:36:46 GMT -5
A compost pile that "just sits there for a year and won't break down" is not a properly constructed compost pile. The ratio of Carbon (30) to Nitrogen (1) may not be near to optimal, there may not be enough moisture or there may be too much moisture. There may not be enough air in the mix, those bacteria that digest the material need air to function as we do.
A simple means of gauging the ratio of Carbon to Nitrogen is a mix of 3 parts of vegetative (Carbon) waste (even though that does contain some N) to 1 part of a Nitrogen source. Sir Albert Howards original description of a compost pile was 6 inches of vegetative waste to 2 inches of animal manure piled up in that order until a 4 foot height was reached.
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