Hello just thought to drop a line
Well for a first go around the compost seems to be working. Built my bin two weekends ago and turned twice. I have had heat and steam escape yesterday and today. I decided to do a little experiment. I got a four foot piece of three quarter copper pipe and squashed the end down to a flat sharp shape. Then I rigged up a plastic end to fit on it and a wet/dry vac. I us it in blower mode and poke it into the pile. I kind of noodle it around and stir in several places top to bottom and it seems to help in between the turning. The pile got good and hot later on, almost like a good hot bath. I needed one after playing in the stuff. Not really stinky but you can tell that something is happening. My wife ran me out of the house hegh! hegh! hegh!. But I said well, think of the money we will save on fertilizers next year. She said think of me turning a hose on you! Oh well till next time.
Newbie to the stuff
Hello Mudcatslim, it sounds like you are having a lot of fun with your compost, as well you should, it is a wonderful and rewarding thing to do.
I hope you will keep your happy and curious attitude, and keep on experimenting for a long time to come. My hope is that you will pass it on to others.
I love composting and organic gardening, have been doing it for 35 years, and I never get tired of it, I learn something new everyday.
Josephine.
WTG, buddy. Sounds like a hoot!
Heh - I think I'd like your wife!
But seriously, as long as it doesn't get too wet and you keep it well aired, it should never smell. It only smells when there's not enough oxygen - and occasionally when there's too much nitrogen (like a biiigg load of grass clippings will sometimes smell like ammonia). If that happens, just start turning and add some leaves.
Glad to hear of your early success!
I think I like her too, sounds like my kinda woman. You just keep workin the pile and soon your lil worms will make you wonderful stuffs to put on your garden!
Sounds as wacky for compost & worms as the rest of us. Don't fight it, there is no cure, and who wants one!
I really like the idea of blowing air into the pile with a pipe and the shop vac! I have been using the digging fork to fluff mine up a bit and get air into it but with your method I could get deeperintothe pilewith air.
You know, I'm close enough to DC, I might not even need a vac for all the "hot air"! evil grin
Yeah, but I thinkthat air might be a bit too hot even for compost!
But the hot air is probably full of bull manure, it might be great for the compost, tee hee.
I also commend Mudcatslim for creativity. Has no one else ever thought of injecting air before? wow. all the time I have spent contemplating steamy forkfulls and hoping they had aired enough.
MUDCATSLIM, as you can see, your idea may be taking off fast here. Maybe you should take out a patent and see if you can get a gardening tools mfg. to sell these attatchments.
Oh my, I'm picturing all of us out in the yard blowing air into the compost heap. The leaf blower would work, too, haha. Make sure you wear safety glasses.
As a matter of fact the blower would work, if you had drain pipe lying down and covered with layered compost.I have done it by a layer of greens, and lay three 8' sections of perferated drain pipe, then a layer of ground leaves, followed by three layers of 4" perferated plastic draine pipe,8'section, and build the pile like that.As long as the pile gets air, the faster the decomposition.Mudcatslim is getting air into his compost, and thats what it takes, folowed up by worms, and they do the finish, with a little help from you, and a pitch fork.
You guys gave me a great idea for my 'Three Bay Compost Bin'! Every 2 feet up and every foot or so apart, I could use 2 inch pvc pipe drilled every 3 inches and lay them across the building pile, and when I came to the pipe to lay across, do that, cover it with nice airy straw and keep going like that all the way up to the top. I'll have to think about the strength of such pvc with the weight of the shrinking, working pile. Hmmm maybe 3 inch pipe. Hmmmm now thinking of keeping holes from clogging Hmmm... still thinking
Carol
That is a great idea........I'll have to show this one to DH..he's already got major compost envy with your set up Carol.........LOL
"...... Make sure you wear safety glasses....:
... and keep your mouth closed.
Ew.
Unlike you energetic types, I try not to waste a movement unnecessarily, I never turn my compost. (just getting it there is an accomplishment for me. And then, when done, usually the next year, I do screen the best stuff and recompost anything that didn't break down the first time in the next "great compost pile frenzy." I will say that when I am screening, (besides finding worms and saving them from the screen and throwing them under the screen) I have a bucket for uncompostables I find like cigarrete butts, plastic, bag ties, rocks, bark. Hey, when you are raking sometimes you just pick up stuff. And some well-meaning friends who put stuff into the chicken pen.... well.... I would have dumped it out of the plastic bags... but...I guess they mean well. What I really don't like is someone coming over, visiting and bringing me a ziplock of stuff for the chickens and just leaving it in the sink, on the table, by the door... sure I'd like it IN the pen, but all those little amounts are "just one more thing" ing me to death. I leave a covered garbage can right by the chicken run gate. To help me, just dump the stuff in and throw away the twist ties, plastic bags, you know, pretend you had to contend with it. Am I going on a little? hehehehe
settle down Carol, you'll sound like Weez... mumble..grumble...mumble
LOL, we are always looking for that one little thing more.
They make a french drain pipe cover that is sort of like a large heavy duty stocking. It is nylon I think and shouldn't rot away to quick as it is used to prevent the drains from clogging up. You pull the "sock up over the pipe and then lay the pipe in a trench and cover it with gravel. You could also pack those foam peanuts between the pipe and the sock to keep out the compost. I don't see why you couldn't us sections of heavy duty PVC and just stick a piece of re-bar into the pipe allowing the pipe to rest on the bar lengthwise. If you use half inch re-bar that should hold it. You could bore half inch holes in a wooden bin to hold the re-bar stake on each side. You could also use a cap on each end with PVC glue and nipple down to a smaller pipe to fit the end of your air mover. This would make a better seal. Well anyway enough of the better mouse trap. Hard to stop the ideas though. I am waiting for a mail order thermometer I bought to moniter the inside temps of the pile. One more gadget to clog my garage with. Yup just what I needed. Have a good evening all.
I had an 8 inch pvc pipe in the middle of the piles with holes for watering. DH took them out the other day when he was puttering. sigh...Anyhoo, if we can get those back in (thinking unkindly wifely thoughts, here) I could hook up the leaf blower to those. Hmm, I shall find out if that is feasible. DH is just so gaga about his huge bagged leaf "haul" there's no dealing with him..........LOL
Flash-- I have a hand / foot operated air pump for doing pool floats-- I could fit a tube on that and poke and puff......into the pile or into the bags I just scored...
This message was edited Nov 30, 2007 10:33 PM
WOo Hoo!
WOOHOO, for those who did not read my other thread! I SCORED another 30 bags of leaves yesterday and they delivered! Doing the happy leaf dance!
Way jealous! Way to go! 30 bags, that is wonderful! I fold up the bags and take them back to where I picked them up, encourages them to let me have them, heehee. (ours have to be brown paper).
This "resoursefullness" of gathering what others think is trash could lead to a lesson about the "haves", and the "havenots".I pick up leaves kind of like a garbage route, for example, and prosses it into beautiful compost witch yealds better growth, and richer ground.Not to mention placing sanitation buckets in "popular"coffee houses for the grounds.Then there is the worms,WOWEE.Mike
You composters are amazing and quite entertaining...I'm enjoying the read and don't even have my 'operation' up and running!
I keep the plastic bags, nya nya nya. My neighbor doesn't give a hoot. I am seeing more of ht paper ones this year. I'm going to gradually use these grass-leaf ones to build one bin of compost, but leave some in bags with holes poked and see how they do. I am liking the idea of having the bags compost in situ , so to speak, so I don't have to fork it all up and 'barrow it later.
I will be looking over my shoulder before pumping though. The sight of me pumping up my leaf bags will probably move me onto the 'crazy neighbor' list. But I'm psyched about the idea of injecting fresh air into the middle of those poked bags.
**giggle** I was already "the crazy lady" before I started a compost pile... now they are convinced more than ever that the guys with the white coats will be arriving to take me away!
But the joke is on them. I went out and aerated the pile just a little and was greated by waves of heat rising and the stuff that came to the surface is turning black and starting to decompose. A bit deeper into the pile it is about 50/ 50 recognizable materials/unrecognizable. And the bin is full. I managed to get it built back up to 4 1/2 ft. in height again at the beginning of the week and it has dropped back to 3 ft. this morning so I will add more this week and keep it going and going and..
It is sure fun watching black gold form!
doccat,
Congrats on your windfall!
Looks like you have your work cut out for you. I got 8 big bags yesterday and 7 bags today. I'm thinking of going to get more! What are you doing for all the greens?
I have a source for plenty of cow manure right down the road. Not a problem.
doccat,
Your a pro! My brother has chickens and I talked him into bringing me a couple of garbage bags full of poo, mixed w/ quarter sized pine bark.
Oh, oh, good stuff for your compost, Dean. Don't put that on direct, chicken poo is very strong when it's fresh. You are going to have wonderful black gold!
Don't put it on the pile?
Put it on the pile, don't put it directly on the beds.
Correct, never put "raw" manure directly on your plants. With the exception of rabbit, most of them will burn the devil out of the plants. Now if you want to start a new bed, then yeah, you can put down a layer of manure and add leaves, turn it in and use a cover crop to protect the soil until spring. Till the cover crop or you can direct plant, it depends on the cover crop. But all cover crops are nitrogen fixers and really boost the soil and it will be loaded with worms. Good stuff!
Yep, definately put in in the compost. My compost is mainly chicken manure with the sawdust I use for litter under them. When it's too dirty inside the chicken house I shovel it out their little chicken door and spread it around their pen. Then once a year in the spring I make my layered compost with it, straw, coffe grounds and all the stuff that didn't break down in last year's compost included if I'm screening a finished bin at the same time. (which I explained earlier, thaws slowly and thaws to the bottom of a 4 to 5 foot pile in bay by the end of June) I think the straw and fish meal incorporating air and nitrogen are the real heater uppers in my fast pile.
30 bags. Hmmph. Piglet.
And delivered! In for a penny................LOL
Oh! You had me scared for a second! Sure, I know add to the pile, no plants though.