compost

I made a compost pile 12/20/07. It consists of leaves,shredded newspaper,kitchen scrapes,and a little bit of dirt. It wasn't heating up as of last friday so I added some old chicken manuer and black cow on the same day. It still isn't heated up. How long should it take ? The chicken manuer was very dry maybe I should have wet it. The weather has been in 20s and 30s at night and days just started warming 3 days ago.I have read this shouldn't matter.I am desperate to get it heated up what do I do now? All advise will be appreciated.

You need to add water to it to help it start to cook. Go over to the soil and composting discussion, lots of helpful information on this type of subject on there. :)

I'd also check your ratio of "green" stuff to "brown" stuff...if you've got too much of one relative to the other, it won't work right either.

when you added the chicken and cattle manure did you re-pile the heap, adding the manure in layers, alternately with the 'old' stuff?

ecrane3, - You mentioned the ratio of the green and brown. What ratio for these two do you sugest? I have read a couple of differnt ones. I think I might need some more green. I read alfalfa pellets were good to use. Isn't the green nitrogen? Reply to drivenbronkers, - I layered all this pretty good. Then I used a pitchfork and turn it very good. Maybe I shouldn't have turn it the same day. I was trying to get it mixed really well.

gardener, sounds to me like it sounded to doccat - is your pile damp? If it's dry, it's just a pile of dry stuff. Like wood, you can stack whatever you want dry. If it's wet, it's compost (that's why folks cover woodpiles - keeps the rain and snow out). If you want rot, you have to have wet. :)

Hope it helps.

-Sev

Sorry...I've never done a compost pile, all I know is that you need both brown & green, and if your ratios are way off it won't heat up like it ought to. The soil & composting forum is really the best place to get advice--I'm not sure if you have to be a subscriber to access it or not.

Thanks everyone for the nice info. I had a friend flip my wood and wire bin over, then I layered it up again. This time I watered each layer as I put it together. I got some books at the library. One read that putting it all together at the same time was the way to do it. I hate to be a failure at something I try so hard at. I hope to see it smoking. Ha Ha

With the temps you're having, I don't think the pile is going to cook so great just now. It is the combination of heat and dampness that causes the decomposition. I would just suggest patience, combined with the previous suggestions. It will breakdown. In my experience, the winter pile is just something I let go. As the temps rise, the composting process speeds up. Good gardening.

the ground is stil frozen here, lol. I agree with the comments that the winter pile decomposed more slowly...

I have a compost heap (4'x4'x4' tall have it 'enclosed' in fence posts so it looks like a log cabin) that had finished cooking last fall. (it's frozen solid, lol

Over the winter, I've been tossing stuff from the kitchen onto the top of it. Freezing temps will start to break down the vegetative matter, and in the spring, I'll use that top part as the basis for the new heap. Some of the cooked stuff will be added to the new heap as starter, lol A bit of my 'mothers day manure' will be used also, lol.

I've had the best luck in layering green and browns, and letting it alone. I also chop everything I put on the heap. all the weeds I pull, veggie peels, and long grass, overgrown veggies, those zuchinni and cucs that went crazy overnight, lol. It's very satisfying to chop the weeds into bits, lol

Dead stems from spring cleanup are also chopped into inch pieces, and added as browns.

Registered temps in the 70C range during the active heating stage.... once the temp dropped back down, I repiled it layering more fresh greens, half baked, browns, half baked, fresh greens, half baked......

After about 3 weeks, I could not tell what the pieces in the heap started out as, and used it as top dressing on the various beds. What was left over was the 4x4x4 heap. I've got big plans for it in the spring, lol

you will find an approach that work for you, using what you have available.


happy composting!

How big is your bin? Any heat yet?
Most people have more brown than green. I would go up to half volume of greens if you have it. If its moist enough and big enough, your pile can heat, even in winter, and even if you don't have enough green. Not enough green, it just won't stay hot. If it's all nice and moist, then cover the top also, to keep the moisture in and heat in.
My 3 by 3 pile is cold, but my 4 by 8 is doing nicely. I have to keep adding water and keep it covered.

A reply to sallyg- My pile is not cooking yet. I added alfalfa pellets to it when I relayered it so that will be putting the extra green in it. There's plenty of water there because I watered each layer. The materials I started with in December looks like they have decomposed a little. I read it takes 10 days for it to heat up and it hasn't been quite that long yet. I will have some more patiences.I am going to cover the top with black plastic and see if that helps. I heard black is better than clear. We have had lots of rain which made it plenty wet for a while. I have a friend building another wood and wire bin for me that's 8x10 ft and a door so I can get in it with the rotortiller, lawn mower or weed eater to chop the leaves. The materials in the first one wasn't chopped. All you people have been great with all your info. Thanks so much. We're going to get this baby to cook some how.

It sounds like all the ingredients are there. Maybe it'll just take more time and warm weather or sun (to warm the plastic and help heat it up. Good luck!

Sure sounds like black gold in the making. All that rain is what probably slowed down the burn. It'll dry out and start to cook again. Good idea covering it to help that along. :)
DH just took our bins apart (we have pallets) and we raked to the middle, ran the tiller thru several time, flipped some more and did it again. I didn't have enough green in the bottom and it was matting up. Now we'll get some heat. Plus he's promised me he'll go over and get a pickup load of raw cow manure this weekend to add to it. That will really make it go!

For winter composting, it is best to have covers on the bins/piles as this keeps out the cold elements of the winter weather, when you add to the pile, I just check it hasn't dried out too fast, if it has, I just pour a watering can of water onto it and replace the lid, every month or so, weather permitting, I turn it out and the stuff on the bottom ends up on the top, so between the covers, the turning and the warm conditions, all help the process speed up, but as everyone else has said, winter composting takes longer, the only brown I add is end of season old plant pot compost and break it up well so it is crumbly, the newspapers will also dry the compost out as they act like a sponge so make sure they are well shredded up before you add them in layers between greenery, but the newspaper also acts like an insulator, so it should help build up heat too. your doing your best, so dont get disheartened too fast, every year the temp is different, for winter composting, so stay with it, forget about it for a few weeks and then go look, maybe your just being impatient, gardeners need patience before anything else. good luck. WeeNel.

I've had a lot of trouble with mine heating up all year, just ask at the soil and composting forum. I almost drove them crazy.
But!!! When I started to dig down to get the good stuff out to put it on my beds, it was really good stuff. Nice and black. Only problem was I had put some pine needles in and some them and a few leaves hadn't composted
I know it would have been faster if it was hot, but like you, I did everything I was told and still had trouble. Although from what I hear when it heats it may only stay heated a couple days? If that's true you may have been just missing it. It will compost, just take longer. Someone mentioned dirt and that is probably a good idea

i'm impatient too and so i start using mine before it is fully composted--and let it finish on the beds and keep adding to the compost--it seems to me that if you are always adding you would never get fully composted material--i know you can have two piles but i am out of room and would rather do it my imperfect way

What ever works for you. You know your going to get better soil either way you go. I "steal" coarse off the bottom and middle of the pile all the time. Not a big deal. :)

That's what I do, go down in the middle or to the sides and get that good stuff out. It will rot in the beds, especially if you are going to till it in or turn the soil. May as well use the goog stuff and keep adding to it.