Subject: COMPOST PROBLEMS

From: [email-masked] (Jim Mcnelly)
Date: Mon, 13 Mar 1995 18:55:00 +0600

Jen Meyer replies:
References: <[email-masked]> 

JM> if there isn't enough air, and 3' x 3' might be too deep one way or
JM> another. You can put a stick or pole down the center of the pile and
JM> remove it leaving an open channel for air to enter -- this might
JM> help.

Hi Jen,

You do well to think about aerating via poking the pile, but air does 
not go "down" a chimney to where the warm area is. Heated air rises, so 
poking a pile is to enable the air to permeate the pile through a grate 
at the base. If there is no pathway for air to enter from the base of 
the bin, there is little point in poking a pile.

JM> permits air to be throughout the compost. I've introduced earthworms
JM> to my compost as well, and last time I checked they were getting
JM> *really* fat.

If a composting pile is active and hot, adding earthworms is the surest 
way to get cooked earthworms. Make sure the pile is cool and passive 
before ever adding worms. Adding garden worms may help a bit, but they 
tend to burrow beneath the pile, coming up to feed. If you move the 
pile, the worms underneath may starve.

Redworms are the species to add to a compost pile for curing. They are 
rarely available in the yard since they require moist rich organic 
matter that does not freeze solid. They do not live in mineral soils as 
do their garden worm cousins. Redworms are best purchased from redworm 
growers.

Once the redworms take over a composting pile, they reproduce rapidly 
and can cure the whole mass in a matter of weeks. I think that they are 
the greatest!

Mr Compost~~~

Jim~ McNelly
[email-masked]

 * RM 1.3 02460 * Sometimes spiritual work involves a hoe and earthworms.

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