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Subject: Re: "Harvesting" compost
From: "Swani" <swani@clear.net.nz>
Organization: CLEAR Net New Zealand http://www.clear.net.nz - Complaints abuse@clear.net.nz
Date: Sat, 06 Jan 01 04:59:31
Message-ID: <MOD$010106.22409@rec.gardens.ecosystems>
References: <MOD$001113.21728@rec.gardens.ecosystems><MOD$001115.22339@rec.gardens.ecosystems><MOD$001119.21218@rec.gardens.ecosystems> <MOD$001210.6540@rec.gardens.ecosystems>



Hi y'all.
A few comments.
1 cubic meter is a rough minimum size, there is no maximum. The bigger the
pile, the hotter it will get and the less heat it will lose through edge.
(the hottest piles I made were with a tractor: 3m X 3m X 10m long. These
reached 75C a meter in from the outside, god only knows what the temperature
was in the middle).
I now make all of my compost in wire rings, fencing mesh (if large holes
(6"or so) it needs the weeds to be packed around the edge to keep the
smaller stuff from falling through the holes, this is what I use as it is
more easily available than what we wwould call 'chicken mesh; 1/2-1" holes).
I build the heap in one of these rings (1-2 metres in diameter, I believe
the width of this mesh is 1200mm thus the height of the heap) to the top and
then keep piling material on in a dome, creating a heap about 1800 high.
The wire comes off and this is covered for a few weeks/months.
The wire is immediately placed next door and the next heap commences, I an
currently doing two of these a year with one bit of wire (in the main
garden, there are a couple of these in other areas).
After the heap has sat for a bit I turn it, adding plenty of fishmeal to
make sure the second heap cooks well.
Then I grow heavy feeders on the pile for a season; watermelons etc love
this.
Then I spread the finished compost on the garden, by which time it is just
lovely:-)

Advantages of this system:
As the walls are removed turning is much easier with no need to turn
over a wall.
If these heaps are built on a slope (as mine are) not only are there no
walls but turning it means chucking material downhill which is *much*
easier.
I believe a round heap has less 'edge' and therefore less heat loss -
someone with a bit of physics can probably confirm/deny this.
These rings can be easily placed wherever there is material to compost
rather than taking the material to a fixed bin.
There is no better preparation of a bit of ground for a garden bed than
making compost on the soil for a year first.

As to a sifter/screen, I have a round bottomed dish about 600mm in diameter
with a screen which sits on top.
I chuck the compost on the screen, kneel down, and rock the whole thing from
side to side.
The details of construction are not important; what is is that the weight of
the compost is supported so that you only have to rock the screen. A screen
suspended from a tripod with a wheelbarrow sitting under it, or a 44gal drum
cut in half with a rectangular screen fitted to it could be rocked from side
to side, or a cylinder of mesh on an angle on a rod with a mechanism to
rotate it (compost in high end, screened compost falls through, rough stuff
forms a pile at the low end).

Pine needles are definately compostable, as is *anything* organic. Some
things can do with being chopped up, bones and shells can do with being
burned and smashed up. I reckon that all these murderers who tried to get
rid of bodies with acid etc. just needed a chipper and a compost pile
(probably an industrial chipper)

Swani
Zone9
Aotearoa (NZ)

> Do you have any good suggestions for making a sifter? I'm brand new to
> composting and just purchased some 2x4s and chicken wire to build my first
> set of bins.
>
> I know the biggest problem I'm going to have is getting browns. I have a
> few large pines, and am curious if the needles can be used (I believe they
> can), and are they in the browns group? I also have 3 almonds trees, but
> they're pretty dormant at this point. I'm almost tempted to go fill a few
> bags of leaves at our local city parks ;-)
>
> Once the budget allows, I'd love to get a wood chipper as all the trees
can
> use a ton of pruning, and right now I've got about 500 cubit ft. of pine
> tree prunings (well, I'm not exactly sure what to call it when two huge
> branches decide to just "fall").