Compost Making. Utterly Confused!!

[Ed]

I took on an allotment plot earlier this year, and quickly cleared half of it to grow at least some crops this season whilst I intensively double-dig and clear the other half. All of that is going well.

So, now I want to make a compost bin. Eventually I plan to have 3.

I have scavenged 4 pallets each of which is 3ft x 4ft which I intend to use to build a box that is 3ft square and 4 ft high. One of the sides will be loosely (but securely) tied in so that it is removable for access.

But what to do next? I have read so much here and on google that I am utterly confused.

Firstly, should I line the box with something like lino or old carpet in order to keep the heat in or leave it as it is to allow for aeration?

Secondly, do I have to stick to a strict regime as to how I build up the layers? I was just thinking of simply piling in layers of stuff as and when I harvested crops throughout the season , maybe throw in some grass cuttings from home, maybe throw in paper from the shredding machine, maybe throw in some straw if it available.

Do I have to add accelerators? Do I have to add lime? Do I have to turn it? Do I add worms? Do I have to pee on it LOL!!

Making compost seems to have become such a scientific skill that I am now quite wary of even starting to do so, lest I end up with some smelly sickly sludge that it no good for anything.

Ed

[Omelet]

Just dump it in a pile and keep it damp. Does not matter whether you layer it or otherwise.

It's really not rocket science.

I personally use construction grade giant trash bags. Fill them and leave them open at the top. I let them sit for a year or so.

Makes great compost.

[AZ Nomad]

I use leaves and leave it in the rain gutters for a couple of years. :-) Also makes great compost.

[Omelet]

Lazy bastid.

My neighbors did that. I was oh so tempted to hang a ladder over the fence and snag that baby wild chili petin I saw growing in the rain gutter on the corner of their house!

We raked a bunch of leaves into a corner of the yard once. Never did get around to bagging them. They composted down in less than 6 months, in the shade no less. Leave grass clippings on the lawn. They go away in less than two weeks, and enrich the lawn.

[Sheldon]

Composting is a verb... you compost to make humus.

[AZ Nomad]

Yet if you leave the kitchen trash on the front lawn, the neighbors will complain. Go figgur.

[Omelet]

How do you build your compost/humus heaps Shel' baby?

[Omelet]

Smell control is a different subject.

If I dump kitchen garbage that I know will stink, it gets a little dirt or a layer of leaves over it.

Not necessary for composting.

I have a compost bucket in the kitchen. Food leavings (other than corn husks and cobs) never go in the kitchen trash. I don't like smelly trash cans. The small container for food scraps is covered and emptied more regularly.

It also keeps pets out of the trash.

[Alfred Falk]

Ed wrote in news: [e-mail]:

You don't have to do bugger-all to make it work. All that scientific stuff will get you efficiency improvements. Depending on a lot of things those improvements may be small or large. Start simple and figure out what could be better based on experience.

I just use wire mesh "bins" which I turn no more often than monthly. In my cool dry climate it takes a season to produce good compost. I've got the time and the space, so...

[AZ Nomad]

Entry: com·post Function: noun Etymology: Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin compostum, from Latin, neuter of compositus, compostus, past participle of componere Date: 1587 1 : a mixture that consists largely of decayed organic matter and is used for fertilizing and conditioning land 2 : mixture, compound

[Chris]

I would not use anything except chicken wire to line the boxes. You do need some air circulation.

Other than that- you don't need to do anything except start adding compostable material. The beauty of compost is that it works all on its own. Sure, if it gets really dry you can hose it down a little. You can add stuff in distinct layers (kitchen scraps/grass/soil for example) and you might speed things up a bit. But none of that is necessary. Um, you mentioned pallets- are they solid on the bottom? Will it be impossible for worms to migrate into the compost? If so, you might want to put some soil with worms on the bottom to start.

Chris

[jellybean stonerfish]

Look up "compost" in your merriam-webster and you will see...

Main Entry: com·post Function: noun

1 : a mixture that consists largely of decayed organic matter and is used for fertilizing and conditioning land 2 : mixture, compound

... as the first definition. Second definition is the verb form.

[John McGaw]

Sheldon wrote: snip...

And you mash chickpeas to make hummus...

[AZ Nomad]

That's why his gyros taste so awfull. He's been using compost.

[David Hare-Scott]

He talks into it.

David

[David Hare-Scott]

Depends on temperature.

You can but it isn't absolutely essential

I was just thinking of simply piling in layers of stuff as and

Sounds OK to me

not unless you want it to go fast

it will degrade quite well without it, you may want to lime your garden as compost comes out slightly acidic but it depends on your soil and overall conditions how important this is

Only if you want it to work at maximum speed

no they will find there own way there

no but it is a useful thing to do with that resource

Calm down it is not such a big deal. You can try to be super scientific but if you are not it will still work but take longer.

David

[Bill]

My Dad runs PVC pipe about his pile. The 6 or 8 inch diameter pipe has holes in it. Think pipe to defuse water but in this case it defuses oxygen. AKA less need to turn. Bill

[Billy]

A simple alternative is to dig a small trench. Put your kitchen scrapes into it, and then cover it back over.

[Ed]

hey David.

you give good practical advice. I think I go with wot u say.

Thanks,, Ed xxx

[Sherwin]

Ed,

To answer some of your questions:

You want to have a natural air flow through the pile, so don't line it with anything.

Most important is to keep the pile moist. Dry piles don't go anywhere.

Certain things can add to the speed of the processing. One of these is to chop up everything as fine as you can. I take leaves and grass that have been run through a lawn mower. Straight whole leaves tend to pack together and slow things down. You can add an accelerant, like some fertilizer, but it is not absolutely necessary. I try to alternate the layers of the pile with green (i.e. grass) and brown (leaves). Turn the pile ( I try and do this at least once a season ) putting the dry unprocessed material on the bottom and the dark processed matter, on top. Water tends to settle to the bottom and that's where you want to assist the parts of the pile that are not quite cooked yet.

Sherwin