Posted: 3/8/2010 8:15:48 AM EDT
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Two things:
I can't get my pile to turn over quick enough. Been at it for 1.5 years with 3 piles. Mostly composed off oak leaves and yard clippings with the little vegatable waste two people can generate. Suggestions? I can't keep grass from from growing up into mine. Don't need extra grass in my garden to weed out. Suggestions from the experts? |
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As I recall Oak leaves are very high in acid. You might want to check the Ph.
Check out this web page: Composting 101 |
| My guess is that maybe your piles aren't quite big enough. They need to reach a "critical mass" size to really get some decomposition going; somewhere between 3-4' deep seems to work OK for us, but the bigger the better. You mention grass growing up into them... while some may sprout underneath, if the pile is deep enough the sprouts should run out of energy long before they are able to reach enough light to survive. The pile should act like a super thick layer of mulch and pretty much choke out anything growing underneath, and once it starts breaking down the heat will kill off anything that sprouts within the pile itself. |
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Well two of the piles in two commerical composter bins about 2.5' dia x 4' tall. My main pile is about 5' x 5' in half moon shape. My problem is my live oak tree generates the most material like3 - 4 wheelbarrow loads every month. During growing season (March to December) my grass is about a wheelbarrow load every mow (at least once a week) other than that my kitchen waste is next to nothing in comparsion. Should the top of the pile be covered or a dark tarp be placed over?
Your suggestions are making me think I need turn the pile more and maybe redo my big pile. |
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Actually my small bins are these:
Composter (couple of posts down) |
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Interesting; really looks like this stuff should be breaking down quicker than it is! I can see why you're frustrated.
Could be not enough moisture, as GlutealCleft points out, or maybe the pH as per XSaber's comment. I dunno, though... found a few links saying live oak leaves made great compost additions. Do you have access to a chipper/shredder? That's one of the best purchases we made... not only does it reduce the mass of the leaves and other garden waste by 70-80%, chopping things up really kickstarts the composting process. Makes for a much nicer, finely grained compost in the end, too. |
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Quoted:Do you have access to a chipper/shredder? That's one of the best purchases we made... not only does it reduce the mass of the leaves and other garden waste by 70-80%, chopping things up really kickstarts the composting process. Makes for a much nicer, finely grained compost in the end, too.
+1 on that. The smaller the better. I don't have a shredder so I run mine over twice with the lawn mower then add it to the stack. |
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Quoted:
Do you have access to a chipper/shredder? That's one of the best purchases we made... not only does it reduce the mass of the leaves and other garden waste by 70-80%, chopping things up really kickstarts the composting process. Makes for a much nicer, finely grained compost in the end, too. I'll second the chipper shredder as a great machine for the bulk composter. All carbon materials I put in my pile runs through the shredder/chipper. I also let my grass set a day prior to raking and adding to my pile. If not it becomes hot quickly and becomes a mass of gunk that does noting to the pile. Your pile may also be a little on the dry side and that will definitely slow you down. look on craigs buy a shredder and run everything through it, pour a little water on it and wait a week I bet it will be cooking. I do not cover my piles and I don't stir them a bunch. I do add to them and turn them some at that time usually when I bury a bucket of kitchen scaps toward the center. When I do dig down in the pile it is steaming. 
This is my large pile I filled it up to the top and stomped it down a couple times last year and now it is only about 2ft high at the most. |
Here's the bin I built last year. Everything goes into it. Grass clippings, (mowed or shredded) leaves in the fall, Vegetable scraps from the kitchen, Chipped shrub trimmings and whatever else I can put in there. Haven't had any troubles with shings breaking down. I do turn it over every couple days after adding grass clippings. HOT and STEAMY when it's going. The highest I ever let it get is about 2 feet. It's dormant right now with the Upstate NY freeze, but it should be thawing out soon. In a week or two I may kick start it with a couple buckets of hot water. I have to agree with the thoughts of chipping your material or an acidity problem. I'd definitely chop up the leaves a bit with the mower or a chipper... Going to put in another one in a couple weeks. AFAIC the more compost, the better! |
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Quoted:
I dunno, though... found a few links saying live oak leaves made great compost additions. When I am not on top of my game, piles of these leaves wet have a good "smell" and have started to decompose to them to tell me they make a good addition Quoted:
Do you have access to a chipper/shredder? That's one of the best purchases we made... not only does it reduce the mass of the leaves and other garden waste by 70-80%, chopping things up really kickstarts the composting process. Makes for a much nicer, finely grained compost in the end, too. No but I do try to run the mower over them if I get the chance. |
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Quoted:
Two things: I can't get my pile to turn over quick enough. Been at it for 1.5 years with 3 piles. Mostly composed off oak leaves and yard clippings with the little vegatable waste two people can generate. Suggestions? I can't keep grass from from growing up into mine. Don't need extra grass in my garden to weed out. Suggestions from the experts? I am no expert, but it sounds like you may have too much acidic stuff. Both oak leaves and grass clippings are very acidic. I think you need to mix something else in there. I also think you're adding too much of those too quickly. You might try adding some garden soil, wetting it down (just a little––to moist, not dripping wet) every now and then, turning it more often, or as the last poster said, adding a compost starter to get it going. Also, chopping it up with a mower is good idea. Any time you can do that it will help. It sounds like you are adding big, acidic stuff more quickly than your pile can rot. These are all just guesses, cuz none of us is there or looking at your pile. AS to the grass growing into it, you'll need to put down some kind of barrier until you get the bacterial action going. This is another indication that you don't actually have composting happening. If it's dark and active in there, grass won't grow right under it. I'd put down a barrier under it anyhow, just to keep it neater. |
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Quoted:
Ground up vegetation exposes more of it to oxygen thus speeds up decomposition.
. . Do you have access to a chipper/shredder? That's one of the best purchases we made... not only does it reduce the mass of the leaves and other garden waste by 70-80%, chopping things up really kickstarts the composting process. Makes for a much nicer, finely grained compost in the end, too. PraesulPresul1: How about throwing some composed manure on it. It will speed up decomposition because of the bacteria is already in it. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Ground up vegetation exposes more of it to oxygen thus speeds up decomposition.
. . Do you have access to a chipper/shredder? That's one of the best purchases we made... not only does it reduce the mass of the leaves and other garden waste by 70-80%, chopping things up really kickstarts the composting process. Makes for a much nicer, finely grained compost in the end, too. PraesulPresul1: How about throwing some composed manure on it. It will speed up decomposition because of the bacteria is already in it. I would if I could. No access to horse, chicken, or cattle manure. Everyone I know is a city dweller. |
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Quoted:
A shovelful or two of regular old soil can help "prime" the pile with bacteria as well. This. It doesn't have to be manure. YOu could also get a couple of bags of compost at Wal Mart or a garden center. I just got some for about 1.50 per bag to loosen up some new beds in my garden. It's $1.50 in quality, realistically, but essentially you're buying rotten stuff, so it would probably work fine. |
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This tread has lots of good suggestions it it.
You want carbon, nitrogen, moisture, oxygen and microbes. Three parts carbon to one of nitrogen along with moisture, damp but not soaking wet and plenty of aeration. Heat will result from the microbes having a frat party in your compost pile. Wrong combination of ingrediants and it will be more like the Nerd house. Swampy's bin is the best picture in the thread. Build three just like it all side by side. Also add a removable front to each. You could use larger mesh but not more than an inch and a half. Get a pitch fork, a good round tine with five tines or better, not a flat four tine which is made to turn dirt. Add a thermometer like this one the books are good also. Here is the plan - make your bin a three or four or five foot square, (size does matter, yours are too small, sorry) and about high enough so that you can pour new stuff in just but barely. So you end up with three bins, side by side and with plenty of aeration. Some say to lift the bottom so that air can access this side as well, I don't. Early spring green grass can be considered nitrogen, but after three or four weeks into the season it bocomes more of a carbon input. Leaves come mostly in the fall, you knew that, and will add acidity and carbon. The leaves help compost the rest of the grass and veggie tops you put in. Now lets talk about how best to optimize the operation, other simpler methods work with less effort but take longer. First put all of the contents of one of your current bins into your first new bin and add this weeks cleanup grass and leaves and such. Take your fork and turn and mix completely. Work in one cup of 13-13-13 fertilizer or anything without a weed killer added. A starter can be had two ways, from a box which is dry or from a bag of composted cow manure. You did not catch the composted part in an earlier post so I will point out that this is not raw cow poo but a product from a comercial compost operation. So good and bad you get what they have as far as microbes. The box is safer to me , but I digress. Lets take a half bag of the composted manure and turn it in. Then form the top of the pile into a bowl, not a half moon. This ensures that it will catch the rain or watering and keep it in the pile. Next week combine your weeks grass and whatever into the second new bin along with the contents of your second current bin. Add one cup fertilizer and the other half of the bag of composted cow manure. Mix well and form the bowl top as before. By now your first weeks new bin should get hot and start the frat party. Measure the temps with the thermometer in the center of the pile and record. You will see the temps start to drop a bunch, that is when you turn the first bin into the third bin. This aerates it and gets the edges into the party nearer the keg. By the third week combine the first two bins together and make one critical mass that will hopefully fill one bin entirely. All new clipping go into a bin on one end until full. Alternate the weeks clippings with a layer of stuff from your half moon pile. Every week turn your first batch (two weeks worth) from the center bin to the outside bin and then next week turn back. The bin contents will dramatically drop down and compress into a much smaller space. This composting is your end game. Once the heat is gone and it looks like dirt and everything is unidentifiyable there is no need to turn it. Reserve about a forty pound bag worth of the mix and take the rest of your new gardening gold and use it. The bags worth you reserved is the starter for the next batch. Now repeat the process with your new batch. New stuff goes at the far end. Do not keep adding new stuff to the pile, segregate into a batch and an accumulation bin. Your really don't want new stuff every week into your compost batch, it is counter intuitive to the process. Easier than proper mangement, but the results are not as good and take much longer. A couple of general remarks, the only way to screw this up is to keep the oxygen out. The anaerobic action creates a slimy mess. and often a horrid smell. Keep it moist and not wet. For each of your batches add a cup of 13-13-13, you could also add ironite or other amendments when the batch is finished. Also, spray for bugs and ants around your piles but try not to spray the piles or the bins themselves. Once you have finisher your composting process and the batch will no longer generate heat you can add earthworms. They perform the last bit of magic like nothing else. |
| throw in some lime and this is a great trick I discovered. Go into the woods or any area of older trees. scrape up the leaves and get about a bucket of "woods dirt". This is the top couple of inches. This stuff is full of the little microbes you want. This will get your pile growing. Also, to prevent grass from growing, get an old piece of carpet, and put it on top of your pile, Weight it down with a couple of pieces of firewood. This will keep it moist and prevent the grass. Good luck. |
| throw in some lime and this is a great trick I discovered. Go into the woods or any area of older trees. scrape up the leaves and get about a bucket of "woods dirt". This is the top couple of inches. This stuff is full of the little microbes you want. This will get your pile growing. Also, to prevent grass from growing, get an old piece of carpet, and put it on top of your pile, Weight it down with a couple of pieces of firewood. This will keep it moist and prevent the grass. Good luck. |