Posted: 12/8/2010 11:19:40 AM EDT
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I have had a compost pile for about 16 months now. I usually just bag my yard once a month, instead of mulching, and throw what I bag on the pile which makes up 90% of the material and the other 10% is food scraps and leaves. I don't turn it as often as I should, but it probably averages to about once ever 3 weeks. Over the past year it hasn't done much in the way of forming good compost. Most of it still looks like grass. I guess my ratio of material isn't adequate??? I just added a large amount of shredded leaves this past weekend and plan on ,mixing in a trash bag of shredded paper in the next couple weeks. I know the 30:1 ratio, but I read grass was 20:1 of carbon to nitrogen so I thought if I added a little bit of leaves and food scraps it should get me close to 30:1.
My questions are: Do you think I have to much grass and need to add more leaves and paper products(brown material)? How many people have two different compost piles, one for compost needed in the short term, and one for compost that still has a long way to go? |
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Here is a pic of my pile of straight-up leaves. I had it sitting idle for about two years. There was an excellent layer of leaf mold at the very bottom that had torn the lowest level of it down into base material. It has since been raked all up and transferred to my primary compost pile which is composed of all yard matter plus additional materials. This was from January 2010.
http://myheirloomgarden.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=1904 Here is what the primary pile used to look like with normal composition of various materials. Notice it has a much "harder" texture due to the amount of actual dirt in it. This is from March 2010. http://myheirloomgarden.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2636 Here is a closeup on the same pile. March 2010. http://myheirloomgarden.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2632 Here is what it looks like when different materials are being added to it at the same time. March 2010. http://myheirloomgarden.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2561 Hope that gives you an idea as to what the consistency should look like. The primary matter is dead leaves from my Cottonless Cottonwood tree. grass clippings and mesquite leaves added in much smaller amounts. Finished compost from a tumbler bin rolled in a few times a year to maintain bacterial levels, as I don't do much to the static pile other than water it about monthly. As you can see, it does not break down very quickly due to the lack of activity. That's what my compost tumbler is for. Unfortunately, my compost tumbler broke on me. It seems the axle finally rusted through and part of the plastic cracked. I have not gotten to take it apart and see how much of it is fixable and salvageable. As it is a geared system that would cost at least $300 to buy one today, I'd like to repair it rather than replace it. :) As to your ratios, you definitely have a high content of greens in your pile. Add lots of browns to it so you can get your mix in balance and degrading faster. |