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Frank's compost query

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

Compost is nice, but finished compost is low in fertilizer value. It adds 
needed trace minerals and other nutrients back to the soil, and humus to 
sandy soils, etc. Farmers who are used to the magic 3 (NPK) and in large 
doses aren't going to see the quick fix results that they may be used to 
seeing on crops. So, with that in mind, and with the thought that anything 
you amend your soil with will be helpful, then figure out what your soil 
needs as well as what you are going to have the most of in compostable 
materials. Most suburbanites will have more lawn greenery than anything 
else, especially coming into Spring and Summer. Kitchen scraps, unless 
you're a large family, don't amount to a tremendous contribution, but 
you're doing it to save that from the landfills, and to get 'something for 
nothing'. If you have any kind of stock, including chickens, you're getting 
into that realm of having to compost or having to haul litter away. Then 
your ratio of dry to green is going to be more equal, if not leaning to the 
dry litter more than yard greens.
At this point, piles of compost would work. Otherwise, a small cylinder, 
barrel, pallet box, etc will work fine.
We have 2 pallet style compost bins, one trash can with the bottom out for 
'hazardous waste', and some piles to start the break down process. Oh, and 
my kitchen worm bins, too. But we have goats, llamas, and parrots, all 
creating litter with great abandon. For me, the pallets work best. I make 
them 3-sided until the pile gets 3/4 way up the bin, then I add the 4th 
front side. I can water them till soaking and it runs out the slats in the 
pallets. I can add black plastic to top the compost and it'll start heating 
up quicker. This is important when composting tough stuff like a 5 gallon 
bucket of spent sunflower seed hulls. I have one 3 bin system in the goat 
area, tossing the straw and manure into the two end ones and as I mix it, 
tossing those into the center one to age.  Still takes a couple of months, 
but I always have some layers in the aging section that are ready before 
the top layers are, and ALWAYS have new stuff to haul to the two outer 
ones. I use it mostly as mulch, or to scratch into the top layer around big 
potted plants. My worm castings, I like to make into 'tea' and use as 
foliar feeding, seems to go farther that way.
Basically, anything you pile and store and turn and moisten will break down 
into compost. It just depends on how decorative or unsightly the operation 
is as to which method is best. Some of the barrels you turn are handy, but 
the amount of compost they make is not as great as other methods. When I 
add my front to my pallet - bins, I hang a Mercedes grill on it, and I 
think it looks right spiffy myself!
martha


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