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Re: Hello from the Shenendoah Valley

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

Hi Frank,

Compost is as easy as pie, since it is already happening out there all the
time, anytime a grass clipping falls or a feeder root dies, or a bug
defecates, etc.

For a pile what you need to know is that you want a nice balance of greens
(eg fresh grass clippings, kitchen wastes) and browns (fall leaves, straw)
and that you want them moist but not soggy.

You may need to turn the pile once or twice, but much of the aeration can be
done with a stick or a piece of rebar; make vertical holes every six inches
or so, so that oxygen can get in and carbon dioxide escape.

I'd recommend at least two bins so that you can make compost by the batch
method, i.e. bring all the materials together at one time, and let them all
decompose as a group, without adding new materials to the old.

In this way, you can get compost in usually about 4 months, that would be
good for any purpose.

You need a bin of at least a cubic yard in size if you expect to get a
certain level of heat in the pile, say for killing weed seeds. Pallets are
typically just the right size for this, but  a piece of 4 foot turkey fence
12 or more feet long will also do ya, and is easier to move (for example,
undo the fence and set it up next to the pile, to turn into--try doing that
with the pallets!)

Good books on composting are the Rodale Book of Composting, the pamphlet
Make Compost in 14 Days by them, Ortho's Easy Composting (best pictures),
and Stu Campbell's Let It Rot! by Storey Publications.

If composting outside the box interests you, Ruth Stout's books on permanent
mulch gardening are encouraging; these ideas are given in the Rodale books
and others..

Welcome to the association of humus beings!

Good gardening and composting,

Frank Teuton

BTW, How is the Shenandoah Valley? When I hiked from DC up the C&O Canal to
Harper's Ferry and down the Appalachian Trail to Waynesboro, 15 years ago,
that's the last I saw of it.....:-)
-----Original Message-----
From: Frank Fenneran <frankf@cfw.com>
To: SFG <sqft@listbot.com>
Date: Saturday, April 10, 1999 8:15 AM
Subject: Hello from the Shenendoah Valley


>Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
>
>Hello List,
>
>I've been lurking for a couple of weeks and decided to stay (even after the
>little religious spat).
>My family and I moved to the Shenendoah Valley of Virginia 2 years ago and
>bought a small farm last year.  We have studied SFG for a number of years,
>but have never actually tried it.  I have dug 2 squares and an 8 foot
>vertical growing square and am ready to go.  Our frost date is May 10, so I
>think I can start with the root plants this weekend and move on from there.
>
>One question I have is how to begin a compost pile.  I know its the best
>thing since white toast, and I've read all of the different ways to do it,
>but I guess I need a push to choose one way over the other (barrels, cages,
>boxes, piles, etc).  Any suggestions?
>
>Frank & Patti Fenneran
>Wellspring Acres
>Greenville, VA
>frankf@cfw.com
>
>
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