This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

Re: Compost Tumbleers -- repost

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

Just for the record, I use about one part greens (grassclippings) to two
parts browns (mostly fall leaves) in big pallet bins in the backyard, that
hold between 64 and 100 cubic feet of materials (to start with) each.

My temps are consistently in the 130 to 150 degrees F range, and this method
costs the space it takes plus the cost of hauling free pallets to build.

So called 14 day compost should be weed seed and pathogen free, but as
compost it really is best used only as a nutritive mulch, not for a seed
starting or other mature compost use.

Also, you may start out with 18 cu ft in some of the bigger tumblers like
the ComposTumbler, but you end up with half that much, often less...

All that is just to say that there are cheaper and more productive ways to
make compost---I like tumblers, have had two, and enjoyed the ease of
turning aspect....but to make a lot of compost, get a big cheap box, or a
length of four foot high turkey fence, and make a really big pile....

This pile should be turned once or twice, in the early going, to get
everything into the hot center, but then you can simply aerate by making
vertical channels every foot or six inches with a piece of rebar---simple,
effective, and inexpensive.

The recipes below seem overly heavy on the greens---OK in a tumbler where
turning and aerating are as easy as turning a crank, but a problem for the
static pile where turning every few days isn't the plan.

To avoid problems like anaerobia and loss of nitrogen as ammonia, I feel it
is best to err on the side of too much brown stuff, rather than push the
envelope too much into the green zone....

That's my two cents, based on 28 years of composting experience...

Frank---his views on brown to green, he is also a fan of good moisture and
aeration....and notes that the big piles work well until it gets very cold
indeed....here in Montreal

-----Original Message-----
From: Patricia J. Santhuff <psanthuff@mindspring.com>
To: sqft@listbot.com <sqft@listbot.com>
Date: Saturday, May 15, 1999 12:25 AM
Subject: Compost Tumbleers -- repost


>Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
>
>Sorry -- I meant this for the list and it went to individuals instead.
(Some
>of the lists I'm on, hitting reply causes it go to the list; on this list,
>reply sends it to the author. Gotta learn to keep the lists straight.)
>
>Hi, sq ft-ers --
>
>I bought one of those ComposTumblers (r) but haven't cranked it up yet. At
>first we didn't have 60 degree or higher temps, then we didn't have the
>ability to do grass catching with the new riding mower (the catcher is on
>order).
>
>Anyway, here are the instructions:
>
>Establish your ratio of fresh nitrogen [green stuff] and carbom [brown
>stuff] materials using either a 4;1 ratio for vegetation (four parts of
fres
>green materials to one part of a dead brown material), one of the sample
>recipes on page 21, or by figuring out your own ratio using the formula on
>page 19.
>
>The formula it talks about is (to me) fairly coplex, and tells you how to
>mathematically figure a carbon to nitrogen ratio between 25:1 or 35:1,
>depending on what you want and the materials you have at hand to use.
>
>Here aresome recipes:
>
>Recipe #1 -(C/N ration = 34:1)
>Fresh grass clippings -- 12 parts
>Sawdust -- 3 parts
>
>Recipe #2 (C/N Ration - 29.5:1)
>Straw -- 3 parts
>Kitchen waste -- 3 parts
>Fresh grass clippings -- 9 parts
>
>Recipe #3
>Dead leaves -- 9 parts
>Fresh weeds -- 3 parts
>Dehydrated (store bought) cow manure -- 3 parts
>
>Recipe #4 -- (C/N ratio = 32.6:1)
>Fresh grass clippings -- 9 parts
>kitchen waste -- 3 parts
>black & white newsprint (shredded, premeasured and soaked in water) -- 3
parts
>
>Recipe #5 (C/N ratio = 33:1)
>Fresh horse manure -- 7 parts
>sawdust -- 3 parts
>dead leaves -- 3 parts
>
>And the addendum I posted to someone different (sorry):
>
>I should have specified in the information I just posted [directions for
>using the ComposTumbler (r)], and the recipes, were for a 14-day turnaround
>on compost. Do it differently, or keep adding things as you go, or the temp
>dips below 40 degrees, and you're going to get slower results.
>
>HTH,
>
>Patricia
>Zone 7, West Georgia
>
>
>______________________________________________________________________
>To unsubscribe, write to sqft-unsubscribe@listbot.com
>Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/
>


______________________________________________________________________
To unsubscribe, write to sqft-unsubscribe@listbot.com
Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index