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Re: Compost Tumblers, composting in general

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

All those recipes are fascinating, but I can't imaging weighing or measuring all
the stuff I compost, especially since I rarely totally stick to the batch
method. I used over 300 bags of leaves last fall, not counting my own which I
didn't bag up first. I don't know where I would have gotten 1,200 bags of green
stuff!  I usually have two piles going--one sort of new and one sort of old. I
may add stuff to the "new" pile for months before I use the "old" pile. Maybe
that's not so common in colder areas, but here we are adding yard debris to our
pile all year long.

I use more browns (way more, actually)  than greens. That's because that is what
I have. I don't have straw, only sometimes have manure, and prefer to mulch my
lawn with the clippings than to compost them most of the time. I don't have a
scientific bone in my body so I'd much rather be gardening than calculating C:N
ratios, or measuring grass clippings.

I think all these recipes are a good starting point, but I wouldn't get hung up
on the exact measurements. My saying is, "If you pile it, it will compost." If
you don't have enough greens, it will take longer, but it will still compost. A
4:1 ratio may work fine in the tumblers, but I'm not so sure about a compost
heap.

The main thing to remember is that if it doesn't heat up, it probably needs more
greens, and if it stinks, it probably needs to be turned or aerated and more
browns added. So I say, just relax and enjoy it. Don't worry about the exact
composition.

And just one last tip (credit goes to the Compost List), if you don't have
enough greens, buy some alfalfa pellets at a local feed store. Here they are
$7.50 for a 50 lb. bag. They add your greens, really heat up the pile, and don't
mat and stink up the place like grass clippings tend to do.



P.S. I wish the listowner would change this list so that replies go to the list
instead of the sender. I also tend to forget to change the address. (Sorry about
that Frank.)
Makes me wonder how much good info we've missed that went to the individual.

Frank Teuton wrote:

> 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
> >
> >
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