Re: a composting experiment

Michael -  Thanks .. I'll think about covering the compost pile with
plastic.  I'd need a long-spiked meat thermometer to get a good temperature
check, but I'll try it with a regular one.  6" in, it is clearly over 100 F
to the touch.   At the moment, the pile contains about 4,000 lbs of pumpkin
goo, and 1-2 cubic yards of wood and leafy matter run through a chipper (I
downed some trees), plus a few cubic feet of oak leaves and garden
clippings.  So, there's plenty of carbon but the carbon-nitrogen mixture is
anyone's guess.  How do you rate pumpkin slime on the C-N scale?

Here is a question:  I have 3 cubic yards of chicken/rice ammendment and
another 3 of purchased leaf compost standing nearby.   Anyone know if I
would I gain anything by sending those  through the hot compost pile?

	Dan Shapiro

PS:  I wouldn't call this a miracle of winter composting since I live about
30 miles south of San Francisco.  No need to thaw the compost with a
blow-torch first. It's been in the low-mid 30s at night and upper 40s by
day.

In answer to your last question: I have about 10  feet of sewer pipe down
there, with enough holes drilled in it to match the cross sectional area of
the pipe.  (Since the fan for the house heat has no compression,
smaller/fewer holes would just mean less airflow.)  The pile is about 40
feet from my back door.


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