Im somewhat new to composting. I couldn't find this forum because I was looking for compost under 'C', not 'S' for soil. Anyway, here's a link to my post about my compost not heating up. Could someone help me out? (view of left and middle bins)
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1001534/
Thanks!
Harper
Based on what you wrote in the other thread it sounds like you're doing the right things. It's hard to tell from the picture, but your piles look to be on the dry side. You might try stirring the pile again and adding more water until it has the moisture consistency of a wrung-out sponge.
One other thing that I might try is combining the two piles. Unless, of course, the two piles are at vastly different stages in the compost process and you have them separated for that reason. I've read that the extra mass would help generate heat or something along those lines.
You know, I thought about combining them. We've had a deluge of rain these past few weeks. So much, that It's deterred me from going out to stir (or water). Yesterday we finally had a dry day and I went out to stir. It was the first time I ever smelled an anerobic stink from the pile. I stirred and stirred. It was a lot of work and it was then that I decided not to combine the piles. I wouldn't be able to stir at all if I did.
I spoke to someone at my cooperative extension. Basically, they said I need to keep stirring and give it a few months. They said when the pile is at the ambient temperature, it's still decomposing - just with the help of worms, of which, I have TONS. Is this correct in your experience?
Thanks for responding! I thought this was a dead thread.
Harper
My pile heats up for only a couple of days. It's not large though. I have found a couple worms in it now, so that's a good sign for me. Our pile is only about 3 months old and still growing. It heats up when I toss new grass clippings on it and then cools down. I've seen mine reach 120 degrees but not higher yet. Still shooting for the 140-160 range!
How large is yours Qinx? My mower doesn't have a catch for the grass clippings, so they just go back into the lawn unless I want to rake, and I don't. I got up to 140 once! Only once. That was after I put Compost Starter in with all fresh greens and browns.
Yeah, that's been my experience too. It seems I have relatively short periods of high temperatures and that's the "exciting" part. The heat is nice because it is tangible proof that your efforts are paying off.
But it does seem like my materials continue to break down at the lower temperatures too. It's just harder to recognize the activity at that stage.
Good to know. How long for you GardenSox, before your compost is finished? I'm hoping I can push it to no longer than 6 months.
It will break down quicker if the pieces are smaller when they are first added to the pile. Since I've begun composting, I've only checked my temp two or three times. Being able to see the steam when I turn the pile is inspiring.
If you have an animal feed store or Tractor Supply Store in the nearby vicinity, you may want to invest in some alfalfa - its actually one of the main ingredients in some of the compost starters. Turning regularly will also help to speed things up.
Things should be faster in the warm weather.
I got a shredder/chipper last year for my birthday. I LOVE IT!! Everything gets ground up before it goes in. Well, I tried doing the clematis vines. That was a disaster, so I cut them by hand and tossed them in.
Of course! An animal feed store! I kept going to hardware stores and garden centers looking for alfalfa with no success. Oh, right. I forgot about the cold weather making it slower too. How often is "regularly"? I try to stir at least once a week. Thanks pennefeather!
My compost would finish a whole lot faster if I'd just leave it alone but I keep adding stuff to it. So I can't really say how long it takes. And it is probably a whole lot warmer here in Sacramento than it is in Putnam County.
Yes, I'm sure it's a lot warmer in Sacramento. I've been there once. Beautiful place!!!!
I keep adding stuff to mine too, but that's why I have three bins. Two are steady, one I'm adding to. I just started some indoor vermicompost this weekend, too. I'm compost obsessed!
My pile is maybe 4w x 2.5d x 2.5h (in feet). I think I built the bin size to be 4x3x2.5 and well aerated. It is about 2/3 full now. I fill it each time I mow with grass clippings. The clippings seem to break down fairly quickly for me and the pile reduces in size in about 3-4 days. You can see the pile in the boxed in area in the attached pic. The grass around the compost pile is doing great. It's nice and green. Also the grass where the water run-off goes is all nice and green too. Now if I just had enough compost to cover the yard!
I turn it every week or so and bury scraps in different locations. We add most of our kitchen scraps minus meat, shredded cardboard, paper, etc. I sprinkle some compost activator on it occasionally and blood meal when I have some left over after feeding the tomatoes. We stop nearly every day at Starbucks to see if they have any coffee grounds too. FREE! We add them to the pile over the week. I also dump some of the coffee grounds around our new rose bushes. They are beginning to take off nicely.
Indoors we have worm bins that get most of our green waste from the kitchen. They also live in a bedding of shredded cardboard and paper. Trying to get our worms to migrate up to the next box, but they seem to like the bottom one still! Going to harvest a good batch of worm castings in the next month I hope.
This message was edited Jun 16, 2009 8:33 AM
I love my shredder too. I wont let my husband touch it - he breaks everything! I think I am a little obsessive compulsive with my compost because it is still new to me. I like to stir mine up two or three times a week.
Composting is fun! I see my neighbor take his grass clippings down to a wooded area to dump. I think I'm gonna tell him to take them to my yard. I don't like him though and I'd feel uncomfortable with him in my yard. Decisions, decisions...
I keep forgetting about Starbucks! There's a Dunkin Donuts closer to where I live and a few regular coffee shops. I just have to remember to stop in!
Starbucks near is pretty good about making grounds available. I'm not sure that all their shifts actually put out their grounds for people because I've found the grounds bin empty quite often and when asked they produces a couple bags.
Caribou Coffee actually refused to give out their grounds. I'm not sure about any of the other coffee houses and what their policy is on the grounds.
I have been able to get heavy large garbage bags halfway full from Starbucks. It's so much better than their prepackaged 1 lb bags that they have for gardeners.
Wonder what a coffee house does with their grounds if the gardeners don't come pick them up, throw them in the trash? How difficult is it to give them to someone who asks? Ah, well... anyway.
There is a small coffee shop in my neighborhood which saves all the grounds for me. It's a small private operation. It helps that I make it extremely easy for them. I give them a nice, clean 5 gallon bucket with a lid. They dump in all their grounds (wet and dry) with the filters. I show up at least twice each week, sometimes 3 times, for a pickup. When I take the full bucket away, I leave another nice, clean 5 gallon bucket with a lid. They KNOW I will show up faithfully, rain or shine. When the city was coated in ice for 3 weeks, I brought a bucket home but didn't replace it- told them I'd continue when it was safe to walk to my compost. They are delighted that I'm not only hauling away the heavy grounds for them, but also putting them to a good use.
Now that summer is here and I have so many plants in bloom, I've been taking a big bouquet of fresh flowers for their shop when I pickup my grounds.
Karen
That's wonderful Karen!
I bought a tumbling "batch composter" at the beginning of the summer and spent a couple of months filling it with kitchen scraps and leaves from last year. It's been a cool summer here, but even so, the contents are just way too wet. Even I, a compost tyro, can see that. I've added leaves, but nothing seems to dry it up (no heat seems to be produced either, though the stuff is certainly decomposing). Can any of you suggest something?
I live near numerous coffee shops that will let me take away grounds. Would that help? Or would it make my (eventual, I hope) compost too acidic?
From what I've read, there is very little acidity in brewed coffee grounds. I would not hesitate to add them to your compost bin. But I'm not sure that the coffee grounds by themselves will help your mix become less wet (you do want it to have moisture though - like a wrung out sponge). I might try adding some shredded paper or cardboard and make sure to keep the contents aerated.
Thanks. I have already started to add paper and cardboard. Maybe I'll just stick with that until the mix begins to look less like the bottom of a lake!
