A bit of advice?

We have some 'beds' and the dirt is fairly depleated. I am wanting to make a pile of debris to breakdown over the winter (warm and fairly wet) so that in the spring I will hve some good soil to plant more asparagus and corn.... So...this is my plan and what I have started to do:

I have laid corrugated cardboard down on the top of the area and am piling garden waste on top of it (mostly green). I do have a large rubbish can buried in the area with bokashi kitchen waste chugging away so the worms are in the area. On top of the garden waste I will layer more cardboard (opened and flattened out) as well as some compost we had brought in. I thought I would just continue this layering 3 or 4 levels and then let it sit for a while and break down.

Am I missing something important? I will spray with EM from time to time and try to get some high N greenery in there too.

Layering the cardboard with the green and brown waste should break down into something yummy, shouldn't it?

Earthworms love cardboard! I don't know if your system will work, because I have never tried it your way - but it sure sounds like you are on the right track.

What is EM?

When I build a compost pile, I add blood meal, bone meal, and whatever else I have on hand.

AH - you described one of the ways I build a new area and it is a successful way to deal with compostibles. Also called "sheet composting" - layers shouldn't be too thick & cardboard needs to be soaked well.
You'll have the added bonus of the ambient temperature being warm & available rain. Since you live on the windward side of the island, you may want to cover the pile with more cardboard or something that is easy to remove to keep the pile from becoming saturated.

I remember you posting about the garbage can but cannot locate the thread: is it a holding place for the bokashi'd kitchen waste, or is it "finished"? I was going to try this, but with lots of sod/weeds that I recently pulled up. Would this work with immersing the sod/weeds in a Bokashi solution for 2-3 weeks (in a trash can)? There's too much good material to chuck into the brush pile. I was hoping to be able to compost with Bokashi & utilize it after pickling the daylights out of the weed roots.
Any advice/thoughts would be helpful - Mahalo!

Hmmmmmm. I may just cover the whole thing with a tarp when it is built up. Thanks for the assurances. We have a high nitrogen fixing tree here that is a weed, and I plant to cut a bunch of young branches and throw them in the pile.

Katye...after I have composed the kitchen waste in a 5 gal. bucket, I empty it into the large rubbish can half buried in the dirt, and throw some dirt on top of it to 'seal' it off. The critters just love it. I also throw in lawn clippings, some shredded paper etc....

I have read that you CAN "bokashi" weeds the same way you do the kitchen waste and the seeds are cooked! I don't know about the 'sod' in there, tho....

If you don't have pigs and dogs digging up fermented stuff...you can just dig a hole, pile in the stuff, spray it with EM1 (EM with molassas) and then cover it up again. That's the reason I have to do mine in buckets!!!!

I have a feeling this is going to be a great thread with lots of good information!!!!

Carol

PS I have trouble laying out bloodmeal etc. because of a Labrador who will eat it all!!!! ....and wild pigs....