When compost is ready

Compost goes on working when we think its at a stage that we prefer .Many times I let my compost work too long, and miss out of the full impact that it can have on our plant beds.The compost In the picture was ready back the first of sept., but due to other things I put off until this week to apply it.I turned the pile, looked at the worms, and the texture was really ready at the end of Aug..Not only was my compost dryer, but the worms moved over to the unfinished side, leaving just smaller hatchlings.Mike

It's still all good, Mike. Compost does not "spoil". Dryer is not a bad thing. That's some beautiful stuff you got there, I'd apply it and water the devil out of it. The worms will come and bring friends, relatives, etc! Honest! :)
You cannot "waste" good compost!

Thank you doccat, and yes I'll water, and work into my plant bed.The point I am trying to raise is, when compost is in the late stage of working, and you work it into any soil, the compost incorporates the dull soil into the composting process.There fore your soil gets a more lively working.The results becomes a lively soil that grows better with cultivation.

Amen! Compost brings worms, worms make the soil richer and your plants healthier!

That's an interesting point, Mike - I never thought of it in that manner.... It gives me an excuse for what (up until now) I've thought of as merely impatience....

What we so often overlook is the non-converted organic content of our soils. These elements come only from what we enter into the soil. Therefore compost will innoculate and strengthen our soil in specific relationship to the amount of raw organic elements in the soil. This is why we add raw manures, leaves, garden residule to be tilled into the soil in the fall. This is why we consider adding light applications of organic fertilizers and minerals in the fall. Our cover crops finish the picture.

Compost can be added anytime. It needs the above to be at its most effective use. There is a biological army of great numbers in finished compost. Some suggest fifty million individual bacteria in a single grain of soil or compost..not to mention the other players. You and I must build the mess hall for that army. That is totally our responsibilty if we wish to hurry along healthy organic soil building.

Good topic to have us all think and rethink the way we create our compose pile. Hiya Mike, Doccats and everyone. I'm hanging out here and learning of new ideas.
Kim
Merry Christmas!!!

Absolutely docgipe...you don't get somethin for nothin, guys. It works that way with garden soil too. And you can't hurry it either..........this is not something you want do if you need instant gratification...well, in less you like a lot of radishes, that's about as close as it gets I think..........LOL

Radishes I can deal with. My most recent desire is to find a biological friend or mongoose that will dig and eat only crab grass.

If you find one, please save and share! LOL

I have my eye on that AFLEX DUCK. That critter may be smart enough to train.

I can "dig" it. He can turn into super duck and fly right thru a wall, should be able to handle the grasses! LOL

Be very careful on introducing plants or animal to your enviornment.Think "kudzo","armidillo", and lets not forget "privet", although privet is my main source of "green" in my compost.With all the leaves I pick up this time of year I get over run with the browns, and I love to see it cook, before I roll it over to the worm bin, and privet does that real well, after my little DR chipper chews it up.I have kinda started doing a sustained cutting of privet, and every two years there is more fore the chipper.Try it, you will find it really works. Mike
Welcome abored Kim, been seeing you here and there.M

Ok, so to get my compost to break down better, should I put a green layer, then leaves on top of that and not turn it for a while, or do I mix the two layers together.

LorraineR, go ahead and just layer the greens with the brown. I like to start and finish with browns so the greens are sandwitched in between to start. The greens will get hot fast this way and the heat will spread to the browns below.

I found out the hard way not to turn or mix the pile too soon or you will stop the heat process. Now I will only turn the pile when the heat level in the center cools down to below about 50 degrees f. When I do turn it I make certain that there is enough moisture and mix everything together adding a layer in the center of greens if it looks like most of the original greens have somehow vanished... they compost faster than the browns I have.

This brings the internal heat of the pile back up for a week or two. Now that the weather is getting colder and wetter I am letting the pile do it's thing without much interference from me. I checked the temp this morning and it read 96 degrees in the center. That means it is slowly cooling off. I'll need to turn it again to mix up the last thick layer of grass I added, but not for a couple of weeks. Then it will be up to the worms to finish things off until the weather clears in a few long months from now.

Once I get it turned one last time I want to plant the surface with legumes but that will be a couple of weeks yet and I need to find out if I can still plant the seed this late into winter or if I need to wait til spring.

Zanymuse thinks like me.I have the bottom layer thicker than the third layer, but try to get the green as thick as the first.A good working pile will cook just fine left undisturbed, until you are ready for the worms to take over.I had to waste 40# of dog food because I broke a glass, and didn't want to take the chance feeding it to our baby, so I got out all the glass I could find, and poured it on the pile, and that increased the heat.

Zany, what kind of legumes are figuring on planting? And thank you mqiq77....I told y'all dog food will work to kick start a pile in a pinch............neener, neener..........LOL

It is a mix from the feed store of chickpea, common vetch and?

As for the dog food, I found out the hard way that even if I bury it under 12-20 inches of greens the coons will dig it out and make a mess so any advantage of heat is lost and I have more work to do cleaning up.

mqiq: I think storing compost on the drier side is preferable. If it gets too much water (rain, snow), much can leach out.

As far as layering, I pretty much mix rather than making layers. (The exception is a couple of inches of leaves or other brown on top to prevent odor). It seems to heat better and break down better and faster. When I made layers I generally had pockets of browns (shredded paper, leaves, straw) which would clump together and take forever to break down. This doesn't happen when the contents in my bins are a more homogenous mix.

Karen

Guys! It's compost! Not rocket science. Even if it leaches out a bit, who cares, you soil is going to be better for putting it down, which is the whole point. I just know that if I do this, my Virginia red clay turns into black friable dirt over time. Since I been doing this for over 25 years, I don't have many spots left that are straight clay.

LOL"compost, not rocket science". I have a close "lazy" friend that has as pretty of compost as me, and all he does is replaces the wasted compost that works its way to the out side edges, and puts it back on top of the pile.No turning, No laylering, just what is around the edges, goes back on top.His compost is as good as mine, and balanced.We tested both.Go figure! Mike

i plan to use mine in whatever stage it is in come spring. compost should not cause stress, lol

I pretty much did that with my old bin. It was impossible to turn, so I just threw stuff in and it rotted eventually. It usually took about a year so I didn't produce much compost. I hated that old bin, but I probably had it for about 15 years.

Now, with my 2 Biostack bins, it's much easier to flip, so I do it, at least in the nice weather, about once every week or two. It heats better, holds heat longer, and breaks down much faster. I get several nice batches a year.

Karen

My compost bin was a copy of one I saw in "mother earth news", and it called for 8' perforated drain pipe to be laid across the pile, and be allowed to "float on the surface, and as humas was added then add 2 more pipes on top, etc...This worked well, but for some reason pest would enter through the slots that were for the pipe, and made a mess, so I just use the bin as is, and its in a good place for solitude.The bin is now about 22 years old, but I'm not.There is four chambers 4'x8'.I usually keep 2 bins active, and store ground leaves in one.Mike

mqiq77, That looks like it is a good and easy to use system. If I had room for it it wouldn't matter if it took a year to compost since I would have a steady supply each year.

Looks great mqiq77! Mother just ROCKS!

Mike..........way to show us sir! One can hardly ever have to much compost. My two ton pile looks about like your's without the confines of walls. I just roll it from one end to the other so the working pile goes up and down the row as I find time to turn the most active part, then the next third or so. I am now less active due to age but a couple of tons is not hard for me to make.

PS..........I have a part time helper in a grandson and a young man that does some of my heavy work. I'm almost getting to old for this old S#!!.

docgipe, The reason I have the confines, is because of the origanal make of the system.I find it just as rewarding to do as you are doing, and might start that soon, and leave the confines to house the many leaves I pick up, (in bags) from parks, and rec., from guys that find it easier for me to come by and pick up the bags, and soon to be paper bags.How good can life get!!As far as help goes, my 16YO grandson does OK, until it gets boreing, or something, then he makes inefficent quick work of whatever he is doing.ie, I have wood too large for the stove, under what isn't.He's really a good boy, I just can't think of enough things to tell him not to do.For me, composting is theroputic(sp), and has probably saved my marrage several times over.When I bought this place, and built, I bought the land at 1/2 the price, because of the gully wash on either side,ie 2 acher lots with a 20' gully each.Its been an education.Mike

Mike, I like to see your projects in gardening. Everyone, Mike is wonderful with propagation projects as well. It's always a pleasure to see Mike at work in the gardening realm.
Kim

Thank you Kim, did I tell you I had 9 sucessful cross vines? You are right about hard to propagate those things.BTW, do they keep thier leaves through the winter, or has it not been cold enough here? Mike

They're evergreen Mike, the leaves may turn a little bronzy orange lightly. But will green back up when the weather becomes warmer. :-)
Kim

For shame! You made a bunch of poor little vines, cross? What's the matter with you, you big meanie!

LOL, those are lovely, once you see them vines flower in the spring. You woudn't want to be without them. :-)
Kim

They are lovely, what are they?

It's this;
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/56818/

Thank you and I see some for trade. I'll have to check, I see they can be invasive. Do you suggest a planter for them?

Not at all, they aren't invasive enough. They provide great screening, and proven to be attractive year round. They bloom more prolifically in sunny area. In shade they're very tamed, still provide blooms enough to catch your attention. :-)
I do give them a good pruning after the blooms faded, thus seedlings had never been an issue with my having them.
Kim

Ah, I'm thinking of an area I'm looking to add a trellis and these would be perfect. I see a couple of DGs have them for trade. I'll have to see if I can work a deal. :) Thanks for the info.

Kathy? Be sure it's the Bignonia capralata, and not our native trumpet vine Campsis radican. (Radican's seedlings are prolific and that's where our concern comes in place).

I sure am pleased with my cuttings, and I had some to bloom already.Boy! I'm glad I got to know you, Thanks again Kim.The formosan lilies are doing fine also.I have said that I want to be covered up with flowers, before I get covered up in flowers.I look foward to growing season more each year.BTW, we need to make that ole black gold while we can.Winter is the time to get it going, and I have been heaping it up here.I have three new lasagna beds, all on washed out areas that have not even grown weeds.Mike