phrygian44
Well-Known Member
continued from Part 1. . .
Key points to composting
There are two keys to getting compost to complete in a year: Turning da pile, and moisture. The biggest one is that you constantly need to turn over your pile, at the right times. This breaks up the clumps of compacted wet leaves and organic matter so that the bacteria and fungus's can get at and eat everything more efficiently. It also introduces air into the pile, which is always a good thing, even if you're using anerobic methods, as the more different types of bacteria that you have working and breaking down your pile, the quicker and better the final product will be.
I therefore generally turn my bins every 3-4 weeks, or more, in the aerobic phase (Spring to Fall), and about once every 4-5 weeks (depending on compost pile temperature) in the anaerobic phase (Fall and over the Winter). More on anaerobic and aerobic when I discuss bin turning below.
Turning
When I turn the pile, I turn from one bin into the other (that's why i have a 3-bin system), from late October to early October, the following year. At the end of the cycle, I empty out the bins and either use the compost in the garden right away, and/or store some for the following Spring. The bins are emptied, regardless of finished state, in-prep for the new batch that I start collecting for at the end of October. The cycle then repeats every year. Any other method and you would have to wait 2 seasons before the compost is ready (see note).
note: Technically, all compost is good, at any half decent stage of the process (at least several months where the leaves have actually done some breaking down, and bacteria and fungus's have permeated the compost), so don't panic and think that you must always have Finished Product. Partially de-composted matter will still work excellently as mulch, and if you work the composted well into your soil, it will still have many of the benefits that i mentioned in my previous post. Remember, all compost is good compost!
The second key to efficient composting is to keeping the pile at a reasonably consistent moister level. Too dry and there is little to no microbial activity, too wet and you're drowning the poor, tiny little buggers.
Don't worry, this is not rocket science, and it's not all about Goldilocks.
When it comes time to turn your pile and the leaves are dry, then simply water in some water every layer or so, just to wet things down. I then find that I'm good for the next 2-3 turnings when i do this. If your pile is too wet, from all the rain, don't worry, the little microbes will evenly catch-up and generate enough heat and dry the pile out. Nature will always find a way to take care of itself (think Jurassic Park movie), for the most part. If the pile is constantly dry, or if you live in a dry climate zone, then yes, you will need to add water on a more consistent basis - you can just water to the top of the pile instead of turning and watering it.
enough on das turning. onto the das bins. . .
Side Note on having a multi-bin system: The only benefit of having a side-by-each multi-bin system is for turning, and reducing large volumes in an efficient manner, like i do for my entire garden. I start with 3 full bins (i actually have a 3-4 bin surplus still in bags sitting outside the bins, and i just keep feeding the leaves into the bins as the piles keep going down), and then as composting happens, the material starts to reduce and go down in size. At some point i'm able to consolidate everything into 2 bins. I now have 1 empty outside bin, where i can then turn-over the middle bin into the now empty bin, and then the other outside bin into the now empty inside bin. I then do this back-and-forth, left to right (if you're on the Canadian Metric system), or right to left (if you're on the American Standard system) until i can finally consolidate the 2 bins into 1 bin, and then it's just a simple matter of shoveling one bin back and forth with the one bin beside it. It's a really nice, effective system.
ok, back on point. . .
So, what I do is a combination of anaerobic and aerobic composting. The first half of the year (from what i'll call the late October, over the Winter, until early Spring), I use anaerobic composting (no air), as it produces the most heat and is therefore the most efficient form of composting, especially for the stage of leaves at that point in time (as the stacked and compressed leave become very dense, and therefore matted, which is ideal for anaerobic microbes). Then, as the leaves start composting, over the next 5-6 months, the material begins to loosen up and becomes a lot less matted - the turning process facilitates this a great deal.
At this point, when the leaves are reasonably broken up, around late Spring time, it becomes harder to maintain the hot, compacted anerobic environment required for anaerobic activity. I therefore switch over to aerobic mode around the beginning of July, and then start turning the bins every 3 weeks to promote lots of air into the pile so that the aerobic bacteria can take over. I also then start spacing my pine boards apart by about an inch to now allow airflow into the bins, while still holding back the compost. Up until this point, starting from last October, there was no spacing between the boards and they were closed shut. (see above pics, where you'll notice a difference in the board spacing). Some systems make use of wire mesh to promote even more airflow into the bins, which is great if you're using the aerobic method, exclusively (Note: you can use wire mesh/fencing and aerobic composing entirely in hot climates), but then it's harder to close up that type of system for the Winter months if you live in colder climates. As I said, have fun agonizing and choosing over the perfrect bin ssystem. lolol
Side note on board spacing and wire mesh:
Wire mesh is more efficient than board spacing in allowing air into the pile - duh, no contest there. However, if you are familiar with how a venturi system works (think carburetors on a car), you'll know that the vacuum created on a draw will suck up or pull in gasoline up from the reservoir. The same thing happens inside the compost pile. The tremendous heat produced by the microbial activity (upwards of 160C or 320F) will create a vacuum as the heat rises up in the air. (all heat rises. physics 201). The upward movement of air will then create a vacuum behind it, within the pile, and therefore it will draw in air through the open board spacing. Not as efficient as the mesh, granted, but more than enough to provide fresh air into the pile for the aerobic process.
Side side note on airflow for your compost system:
I even used to take a 3 inch diameter black PVC pipe, drill a line of big holes along each side of its length, and then stick the pipe right into the center of the pile, leaving the end that's sticking out of the pile "open". Now you have airflow, directed and distributed right into the center, where most of the aerobic bacteria are performing at their best.
Moving on. . .
Come early November, after the bins have been filled as much as possible from the colledtion process, i then completely cover the bins with sheets of plywood (see following pics), and then cover the bins with a big heavy-duty tarp so that no air, cold, or water can get into the bins. The anaerobic bacteria are therefore nice and warm, all snug and making merry in their isolated bins over the Winter months.
Tip: Everyone will tell you that you should leave the bins uncovered, to allow for water to get into the mix, which is true, and which you do need to do, but at the right time - but Winter is NOT that time. However, if you decide to Not take this extra step and cover up your bins over the Winter, you will find that all the snow and melted water will have turned your bin into one very big F'n ICE CUBE, come Spring, and you'll now be lucky if you can start turning your pile over before mid-July.
With my system, the bins are reasonably dry and warm all Winter, still actively being broken down by the warm and unfrozen bacteria. I can therefore keep turning the bins all Winter long, and most importantly, start aggressively turning the bins as early as mid-March, when the first signs of warm weather starts comin' 'round, and when it's also the perfect time to switch over to aerobic composting. That's 4-5 of additional month's advantage in which i can turn the piles - if you haven't been counting along with me. : P And, if you remember what I said at the beginning of this post in Part 1, turning your pile is key to getting finished product in a single season.
F! Still not enough characters. need a Part 3. :\
to be continued. . .
Up Next up: Part 3
Happy composting, Happy harvesting, and Happy dreaming of next year's strains and growing season.
Key points to composting
There are two keys to getting compost to complete in a year: Turning da pile, and moisture. The biggest one is that you constantly need to turn over your pile, at the right times. This breaks up the clumps of compacted wet leaves and organic matter so that the bacteria and fungus's can get at and eat everything more efficiently. It also introduces air into the pile, which is always a good thing, even if you're using anerobic methods, as the more different types of bacteria that you have working and breaking down your pile, the quicker and better the final product will be.
I therefore generally turn my bins every 3-4 weeks, or more, in the aerobic phase (Spring to Fall), and about once every 4-5 weeks (depending on compost pile temperature) in the anaerobic phase (Fall and over the Winter). More on anaerobic and aerobic when I discuss bin turning below.
Turning
When I turn the pile, I turn from one bin into the other (that's why i have a 3-bin system), from late October to early October, the following year. At the end of the cycle, I empty out the bins and either use the compost in the garden right away, and/or store some for the following Spring. The bins are emptied, regardless of finished state, in-prep for the new batch that I start collecting for at the end of October. The cycle then repeats every year. Any other method and you would have to wait 2 seasons before the compost is ready (see note).
note: Technically, all compost is good, at any half decent stage of the process (at least several months where the leaves have actually done some breaking down, and bacteria and fungus's have permeated the compost), so don't panic and think that you must always have Finished Product. Partially de-composted matter will still work excellently as mulch, and if you work the composted well into your soil, it will still have many of the benefits that i mentioned in my previous post. Remember, all compost is good compost!
The second key to efficient composting is to keeping the pile at a reasonably consistent moister level. Too dry and there is little to no microbial activity, too wet and you're drowning the poor, tiny little buggers.
Don't worry, this is not rocket science, and it's not all about Goldilocks.
When it comes time to turn your pile and the leaves are dry, then simply water in some water every layer or so, just to wet things down. I then find that I'm good for the next 2-3 turnings when i do this. If your pile is too wet, from all the rain, don't worry, the little microbes will evenly catch-up and generate enough heat and dry the pile out. Nature will always find a way to take care of itself (think Jurassic Park movie), for the most part. If the pile is constantly dry, or if you live in a dry climate zone, then yes, you will need to add water on a more consistent basis - you can just water to the top of the pile instead of turning and watering it.
enough on das turning. onto the das bins. . .
Side Note on having a multi-bin system: The only benefit of having a side-by-each multi-bin system is for turning, and reducing large volumes in an efficient manner, like i do for my entire garden. I start with 3 full bins (i actually have a 3-4 bin surplus still in bags sitting outside the bins, and i just keep feeding the leaves into the bins as the piles keep going down), and then as composting happens, the material starts to reduce and go down in size. At some point i'm able to consolidate everything into 2 bins. I now have 1 empty outside bin, where i can then turn-over the middle bin into the now empty bin, and then the other outside bin into the now empty inside bin. I then do this back-and-forth, left to right (if you're on the Canadian Metric system), or right to left (if you're on the American Standard system) until i can finally consolidate the 2 bins into 1 bin, and then it's just a simple matter of shoveling one bin back and forth with the one bin beside it. It's a really nice, effective system.
ok, back on point. . .
So, what I do is a combination of anaerobic and aerobic composting. The first half of the year (from what i'll call the late October, over the Winter, until early Spring), I use anaerobic composting (no air), as it produces the most heat and is therefore the most efficient form of composting, especially for the stage of leaves at that point in time (as the stacked and compressed leave become very dense, and therefore matted, which is ideal for anaerobic microbes). Then, as the leaves start composting, over the next 5-6 months, the material begins to loosen up and becomes a lot less matted - the turning process facilitates this a great deal.
At this point, when the leaves are reasonably broken up, around late Spring time, it becomes harder to maintain the hot, compacted anerobic environment required for anaerobic activity. I therefore switch over to aerobic mode around the beginning of July, and then start turning the bins every 3 weeks to promote lots of air into the pile so that the aerobic bacteria can take over. I also then start spacing my pine boards apart by about an inch to now allow airflow into the bins, while still holding back the compost. Up until this point, starting from last October, there was no spacing between the boards and they were closed shut. (see above pics, where you'll notice a difference in the board spacing). Some systems make use of wire mesh to promote even more airflow into the bins, which is great if you're using the aerobic method, exclusively (Note: you can use wire mesh/fencing and aerobic composing entirely in hot climates), but then it's harder to close up that type of system for the Winter months if you live in colder climates. As I said, have fun agonizing and choosing over the perfrect bin ssystem. lolol
Side note on board spacing and wire mesh:
Wire mesh is more efficient than board spacing in allowing air into the pile - duh, no contest there. However, if you are familiar with how a venturi system works (think carburetors on a car), you'll know that the vacuum created on a draw will suck up or pull in gasoline up from the reservoir. The same thing happens inside the compost pile. The tremendous heat produced by the microbial activity (upwards of 160C or 320F) will create a vacuum as the heat rises up in the air. (all heat rises. physics 201). The upward movement of air will then create a vacuum behind it, within the pile, and therefore it will draw in air through the open board spacing. Not as efficient as the mesh, granted, but more than enough to provide fresh air into the pile for the aerobic process.
Side side note on airflow for your compost system:
I even used to take a 3 inch diameter black PVC pipe, drill a line of big holes along each side of its length, and then stick the pipe right into the center of the pile, leaving the end that's sticking out of the pile "open". Now you have airflow, directed and distributed right into the center, where most of the aerobic bacteria are performing at their best.
Moving on. . .
Come early November, after the bins have been filled as much as possible from the colledtion process, i then completely cover the bins with sheets of plywood (see following pics), and then cover the bins with a big heavy-duty tarp so that no air, cold, or water can get into the bins. The anaerobic bacteria are therefore nice and warm, all snug and making merry in their isolated bins over the Winter months.
Tip: Everyone will tell you that you should leave the bins uncovered, to allow for water to get into the mix, which is true, and which you do need to do, but at the right time - but Winter is NOT that time. However, if you decide to Not take this extra step and cover up your bins over the Winter, you will find that all the snow and melted water will have turned your bin into one very big F'n ICE CUBE, come Spring, and you'll now be lucky if you can start turning your pile over before mid-July.
With my system, the bins are reasonably dry and warm all Winter, still actively being broken down by the warm and unfrozen bacteria. I can therefore keep turning the bins all Winter long, and most importantly, start aggressively turning the bins as early as mid-March, when the first signs of warm weather starts comin' 'round, and when it's also the perfect time to switch over to aerobic composting. That's 4-5 of additional month's advantage in which i can turn the piles - if you haven't been counting along with me. : P And, if you remember what I said at the beginning of this post in Part 1, turning your pile is key to getting finished product in a single season.
F! Still not enough characters. need a Part 3. :\
to be continued. . .
Up Next up: Part 3
Happy composting, Happy harvesting, and Happy dreaming of next year's strains and growing season.
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