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AMG
Joined: 29 Jan 2004
Posts: 75
Location: Dallas, TX
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| Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2004 9:50 am Post subject: Layering? |
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I read in posts every so often about how y'all are layering materials in your piles. Can someone explain why this is done and should *I* bedoing it?
I basically toss stuff in every day or so and turn the stuff about once a week or so. (I turned them yesterday and was thrilled to finally feel warmth again :D) |
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Tony M
Joined: 31 Mar 2003
Posts: 1088
Location: McKinney,TEXAS
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| Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2004 9:25 pm Post subject: |
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There are two ways of composting and a hundred in between the two. The two methods are slow and fast.
If you choose the fast method you have to pay attention to layering carbon and nitrogen, moisture and keeping the pile aerated.
If you choose the slow method, you do nothing and eventually everything will break down just like it does in the forest.
If you are getting the results you want, don't change. If your composting objectives and not being met, give us more info or send a note to "captain compost" on this forum for expert advice.
Tony M |
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AMG
Joined: 29 Jan 2004
Posts: 75
Location: Dallas, TX
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| Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2004 7:45 am Post subject: |
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Well, I've not really got the time to pay that much attn to it, but I do wish it would hurry up, LOL! I was hoping to have some to spread over the front yard and to do some spring planting with.
About a month ago or so, I split the pile into two, taking about 2/3 of the original to let it keep breaking down and not add new stuff to it so that maybe it would be "done" quicker. I'm thinking maybe that wasn't a great idea, because of the two piles, the one that I'm adding to regularly is the one that finally got heated up.
I toss leaves in and kitchen leavings (no meat, dairy, etc.) and turn once every week-10 days. I'm on a pretty restricted budget as well, so going out and buying "additives" or whatever to jump-start the process may not be an option. |
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gnalekim
Joined: 24 Mar 2004
Posts: 39
Location: Creston B.C. Canada
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| Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2004 12:23 am Post subject: |
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AMG, If your really interested in the why's of layering goto the web site journeytoforever.org and search for the article "paydirt". The article is by J.I. Rodale and is about Sir Albert Howard "the father of scientific composting".
It is a wealth of composting info and describes in great detail the "Indore process" a method of layer composting. |
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AMG
Joined: 29 Jan 2004
Posts: 75
Location: Dallas, TX
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| Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2004 6:50 am Post subject: |
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| What a great site - thank you! I've just spent over an hour reading! |
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gnalekim
Joined: 24 Mar 2004
Posts: 39
Location: Creston B.C. Canada
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| Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2004 9:46 pm Post subject: |
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Hey AMG, did you find the article "Pay dirt" I know its easy to get sidetracked in this site, its loaded. I started reading in the middle of the article and thought it had a contempory author as it was so relevant to the way people are starting to think (on a larger scale anyway) I was shocked to find later that it was written in the late 40's about reasearch that was being done in the first decade of the 1900's. these guys knew way back then that chemical farming was bad, bad, bad. We think we're so enlightened now, these guys were screaming from the roof tops one-hundred years ago. Its also interesting to note the scale which organics were applied back then, we're talking hundreds and hundreds of acres in a single operation. the argument that organic is only practical on a small scale is bunk. theres a guy today in Vulcan Alberta Canada, farming 3000 acres of cereal grains "certified organic". Imagin that...
:wink: |
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AMG
Joined: 29 Jan 2004
Posts: 75
Location: Dallas, TX
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| Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 8:48 am Post subject: |
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| Yes, I hit "paydirt" right off and read for a long, long time. The scale of what they were doing is amazing, isn't it? |
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