Get serious! (about compost that is)

First, I have always had compost piles. They were never elaborate or highly technical. Just kitchen scraps, weeds and plant debris and fall leaves tossed in a pile in any random idle spot on the property. Left for one to two years, it would be dismembers to pull the finished product and the remainder used to start a new pile. That was my low effort technique. The compost then went to the root ball area of tomatoes and they've always produced healthy plants like the Mortgage Buster that put out a 2 lb fruit.

Also last fall I picked up a Rubbermaid compost maker for free and that has now received all the kitchen scraps. I 'inoculated' it with red wigglers that I collected from the loads of rotted manure. It is amazing that is was 75% full when I started, and we've add weekly to it, but now is at 40% full. I will be checking for finished product this week - having been to busy to even think about it up until now.

How much do I get per year? Maybe 2 cubic yards at best? Why shouldn't it be more? So my thinking has moved to being more proactive and productive after reading Ogden (see previous post) and Nesbit (sp?). The alter uses a frame built like lincoln logs and the former uses cinder block and sod.

So currently the plan is this. I have leaves (dropped off by a landscaper last fall). It is wet and matted in layer. Currently 1/2 the pile has already gone to mulching the garden paths. The other half will be distributed along the fence. The chickens will be put to work scratching the matted leaves into shredded leaves. I had been tossing a wheelbarrow full per day and they keep up wonderfully. So now I've spread the pile of leave a bit and put up a fence. I will then let loose the chickens on it. This will shred and spread manure on it.

Next I will soak batches in a water brine of chicken manure. You absolutely need moisture and the nitrogen boost should help break down the high carbon content leaves.

Finally I will fetch another load of spoiled straw. I will ensure gets a good soaking from the hose.

I will be shooting for a 8x8x4 piles. To avoid moisture loss I plan on cover with a dense layer of grass clippings which should mat nicely. And it will be criss-crossed with sunflower stalks saved from last year to provide air channels to through the pile.

This should satisfy the requirements for rapid decomposition:

• moisture
• carbon nitrogen balance
• ground up organic wastes
• critical mass of minimum 4 foot square
• aeration