Post#7: Compost. My Own Little Landfill, Part II
August 11th, 2008 Posted in Basic Green, Green Acts | No Comments »August 11, 2008
For the last two months, my tumbler composting has been a series of fumbles and recoveries. Still, I like being in the game.
Twice I’ve made useful (but not perfect) compost. More is now “cooking” in my tumbler. I’ve learned a few practical moves.
The 800 Number: My tumbler arrived with a 24-page handy instruction booklet. It gave a free Customer Service number where “experienced composters” could advise me.
At first, I ignored the offer—thanks, I’d just read the booklet. Before long, though, I was on familiar terms with Toni, the experienced composter at the other end of the phone.
Here’s a summary of Toni’s good coaching. (More context is in the July 11 post.)
1) Put in Enough Stuff. At first I filled the 9-bushel chamber 2/3 full, like the booklet said. I was trying to trigger “hot composting,” so that the microbes could get to work and produce great compost in about 14 days. Two days passed. Nothing much happened.
Toni explained that the booklet was unclear. She apologized. They had meant to say 2/3 full of the original big 18-bushel tumbler, not my two-chamber model. For my 9-bushel chamber, I should fill it completely full, said Toni. Right away, for hot composting mass.
So I ran around grabbing more yard waste, especially my plentiful weeds, and stuffed the chamber full. Alas, I’ve never been good at recognizing poison ivy. An itchy ten days followed. Now I wear long-sleeved garden gloves.
2) Really Wet the Stuff Down. At first I sprinkled the contents lightly with the hose, like the booklet said. Too much watering, it warned, could drown the microbes or make a stinky mess. I was so cautious that my compost was too dry. I suspected as much, because my tumbler wasn’t draining off “compost tea” daily into my bucket. This drainage was supposed to be good liquid fertilizer.
Toni had bold advice. More water! Get it moist through and through, as long as it isn’t sopping, or the whole process won’t work. So I did that. On my second batch of compost, I even went overboard and produced gallons of “compost tea.” It smelled good and earthy.
3) Take the Temperature of Your Compost. The booklet offered several temperature charts for hot compost—it might heat to 140 degrees or so for a few days, for example, and then cool off. I tried to stick a small outside thermometer into the compost mass. Then I tried my turkey thermometer. The readings didn’t make any sense. Oh well, the stuff felt warm, so I was optimistic in my ignorance.
Then Toni sent me a compost thermometer (local hardware stores didn’t have them), at a low price, from Pennsylvania to my front step in two days. It was 20 inches long. Eureka! Now I could diagnose my compost.
Toni said the temperature had to hold over 120 degrees for 3 or 4 days, to make hot compost. I measured faithfully and daily. My second batch rose to 138 degrees. Ah, now I was a real compost hatcher.
Tips and News and More to Learn:
I’ve played only one version of the composting game. I could also try making “slow compost” by tumbler; working with one-bin or multiple-bin ground compost; setting up year-round compost; or jump-starting my compost with “activators” like blood meal.
Some people come up with fine-tuned approaches: http://www.cozmocrafts.com/news/2008/05/20/how-to-craft-a-compost-pile/.
Others build their own monster compost bins: http://www.groovygreen.com/groove/?p=3121.
In the winter I could try “kitchen composting,” with materials like raw vegetable scraps, wet newspaper, and coffee grounds—no animal waste. Better Homes and Gardens shows what that might look like: http://youtube.com/watch?v=qHHovBRrmac&feature=related.
Some composters use worms to help break down the materials. Here’s No Impact Man on that topic: http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/2008/06/lv-grn-slimy-pe.html.
Yes, A Philosophy of Composting:
After all my fumbles, I needed to get philosophical about composting. Now here’s what I tell myself:
It doesn’t have to be perfect.
I’m cool with experimenting.
Trial and error is a good thing.
All I’m doing is helping Nature along.