Mixing the Pile

It’s been roughly a week and a half since the first layers of compost were placed so I decided to turn the pile. I talked to an acquaintance a couple days ago about how often a pile should be mixed. She replied with about a week to a week and half. She has been composting for a couple of years now so I trusted her judgment. The pile has grown to about five times as big since a week ago. Ideally, the bin will be full and healthy by winter so the heat generating from the pile will sustain the worms throughout the winter. The progress has generated optimism for me. The top layer is dried leaves which will control the smell. More to follow…

Adding Worms to the Compost Bin - by Jan Christensen

Tuesday, June 29. I got some worms from my friend Tonia who has a worm box in her kitchen. They’re really healthy little red guys – just perfect for the compost bin. Take a look at Tonia’s worm box in the photo. It’s a Styrofoam cooler with a good lid and a few holes around the top of the box. She adds scraps and the worms eat them and make this amazing black dirt – worm castings. This stuff will make your garden grow! I added them to the top of the pile, then put some fresh kitchen compost on top of them. I know they will be especially happy, because I have cantaloupe seeds and rind, and they love sweet things like that. My sister just gave me a stainless steel compost bucket that used to belong to my Aunt Dorothy. I guess it’s an antique. It’s very heavy – this thing is going to outlast me! After I fed the worms with the kitchen scraps, I layered on some straw. The compost in the box is neat and doesn’t smell at all. I think the addition of the worms will get it going faster. It has rained enough that it hasn’t dried out, but we may water it today because worms like it moist. Oh… one important thing about compost buckets. It’s important to wash them out with hot soapy water after you empty them. It just makes your kitchen a nicer place to be. -Jan Christensen

First Layers of Compost

The bin is now at Clarke Food Garden and the first layers of compost were laid this morning. I met Jan Christensen at the garden. She had two pales of kitchen scrapes that she layered atop of thin layer of wood chips. Then we layered hay over the food scrapes.
I perused a couple of websites for information about compost. Compost is made up of two different categories of organic material. Greens, which are vegetable and fruit scrapes and freshly cut grass or plant material, are high in nitrogen. Greens provide protein for the organisms. While browns, which are dry leaves, hay and wood chips, are high in carbon. Browns provide the energy for the organisms. This website insisted a 4-1(brown to green) mix provided the right combination for a healthy compost.
The first three layers we layered were an inch of brown, wood chips, to an inch of greens, fruit and vegetable scrapes, and another 3 inches of browns, hay. It seems to me that a perfect combination is merely a guideline. Too much of one category means a slower process of compost. Though the compost will still decompose.

Bin Construction

After class on June 17, 2010, I constructed the compost bin. I drew up the blueprints earlier in the day on a scrap piece of paper. I’m not a carpenter. I had a visual idea of what I wanted the bin to look like but I went in fairly blind. I enjoy going into project production without any direct expectations of a finished object. Made of primarily 2x4 and chicken wire, I constructed a one-yard cubic bin standing roughly 4’ tall. It’s slightly lopsided and I could have used thinner nails but I found tranquility in its imperfections.
The bin I constructed is referred to as an open bin container. The pros of an open bin container are allowing rain, air and sunlight to reach the compost without “opening” the container. All three elements are crucial for decomposition success. The con of an open bin container is providing an easier opportunity for rodents to reach the compost. Also, too much rain will slow the process.