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| My first theory for my space-challenged urban compost was that I would have a couple of trash-barrel composters and alternate them. But now that I see how quickly the very limited capacity of one barrel fills up (and just how much brown material is needed to process just a few weeks' worth of kitchen scraps), I'm considering expanding to a pile enclosed with chicken wire or some such.
The space I have is about four feet wide, and I could probably make the compost pile about three feet deep and high. Question: how does a one-bay compost system work? I have an idea how I would get stuff in, but then how would I get it out? How would I turn it? Or would it be workable to make two bays in such a small space? Can one just put things in above and pull out finished compost below, as I've seen described with leaf mold? The key thing is, this whole thing is in the corner of a garden bed. There is a tree to one side, some shrubs and perennials to the other side, a brick wall behind. The plantings in front are TBD. I was thinking of putting a shrub in front for camouflage, but I have a feeling that that only works if I'm dealing with barrels that can be moved, and not a pile that is approached with a pitchfork. What do you all think? Design advice? Practical suggestions? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| I wouldn't block the front with anything that can't be easily moved. To turn my one bin I take the top off and put it in a wheelbarrow. I then take out the rest and pile it on the ground. Once empty, I dump the wheelbarrow into the bin and load the rest back in. A little raking to get the rest and it stays neat. If you build your bin so that you can slide boards down the front it looks nice and doesn't need to be camouflaged. |
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| So, I know we all told you to add more browns in that other thread, but I'm surprised that you need *quite* that many! It takes me weeks or months to fill a trash barrel, though my household has only 2 adults and a toddler. Also, as things start composting, everything shrinks...a LOT. So...is it possible that now you're adding too many browns? |
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| Sure. When the pile begins to produce finished compost, use a screen to allow the finished product to fall into a wheelbarrow for immediate use and toss the unfinished back into the pile. That's how I roll ;) |
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| I do one pile. Rats pretty continuously move finished material out the bottom that I can shovel up (it's the only way I know of to get useful work out of rats). Once every couple years I take the pile apart and make a new one a few feet away. |
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| Many people do have a one pile composting operation and it works just like a two pile system without the second pile. When that material needs turning you unpile it onto, maybe a tarp if you want to but that is not necessary, and then repile it from that pile you just made. As you repile check the moisture level and add more, if necessary, but do not make the material too wet. Compost piles smaller than 4 feet x 4 feet x 4 feet usually do not have enough volume of material to get the bacteria working and generating heat. The presence of vermin in your compost pile is an indication of a problem. It is not normal to have vermin diving into compost. |
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- Posted by LesIsMore1 4/5 - Colorado (My Page) on Mon, Apr 9, 12 at 9:20
| I'll take pictures of my 'hot pile cage' later today, and the mobile bins I use...can post them tonight, just to give you some ideas. My 'hot cage' was an outdoor kennel, where some poor dog lived before I bought this house. I have room for 4 hot pikes in there, but try to keep a slot open for handy flipping. You might be able to get two 'hot stalls' in that space...but keep in mind, even a 3 x 3 x 3 pile will hold at least three times the material as your 32 gal. bin...maybe slightly more. Its hard for me to visualize the space you have to work with...but rather than have two piles, might want to consider having one stall...then use any extra room for flipping space. (move the pile over when you flip. I've been moving the monster pile over just a foot every time, because it took up the space of 3 normal piles at first...so, I only had a foot to work with) Monster pile wouldn't fit in a bin, but should fit in two bins now... Another idea...if you are thinking of using two stalls anyway, with wire fencing...its easy to go vertical in case you'd want to stockpile browns? (One might go vertical with a hot pile too...but I wouldn't. Tall piles are harder for me to manage... If you use farm fencing, you can easily yank the bin right off the pile...move the bin over, dump the material back in. I think chicken wire is too rigid, and sharp for this reason...but thats me. I never have issues with rats. (yuk!) But my piles are kept hot too, so maybe thats why...or, maybe they can tell there's a large canine living here who pee's on all the piles. All I know, all my bins are on the ground, and open to air. Rats, flies, misc. vermin... never been an issue for me, and I'd notice. FYI... a pitchfork can be really hard on your back. Since I'll be flipping today anyway, will try to take pictures of how I've been using a big rock pick 'thing' and a few buckets to move piles over...much easier. Something to think about... I'm also a fan of sifting into a wheelbarrow... and make my own sifters. (easy) Anything that doesn't fall through the screen goes back to a pile, or gets used to start a new one. So easy wheelbarrow access is important, if you want to try that. Saves time... no lugging of compost back and forth over unnecessary distances. Had to get an early start today, due to dentist appointment this afternoon...sux to be me. Will post pics later, to give you some ideas. The really great thing about this forum, is everyone has their own ways of doing it...so you'll get lots of good ideas. It's a matter of figuring out which way works best for you...or you can use some combination of those, to come up with your own new ways to try. Whatever you do, it should not feel like a chore...make sure the method you choose allows you to enjoy the process, or it will feel too much like work. Leslie in CO |
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- Posted by tropical_thought San Francisco (My Page) on Mon, Apr 9, 12 at 9:42
| Yes, one can use just one pile. You have to sort and remove the finished out and use it at once or store it somewhere. It would just be more work that way. You want or need an area for finished compost that is almost finished, but not really finished yet. I could not conceive of it myself, but I think it's hypothetically possible to have just one pile. |
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- Posted by toxcrusadr (My Page) on Mon, Apr 9, 12 at 11:25
| Quote of the day! "Many people do have a one pile composting operation and it works just like a two pile system without the second pile." LOL. It reminded me of an old comedy song by Harvard math professor and humorist Tom Lehrer. "Base 8 is just like Base 10 really. If you're missing two fingers." :-D |
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| I could get by with one pile....as long as it was 1000 feet long. :-) Lloyd |
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- Posted by purpleinopp 8b AL (My Page) on Wed, Apr 11, 12 at 11:24
| I read your post twice, maybe I still don't get it, haven't made 2nd coffee yet... If you already have a bin and want to make a pile, it sounds like you could then have a bin AND a pile. At some point you leave the pile alone to finish and put stuff in the bin until you remove & use the finished pile. Then put bin contents in pile, fill, repeat. Or vice-versa, with the bin being the finishing vessel. |
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| @purpleinopp, the bin is sitting in the space where proposed pile would be. So it's either or. @pnbrown, that's very helpful. We have lots of rats here, and I didn't know they could do useful work. In fact I've been wondering whether an open compost would be a big problem with respect to rats. @kimmsr, I live in Washington, DC, nation's rat capital. There are rats everywhere, with or without compost. @leira, I have three adults and three boys. But maybe I am putting in too many browns now. I haven't seen all that much shrinkage; probably the process just isn't going yet. Thanks, all of you, for your input. |
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- Posted by joepyeweed 5b IL (My Page) on Thu, Apr 12, 12 at 12:37
| I have one pile. I continuously add to the top of pile. I harvest finished compost from the bottom right before I do the annual turn. My pile gets turned once a year, whether it needs it or not. |
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- Posted by LesIsMore1 4/5 - Colorado (My Page) on Thu, Apr 12, 12 at 20:13
| (fyi...I don't have enough willpower for only one pile, but thats me.) I took a bunch of pics, then lost my phone. At least it didn't get composted, as that's where I believed it was. Thinking it would be a reasonable test, I made a mini-pile out of the monster pile. (I've since decided I loath the monster pile, and can't wait for it to finish) The mini-pile is 3 feet in diameter, and 2 feet tall...lol. And strangely...it heated back up to 140 degrees faster than (half of) the flipped monster pile did. But, I ran out of water, and didn't finish flipping the other half of the monster pile until today, so my results may be skewed....but the baby pile is staying hot. (I would compost the rats... if they ever tried to shack up in my hot piles) Must go attend to another load of boulders before it rains... Les |
Here is a link that might be useful: Monster hot pile, and new micro-pile...
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| lesIsmore1, I like all your pic's. What is your compost mangers Name? emme_dc, Everyone seems on target in their post, all I would add is shredding will help to make the pile a little smaller & make the compost break down faster. Then you can put it in the garden & repeat. |
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- Posted by tropical_thought San Francisco (My Page) on Thu, Apr 12, 12 at 21:34
| Lesismore, it is amazing what you can do with google plus, I have google plus, but I don't know what to do with that. How long does it take to compost a rat? I have never tried that. |
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- Posted by LesIsMore1 4/5 - Colorado (My Page) on Thu, Apr 12, 12 at 23:00
| @Joli. I'm confused. Compost manger? lol...I don't what that is. @tropical...I have google plus too, but no idea how it works yet. I upload photo's directly to picasa from my phone...using some picasa app for android. I'm grounded from taking my phone outside too much, I loose it out there way too often. My pc is borked, so I never know how pictures look 'full screen'...you can see more of them then I can. Not really trying to hijack this thread either...but, just wanting to show how handy and versatile those wire bins can be. Well that, and the micro-pile is staying hotter than the big pile... wasn't expecting that at all. The 'monster pile' has messed up my whole hot cage operation... Normally, I've got things pretty neat and organized back there. I'll be happy when I can wrangle that thing back into wire bins, where it belongs so things can go back to normal in there. My backyard doesn't always look like a farm, I swear...lol. (at least, my neighbors can't see it...lol) This has been a crazy week for me, as far as getting things ready for planting. Was probably a blessing that I lost my phone...I got a lot done while searching for it. Les |
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| Les, your compost factory is the size of my whole entire yard! Where do you put your garden? Emily |
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- Posted by LesIsMore1 4/5 - Colorado (My Page) on Fri, Apr 13, 12 at 1:39
| Rofl! Yeah, but that one 'micro bin' is only 3' in diameter, and 2 feet tall...and its HOT! Hotter than the monster pile is, right now... And it smells awesome, so there's no rats or flies. I'm just saying its possible... Garden? lol... when did I ever mention a garden. :) Ok, maybe I do have a garden... but, I've just ripped it apart, and there are 2 tons of boulders, haphazardly...laying all over the place. Front yard too... and I want to have 15 lbs of seed potato's in the ground in 2 days. lol. It's not exactly presentable for pictures right now. (The soil is gorgeous in places though. I may try to take some pictures of that tomorrow... lol. Oops, and forgot to mention...no clue how long it takes to compost a rat. I've never seen one before. |
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| Composting "with" rats, not composting rats. Their burrowing habit is very useful for aeration. |
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