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| I have collected yard waste, mostly weeds, tree debris and some dirt, for years and put it in a 3x8x4 bin with several inches between the 1x6 treated side boards. The pile is nearly 4 feet high. What can I do to start this pile cooking without much labor? My back and shoulder problems limit what I can do.
Thanks! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by lisanti07028 z6NJ (My Page) on Mon, Jul 23, 12 at 22:09
| It's already cooking. Have you even turned it over? If you haven't, I bet that the bottom is already compost. |
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| You can buy powder to speed up decomposition at many greenhouses. |
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| The "powder" sold by the garden centers, many times called compost starters, is simply a source of Nitrogen. Compost happens, all that is needed is to pile up organic matter and keep it kind of a little bit moist and the bacteria that digest all organic matter will do that, often even of the moisture level is not there. Many people spend lots of time and energy keeping things balanced so their compost piles heat up and steam and are digested in a short time and that can be done. Perhapos the link below might be of some help. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Composting Tutorial
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- Posted by purpleinopp 8b AL (My Page) on Tue, Jul 24, 12 at 10:03
| Years? You have compost. Just throw any big chunks back in once you start using it. |
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- Posted by lisanti07028 z6NJ (My Page) on Tue, Jul 24, 12 at 10:07
| My post should have said "have you ever turned it over", not "even"; the "even" made it snarky and that was not at all what I meant to say. My apologies to the OP for the unintentional snark. |
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- Posted by purpleinopp 8b AL (My Page) on Tue, Jul 24, 12 at 10:56
| lis, don't you hate that? I've done that before too, completely accidentally. I have issues with typing should when I mean could. |
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- Posted by lisanti07028 z6NJ (My Page) on Tue, Jul 24, 12 at 12:10
| I can't even blame auto-complete! I did have a cat on my lap, under my left arm, which didn't help, but I should have checked the preview better. |
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| Thanks for the replies, say hi to the cat for me, lisanti07028! I haven't dug into it to check out the situation and have a few limbs from a dead ash tree to pull out to use for kindling. What should it smell and/or look like near the bottom of the pile? |
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- Posted by lisanti07028 z6NJ (My Page) on Tue, Jul 24, 12 at 13:09
| It should look like really, really good dirt, or slightly moist high-quality potting soil (without the perlite). Since it's been there so long, you probably won't even have any little stick pieces left at the bottom. Peach pits, on the other hand, will still be intact. Merriwether, my cat, says hi back at you. |
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- Posted by tropical_thought San Francisco (My Page) on Tue, Jul 24, 12 at 13:29
| I found free coffee grounds from starbucks to be the most powerful tool for speeding up composting. Starters are a complete waste of money. They create no heat or change in the bin. I bought some once like 20 years ago. |
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| I'll have to hit the local Biggby's for the coffee grounds. My cat Scusa (Italian for excuse me) says meow to Merriwether. |
Here is a link that might be useful: My website
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- Posted by purpleinopp 8b AL (My Page) on Tue, Jul 24, 12 at 14:22
| If you don't recognize most of it, it's compost as far as I'm concerned. If most of what you do recognize (and it's been sitting for 6 months or more) is leaves, it's compost AFAIC. In an open pile where I might have just dumped a new bucket of stuff on top 5 minutes ago, I might (and often do) then stick my pitchfork in and wiggle some out from the bottom to use. It's just rotting stuff so as soon as it doesn't *look like* it anymore, I use it, get it working on the payroll. If you can access what's at the bottom, that's where the good stuff is. Also have a giant drum that holds a compost "pile" which I can only access what's at the bottom by dumping it out. So that gets emptied 2 or 3 times per year into a bed and spread, big recognizable chunks (like the mentioned peach pit, sometimes corn cobs, sticks) put back in the bin to start filling it up again. |
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| I have been using starters on and off for forty years. Some of the best ones I used are not available, at least not where I live anymore but the ones that do exist, make a HUGE difference in how fast a "compost" pile decomposes. |
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- Posted by toxcrusadr (My Page) on Tue, Jul 24, 12 at 17:30
| I certainly won't argue with your experience RpR. In this particular case, even a random unbalanced pile with no turning or maintenance, completely neglected, should have compost at the bottom of it after a year or two. After that it's just losing volume and nutrients and should be used asap. |
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