There must be more recipes to make compost,With compost, the main thing to remember is the living conditions of the hardworking little creatures who actually make it for you! If conditions are not to their liking they will go somewhere where else real quick!
They like air, moisture but not soaking wet, and warmth. A compost heap is actually a culture, like yogurt, or home brew. If it’s not right it won’t work!
We are going to talk about what works for us. When I was growing organic vegetables commercially. I had series of compost bins constructed from old wooden pallets. The pallets were easily obtained from the local recycling center. I would wire the four corners together, leaving the front able to be undone to fork over, and/or remove the compost when it was ready.
I had more than a dozen of them, and all plant material and manure went into the compost heaps. When it was ready, I layered it back onto the garden as fertiliser. If I had a surplus of hay or vegetable material, I would make a compost heap on the ground. That works quite well too, and seems to break down very well. When the compost was eventually removed, I used to plant butternut pumpkins where the heap had been. They grew like magic!
The principles of compost are basically simple. You start with a small area. I used four timber pallets tied together with wire at the corners. Some people have used a circle of wire netting, or sheets of old iron with holes punched in them. Air needs to be able to circulate. Start with a few sticks on the ground, then put your garden and kitchen waste into the compost heap. Put manure in as well, and comfrey makes great compost. So does seaweed, and so do water plants. Many freshwater dams become choked with water plants, usually caused by too many nutrients, such as cow manure, leaching into the water. These water plants are full of nitrogen, and make excellent mulch and compost. As you build the compost heap, cover every now and then with a few inches of soil, and a few more sticks to allow the compost to breatheCover every now and then with a few inches of soil, a few more sticks to allow the compost to breathe. Cover the compost heap with wet sacks, shade cloth or old carpet, so it doesn’t dry out. Turn it over with a garden fork occasionally to air, and in a few short months you will have nice loamy compost ready to use, with lots of worms to put into your garden. If you have a bigger garden with lots of plants and shrubs, or palms, you may have a small electric mulcher, which chops up larger plant material, trimmed branches and leaves, and hastens the composting process. Compost should be well rotted, I believe that good, rich, well-rotted compost is not likely to carry any fungus disease.
Click here for our Herb and Garden newsletter and your FREE lifestyle Books! ******************************************** For more information about soils and soil improvement click here! ******************************************** Some authorities argue that the two types of earthworm best suited to worm composting are the redworms, (commonly known as red wiggler, brandling, or manure worm) and tiger worms. They are often found in aged manure and compost heaps. The authorities may be right, but when you buy worms they are likely to be mixed up a bit anyway. It seems that all worms are okay for composting, but some may be better than others. If some don’t like the compost heap, they will go underground anyway, and you will get the benefit of them when you plant something where the compost heap used to be! If you only have a small garden, there are rotating compost bins available that make compost very quickly. A handy person could easily make one out of a plastic 44-gallon drum. And then of course for the small back yarder, the humble worm farm can produce quite a bit of compost. Abundant Earth have an excellent selection of composters suitable for houses, small backyards, and units. Many are made from recycled plastic. Happy composting, Patrick
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