greasemonkeymann
Well-Known Member
hey guys, sorry I've been a lil absent recently, my shop is just getting blasted with work, probably more than I've ever seen it.oh absolutely!
I'm thinking that it's all in the starting materials, getting the proper ratio od hi-N, greens and browns, and then mixing them up correctly.
From there, it should be easier than what I'm doing
I'll catch you up with a good recipe later, gotta update before I forget what I was goingto write haha
alright, so i'm fairly certain a couple things you could do that would get you better results.
first is that you would be better off in a symmetrical pile, that one is too tall, and simply gravity is making it anaerobic.
second is you want material in there that degrades slower to provide aeration, OR as some have suggested, adding biochar and other aeration to the pile is a great idea to keep it from getting anaerobic.
I like square piles personally.
old soil works well as a simple part of the compost that doesn't do much other than keep it's uniformity, which can be helpful in keeping the pile from settling.
also why I don't like to shred my leaves too, because smaller particles become clumped easier.
I also like to have a space at the bottom that is virtually empty, so like a pallet, or wood logs that keep it nice and aired out, sorta like a base to a hugelkultur type thing
I have had horrible problems with my compost going anaerobic if I water from the outside, the sprinkling tends to create almost like a shell of wet, then dried organic material that makes a non-breathable layer outside
I reaaaally recommend sprinkling water on all of the compost ingredients BEFORE you layer them, and do so very lightly, the amount of water in the grass clipping will help even out the moisture inside.
a drier compost pile will always be better than a wetter one
I like to think of a compost pile closer to how you build a campfire, with an emphasis of keeping it oxygenated as much as possible.
as far as the rockdust, I HIGHLY recommend building a pile with rockdusts, absolutely.
both rock dust and biochar i'd never make a compost pile without.
damnit...
got more customers..
i'll write more later
promise
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