Vermicompost to fill your time...wait...

ruvin -

If you want to turn your pile you should do it. I've gotten really good compost by turning or aerating my pile weekly before. Not right now of course because of all the snow that's on top of it...:-)

In the summer I've turned my pile as often as once a week. And when I had my tumbler going I would turn it about every other day.

You certainly don't have to turn but you can if you want to. Everyone's different.

Val

I'm in Austin and I turn my pile A LOT!! At first, before it got to big and heavy, I turned it daily. Now, I'll fluff it a bit when I have the chance, but AT LEAST once a week i pull it all out, mix it all up, add a bunch of UGCS, scraps and a few new leaves and put it back in, but not in the order. There is no order. However, it's very close to the point that I need to just leave it alone and let it finish. It's absolutely beautiful!! I'm planning on starting a totally new bin this weekend.

My compost motto: I love it, I love it, I can't get enough of it.

So if you want to turn your pile, turn it! It's theraputic.

Hey Val

you really are a moniter on this page aren't you...you allways have a response and make the newcomers and the regulars feel welcomed....

I think I am gonna let my pile sit for a while...about a month...and see what happens...I have a deep freeze I can store the kithen scraps and such till the pile cooks down.....

I am keeping a diary of my pile work so I can see what happens through the year....

Thx for the input---R

I think keeping a diary is an awesome idea. That way you'll really know what works best for you and what doesn't.

Wouldn't it be so funny many many years from now to look back on the diary? Or how 'bout if the great grandkids find it? I can just hear them whispering to each other...."She/he was a real compost whacko, huh?" LOL

Val

If your pile is frozen, you can always save up a whole bunch of styrofoam packing peanuts and maybe one or two big boxes, and then mix those up in the living room with a spatula from the kitchen. Not quite the same, but it keeps the spirits up and you can work on your technique.

David52 -

that sounds sooooo much better than what I've been doing! For me, it's been shuffling the dirty clothes between baskets with a pitch fork. The family is starting to complain about the holes LOL

Val

Val

My kids already talk about about me like that.I assume they will pass it on to the grandkids(someday) and I hope it will bring a smile to their cherub little faces.

R

Don't mean to be a "fly in the ointment", folks,
but remember what's "going on" in that pile you're waiting for.

Keeping track of temperatures as often as you can (and writing them down) is a REALLY good thing.
If you don't use a compost thermometer, you really DON'T know what's "going on" in that pile (you're just guessing) - but with temp control and some research, you really can recognize the microbial population "shifts" and know EXACTLY the "perfect time" to turn your pile.
It really is more 'exciting' when you understand the "mechanics" of pile decomposition.

Microbes do the work. They 'eat' organic material and 'poop' nutrients ready for plant uptake. Different bacterial/fungal populations "take their turn" at 'processing' the various "stages" of decomposition.

But you MUST wait and allow EACH of the various microbe populations to "colonize - reproduce - populate" to optimum levels in order to REALLY appreciate what they do.

If you turn your pile BEFORE the right time, you have just disrupted the process - and extended the time that it will take for your product to be fully "usable".

There are 3 MAIN keys (yes, there are others):
temperature
food supply
Oxygen/CO2 content

All of these keys "translate" into time, depending on what your pile material consists of, how you constructed the pile, what process you use to turn (re-aerate) the material, what the moisture content is, and all the rest of the "mechanics".

Every pile is different, with different climatic conditions, yadda-yadda. But chances are, you have about the same kind of materials to build with, use the same methods for turning, water about the same each time, etc.

The MOST critical of the keys is the Oxygen/CO2 content of the soil. Microbes "breath" oxygen, and "exhale" CO2 that BUILDS UP in the pile to TOXIC (lethal) level.
If you put a bag over your head, and just breathe the CO2 that you exhale, you will die. Suffocate while still trying to breathe.

That's what happens to microbes when a pile is not turned at the "right" time. Populations begin to decline rapidly, and temperature decreases (lowers) at a certain "rate (degrees per day depending on the biomass of your pile). Easy to see this happening with a compost thermometer, and understand what's happening inside that pile. Catch this decline early enough, and your pile "recovers" more quickly to continue (renew) the decompostion process.

So look at this process in relation to the constants (do/use the same things over-and-over) and the variables (the things that change). This will help you determine the differences, pile-to-pile, and make the correct assumptions and adjustments.

Well, yes - what I'm talking about is REALLY "getting into" your pile - ENJOYING each pile to the fullest. Appreciating every TURN to the max. Seeing, feeling, smelling - and marveling at nature's wonders.

Yeah, this is what's called INTENSIVE pile management.
But, THAT'S what makes me a compost WHACKO, no?

Robert

Robert, Robert, Robert...

Compost Enthusiast!

Lloyd

P.S. Is WHACKO supposed to spelled with an "H" or not??

wacko.

'Whack', Alfie pointed out around 1999, is what annp will do to MonteNJ if he so much as gets within 12 feet of her pile.

(That was the year that we had a lot of compost thefts after some of us inadvertently revealed the location of our piles.)

the "h" is silent .......

and robert ,you hurt my head with that post. I'm gonna have to go back and read it a couple of times (maybe real slow)....very well put and informative

Thx....R

the "h" is silent...and invisible.
)

From:

WordWeb - Whacko

Noun: whacko

1. A person who is regarded as eccentric or mad - nutter [Brit], wacko, nutbar [N. Amer], basket case, nutcake [US], nutjob, mentalist [Brit], whackjob [N. Amer]

From:

The Free Dictionary - Whacko

whacko - n. Slang Variant of wacko.

Seems both ways are correct. Have a nice day.

Val