A long while ago I made some enquiries here about hot composting.

Finally went and got a "Hotbin" (no affiliation, just a customer).
Stoked it up 2 days ago (Thu evening) with 2' depth (consist below)

After 24 hours, I had 30C registering on the top thermometer and 48C
internal.

Another 12 hours later this morning, 55C on the top, about 150F=65C in
the heap (hard to read, belching steam):


https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...Jy?usp=sharing



I've never got compost to go like this before, so to say I'm impressed
is an understatement.


The next part of the experiment is to see how well it chomps through
grass clippings with all our cardboard/paper waster diverted in as well
plus as many wood chips as I can usefully prune.


In comparison, the 2 old daleks I found in the garden when I moved here
have decent enough compost in the base, but are way too slow to take
grass. They can't even keep up with kitchen waste over winter. And yes,
I have aerated both and they are on slabs with gaps in to allow drainage
but deter rats.


I know you can make hot compost piles with more thrift, but time is not
my friend, so I opted for the ready made solution. But either way, I am
impressed with the fact it *can* get this hot.

The interesting bit will be to see:

a) Does it maintain well when adding more material;

b) Can it eat the output I produce?


If it can, it's going to cut my green bin waste right down (diverting
the paper and cardboard).

I'll probably need to keep the council brown bin for this year - grass
is over a foot long due to continuous rain and my hawthorn hedge is not
chipper friendly (well it's not friendly to being put in a domestic
narrow throated chipper!).

But when that's replaced with holly, and if I can get the grass cut
earlier next year, I *might* be able to do without the council bin which
would save the extra precept.






Starter Recipe:

2 boxes of grass clippings;
a few litres of kitchen waste (vegetable based),
cardboard
new wood chippings
old wood chippings that were lying on the ground for a couple of years
some old compost and a few more litres of semi mouldy kitchen waste from
the "dalek" bin.
A full size paper shredder's worth of paper clippings.


The new kitchen waste was shoved through a chipper:
Bosch AXT 25 TC Quiet Shredder

followed by some branches to clear, then an old cardboard box ripped
into chipper mouth sized strips.

So a pretty optimal mix, well stirred


Added a bottle of really hot water to the middle of the heap (in the
bottle, not poured on) to kick start it.