On Sat, 22 Mar 2008 22:57:50 +0000, septemous
wrote:


Hi totally new to composting - we are down in the tropics of south
america (actually got a write up in the Guardian:
http://tinyurl.com/348e99) where they seem to do a very poor compost
pile with limestone?

The food we grow tastes great - but I think I can help make the garden
even better with a good compost made up of all the organic veggie
scraps we generate here at the hotel.

Their pile seems a bit shallow and spread out for the heat we have here
- this I can fix.

They also put limestone in with the waste?

My question is if limestone is some sort of activator that they know
about and I don't? (something like alfalfa?) Or is it just doing
nothing and we should use some other activator -- in the
leaf/scraps/activator mix.

A follow-up would be - what activator to use if limestone is not
available -- something that would be readily available in such an
area.

Thank you

S_


Limestone has the tendency to raise the pH. I guess if your raw
material is acidic, adding limestone dust makes sense. Compost is
usually neutral. No special "activator" is really needed to make
compost--bacteria is plentiful. I found that piles resting on the
bare ground allows insects, bacteria, and worms to quickly enter the
compost pile. I have never added lime or "whiting" to a compost pile,
and our soils are naturally acidic.