Compost Making. Utterly Confused!!
"z" wrote in message
...
On Aug 1, 12:17 pm, Ed ex@directory wrote:
I took on an allotment plot earlier this year, and quickly cleared half
of it to grow at least some crops this season whilst I intensively
double-dig and clear the other half. All of that is going well.
So, now I want to make a compost bin. Eventually I plan to have 3.
I have scavenged 4 pallets each of which is 3ft x 4ft which I intend to
use to build a box that is 3ft square and 4 ft high. One of the sides
will be loosely (but securely) tied in so that it is removable for access.
But what to do next? I have read so much here and on google that I am
utterly confused.
Firstly, should I line the box with something like lino or old carpet in
order to keep the heat in or leave it as it is to allow for aeration?
Secondly, do I have to stick to a strict regime as to how I build up the
layers? I was just thinking of simply piling in layers of stuff as and
when I harvested crops throughout the season , maybe throw in some grass
cuttings from home, maybe throw in paper from the shredding machine,
maybe throw in some straw if it available.
Do I have to add accelerators? Do I have to add lime? Do I have to turn
it? Do I add worms? Do I have to pee on it LOL!!
Making compost seems to have become such a scientific skill that I am
now quite wary of even starting to do so, lest I end up with some smelly
sickly sludge that it no good for anything.
Ed
also if i ever come across a worm on the sidewalk he/she goes into
the compost. (alive!!!)
Composting works in every way that people choose to do it, organic stuff
just can't help rotting down. I once tipped a wheelbarrow full of weeds
onto the ground because I needed the wheel barrow for other purposes, and 4
days later when I picked them up, the centre was hot, it had started. Make
as many containers as you can, and make them as big as you can. It'll work.
Steve
|