My Compost Smells
 

Hey folks,
A few months ago a friend of mine who lives near me,
pointed out a good solution to avoid spendig money on fertilizers,
which is piling garden trash,
but the thing is how long will it take for my pile to be ready for the
soil? And anyway it smells!

My Compost Smells
 

In article
,
Tonyfrost wrote:

Hey folks,
A few months ago a friend of mine who lives near me,
pointed out a good solution to avoid spendig money on fertilizers,
which is piling garden trash,
but the thing is how long will it take for my pile to be ready for the
soil? And anyway it smells!

It's not just your piles that stink.
--
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100119/...ting_activists
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/1/19/headlines

My Compost Smells
 

Tonyfrost wrote:
Hey folks,
A few months ago a friend of mine who lives near me,
pointed out a good solution to avoid spendig money on fertilizers,
which is piling garden trash,
but the thing is how long will it take for my pile to be ready for the
soil? And anyway it smells!

The time it takes depends on the mix of ingredients in it, the temperature,
how often you turn it and if you have the moisture right. From 6 weeks to a
year. If it has been snowing those microorganisms are not working much at
all. They all smell somewhat but if it is a really revolting sour smell it
means that it has gone anaerobic, that is not enough air and/or too wet.

David

My Compost Smells
 

"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
Tonyfrost wrote:
Hey folks,
A few months ago a friend of mine who lives near me,
pointed out a good solution to avoid spendig money on fertilizers,
which is piling garden trash,
but the thing is how long will it take for my pile to be ready for the
soil? And anyway it smells!

The time it takes depends on the mix of ingredients in it, the
temperature, how often you turn it and if you have the moisture right.
From 6 weeks to a year. If it has been snowing those microorganisms are
not working much at all. They all smell somewhat but if it is a really
revolting sour smell it means that it has gone anaerobic, that is not
enough air and/or too wet.

....if it smells like rotting eggs or sulphur then you can solve that
immediate problem by turning it several times and mixing in some dry
material like leaves or shredded paper. The smell should lessen.

rob

My Compost Smells
 

On Feb 24, 6:30*am, "George" wrote:
"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message

...

Tonyfrost wrote:
Hey folks,
A few months ago a friend of mine who lives near me,
pointed out a good solution to avoid spendig money on fertilizers,
which is piling garden trash,
but the thing is how long will it take for my pile to be ready for the
soil? *And anyway it smells!

The time it takes depends on the mix of ingredients in it, the
temperature, how often you turn it and if you have the moisture right.
From 6 weeks to a year. *If it has been snowing those microorganisms are
not working much at all. *They all smell somewhat but if it is a really
revolting sour smell it means that it has gone anaerobic, that is not
enough air and/or too wet.

...if it smells like rotting eggs or sulphur then you can solve that
immediate problem by turning it several times and mixing in some dry
material like leaves or shredded paper. The smell should lessen.

rob

Thanks Rob, I'll try to do that, but I was wondering if there was like
a product
that you can put on the stack to cover the smell...

My Compost Smells
 

"Tonyfrost" wrote in message
...
On Feb 24, 6:30 am, "George" wrote:
"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message

...

Tonyfrost wrote:
Hey folks,
A few months ago a friend of mine who lives near me,
pointed out a good solution to avoid spendig money on fertilizers,
which is piling garden trash,
but the thing is how long will it take for my pile to be ready for the
soil? And anyway it smells!

The time it takes depends on the mix of ingredients in it, the
temperature, how often you turn it and if you have the moisture right.
From 6 weeks to a year. If it has been snowing those microorganisms are
not working much at all. They all smell somewhat but if it is a really
revolting sour smell it means that it has gone anaerobic, that is not
enough air and/or too wet.

...if it smells like rotting eggs or sulphur then you can solve that
immediate problem by turning it several times and mixing in some dry
material like leaves or shredded paper. The smell should lessen.

rob

Thanks Rob, I'll try to do that, but I was wondering if there was like
a product
that you can put on the stack to cover the smell...
______________________________________
It's called 'sweat'. Get a fork, turn the compost until you are lathered in
sweat and then you'll have no further problems with smelly compost.

My Compost Smells
 

Tonyfrost wrote:

I was wondering if there was like
a product
that you can put on the stack to cover the smell...

You don't need to cover the smell with yet another. See the previous
posts; a healthy compost heap has very little odor, and certainly not an
unpleasant one.

Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

My Compost Smells
 

In article ,
Gary Woods wrote:

Tonyfrost wrote:

I was wondering if there was like
a product
that you can put on the stack to cover the smell...

You don't need to cover the smell with yet another. See the previous
posts; a healthy compost heap has very little odor, and certainly not an
unpleasant one.

Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

Many folks are unaware of the fact of life that death and decay aka rot
enable growth and rebirth. A sterile world is devoid of life.

Bill

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA

http://www.sheep.com/sounds/baasheep1.wav

My Compost Smells
 

In article d48460cb-92b4-4144-a519-f20833629a63
@m37g2000yqf.googlegroups.com, says...


Thanks Rob, I'll try to do that, but I was wondering if there was like
a product
that you can put on the stack to cover the smell...

Everyone's joking right now but let me inject a serious note.

THere are no useful shortcuts.

You want compost, you are going to have to learn about it and put the
work in.

http://www.compost.org/backyard.html

My Compost Smells
 

"phorbin" wrote in message
. ..
In article d48460cb-92b4-4144-a519-f20833629a63
@m37g2000yqf.googlegroups.com, says...


Thanks Rob, I'll try to do that, but I was wondering if there was like
a product
that you can put on the stack to cover the smell...

Everyone's joking right now but let me inject a serious note.

THere are no useful shortcuts.

You want compost, you are going to have to learn about it and put the
work in.

http://www.compost.org/backyard.html

I certainly wasn't joking when I told him he used to use sweat as an
ingredient. Unless or until he learns to add that, he won't have compost -
he'll simply have rotted vegetation. I see no problems with the rotted
vegetation approach either, but if he wants to go that way, he will need to
understand that he doesn't pile it, he spreads it and them has to a
potential weed problem unless he also learns how to use the rotted
vegetation.

My Compost Smells
 

Tonyfrost wrote:
On Feb 24, 6:30 am, "George" wrote:
"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message

...

Tonyfrost wrote:
Hey folks,
A few months ago a friend of mine who lives near me,
pointed out a good solution to avoid spendig money on fertilizers,
which is piling garden trash,
but the thing is how long will it take for my pile to be ready for
the soil? And anyway it smells!

The time it takes depends on the mix of ingredients in it, the
temperature, how often you turn it and if you have the moisture
right. From 6 weeks to a year. If it has been snowing those
microorganisms are not working much at all. They all smell somewhat
but if it is a really revolting sour smell it means that it has
gone anaerobic, that is not enough air and/or too wet.

...if it smells like rotting eggs or sulphur then you can solve that
immediate problem by turning it several times and mixing in some dry
material like leaves or shredded paper. The smell should lessen.

rob

Thanks Rob, I'll try to do that, but I was wondering if there was like
a product
that you can put on the stack to cover the smell...

There are many kinds of plastic sheet etc but you may be making it worse by
excluding the air.

David

My Compost Smells
 

Bill who putters wrote:
In article ,
Gary Woods wrote:

Tonyfrost wrote:

I was wondering if there was like
a product
that you can put on the stack to cover the smell...

You don't need to cover the smell with yet another. See the previous
posts; a healthy compost heap has very little odor, and certainly
not an unpleasant one.

Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at
home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420'
elevation. NY WO G

Many folks are unaware of the fact of life that death and decay aka
rot enable growth and rebirth. A sterile world is devoid of life.

Bill

Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmm

David

My Compost Smells
 

In article ,
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote:

"phorbin" wrote in message
. ..
In article d48460cb-92b4-4144-a519-f20833629a63
@m37g2000yqf.googlegroups.com, says...


Thanks Rob, I'll try to do that, but I was wondering if there was like
a product
that you can put on the stack to cover the smell...

Everyone's joking right now but let me inject a serious note.

THere are no useful shortcuts.

You want compost, you are going to have to learn about it and put the
work in.

http://www.compost.org/backyard.html

I certainly wasn't joking when I told him he used to use sweat as an
ingredient. Unless or until he learns to add that, he won't have compost -
he'll simply have rotted vegetation. I see no problems with the rotted
vegetation approach either, but if he wants to go that way, he will need to
understand that he doesn't pile it, he spreads it and them has to a
potential weed problem unless he also learns how to use the rotted
vegetation.

Then their is the issue of heat to help break down.

http://compost.css.cornell.edu/physics.html

Bill

Tao Follows The Earth 2:36 David Darling The Tao Of Cello New Age
1 1/24/10 3:17 PM 1993 AAC audio file

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA

http://www.sheep.com/sounds/baasheep1.wav

My Compost Smells
 

On Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:26:23 +1100, "FarmI" wrote:

I certainly wasn't joking when I told him he used to use sweat as an
ingredient. Unless or until he learns to add that, he won't have compost -
he'll simply have rotted vegetation. I see no problems with the rotted
vegetation approach either, but if he wants to go that way, he will need to
understand that he doesn't pile it, he spreads it and them has to a
potential weed problem unless he also learns how to use the rotted
vegetation.

That's not strictly true. What the "sweat" (turning) adds is oxygen, but
there are other ways of providing that, easiest of which is to alternate
the layers of vege scraps with layers of straw that trap air in the
pile. The Humanure Handbook actually recommends that over turning, as
turning tends to break the mycelia of all the fungi in the pile.

I'm not saying that turning is bad (it's good!), just that it isn't the
only answer.
--
Ross McKay, Toronto, NSW Australia
"And when your back stops aching and your hands begin to harden,
You will find yourself a partner in the Glory of the Garden."
-- Rudyard Kipling

My Compost Smells
 

"Ross McKay" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:26:23 +1100, "FarmI" wrote:

I certainly wasn't joking when I told him he used to use sweat as an
ingredient. Unless or until he learns to add that, he won't have
compost -
he'll simply have rotted vegetation. I see no problems with the rotted
vegetation approach either, but if he wants to go that way, he will need
to
understand that he doesn't pile it, he spreads it and them has to a
potential weed problem unless he also learns how to use the rotted
vegetation.

That's not strictly true. What the "sweat" (turning) adds is oxygen, but
there are other ways of providing that, easiest of which is to alternate
the layers of vege scraps with layers of straw that trap air in the
pile.

It IS strictly true as it applies to him. He has smelly 'compost' right now
(or says he does). The only way to cure his current 'compost' problem is to
turn it. Any future compost pile is not what he asked about.