Hi guys,
I was wondering, did anyone ever try composting with anaerobes? I know the
books frown on it because it tends to smell bad, and never yields a nice
crumbly compost, but a nutirent rich "muck" that need to be turned into the
garden.

still, it seems, a couple of big, covered tanks full of nastiness, kept
sumbmerged in water, and allowed to just cook would be a good way to crank up
the nutirents in your soil, if not the structure.

anyways, it seems to me, nutrient leaching would not be a problem. Also, some
soil additives like peat moss are made in much the same way? Also, maybe it
would be a good way to break down some of the tough things like wood chips,
sawdust, and stuff like that. just let the bacteria chomp away for like a
year, with maybe a mixing or two. Throw the recommended "slurry" that you
collected in your kitchen blender, as much manure as you can find, and let it
sit (covered perhaps) until it didn't stink anymore, and it's done!

I was just interested. I live in the city and would probably get evicted for
experimenting with it. but it might be a nice exercise for someone who could
move the operation behind a cow pasture or out somewhere so it didn't offend
anyone.

anyone try this stuff? I had a thought that maybe then you could cut off the
water, let it sort of dehydrate in the sun, then add it more or less dry to the
ground directly, it having been well aged and decomposed. that would also mean
you were not carrying the tons of water to deliver the goods.

I found some info on a google search and it looks interesting.

just wondering exactly how nasty the process is, and how well it works (kind of
a pro/con deal)

later
john

JohnDKestell wrote:

Hi guys,
I was wondering, did anyone ever try composting with anaerobes? I know
the books frown on it because it tends to smell bad, and never yields a
nice crumbly compost, but a nutirent rich "muck" that need to be turned
into the garden.

still, it seems, a couple of big, covered tanks full of nastiness, kept
sumbmerged in water, and allowed to just cook would be a good way to crank
up the nutirents in your soil, if not the structure.

anyways, it seems to me, nutrient leaching would not be a problem. Also,
some
soil additives like peat moss are made in much the same way? Also, maybe
it would be a good way to break down some of the tough things like wood
chips,
sawdust, and stuff like that. just let the bacteria chomp away for like a
year, with maybe a mixing or two. Throw the recommended "slurry" that you
collected in your kitchen blender, as much manure as you can find, and
let it sit (covered perhaps) until it didn't stink anymore, and it's done!

I was just interested. I live in the city and would probably get evicted
for
experimenting with it. but it might be a nice exercise for someone who
could move the operation behind a cow pasture or out somewhere so it
didn't offend anyone.

anyone try this stuff? I had a thought that maybe then you could cut off
the water, let it sort of dehydrate in the sun, then add it more or less
dry to the
ground directly, it having been well aged and decomposed. that would also
mean you were not carrying the tons of water to deliver the goods.

I found some info on a google search and it looks interesting.

just wondering exactly how nasty the process is, and how well it works
(kind of a pro/con deal)

later
john


Um ... why bother? If you don't want to fool with turning a compost pile,
bury the 'whatever' directly in the ground. To the sawdust (or similar
nitrogen-starved material) add blood meal, feather meal or fresh garbage /
manure so roots reaching it don't run into a wasteland.

Have you ever heard of the Piltdown man? Google for him. That will give you
tons of clues about the rate of anerobic decomposition. The processes you
mention (including the peat bogs) are not strictly anerobic. Each starts
with oxygen in the mix and most add it again at long intervals.

You might also want to research "methane digester".

Hopefully helpful,

Bill