Hi everyone. I am a novice gardener and first time homeowner who has
a question about composting. I have a corner in my backyard that I
have used to dump grass clipping, leaves, and small twigs for the
better part of the year. Now that spring has sprung, I walked to that
corner of the yard expecting to find some black gold that I can use on
my rose and vegetable garden. But what I found instead, was a bunch
of stinky wet leaves that were blackened, but not fully decomposed.
Now I figure that everything is in the process of decomposing, but I
thought that I would have had more by now. So here are my questions:

1. I am generally lazy, so will the compost pile still decompose if I
don't go out and turn it? Or is turning it a must?
2. Are there any additives I can add that will naturally speed the
decomposition process? I remember hearing on TV that bone meal can be
sprinkled on the pile in between layers, but I wasn't sure if that did
anything.
3. Are grass and leaves enough variety to get a good pile going?
Again, I am lazy, so saving and bringing food scraps out to the back
of the yard is really a bummer.

Thanks for your input!

In article
,
" wrote:


1. I am generally lazy, so will the compost pile still decompose if I
don't go out and turn it? Or is turning it a must?

More air quickens the process as does particle size which is the same
thing. Time.

2. Are there any additives I can add that will naturally speed the
decomposition process? I remember hearing on TV that bone meal can be
sprinkled on the pile in between layers, but I wasn't sure if that did
anything.

Nitrogen, Blood, Manures some are expensive some are thrown away
go with the latter. Time again.

3. Are grass and leaves enough variety to get a good pile going?
Again, I am lazy, so saving and bringing food scraps out to the back
of the yard is really a bummer.

You are not composting you are rotting. Still you are not trashing
things that were once alive.

http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/bibli...780878579914-0


Thanks for your input!

Bill who thinks improving your soil is good for you and future folks.

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA

wrote in message
...
Hi everyone. I am a novice gardener and first time homeowner who has
a question about composting. I have a corner in my backyard that I
have used to dump grass clipping, leaves, and small twigs for the
better part of the year. Now that spring has sprung, I walked to that
corner of the yard expecting to find some black gold that I can use on
my rose and vegetable garden. But what I found instead, was a bunch
of stinky wet leaves that were blackened, but not fully decomposed.
Now I figure that everything is in the process of decomposing, but I
thought that I would have had more by now. So here are my questions:

1. I am generally lazy, so will the compost pile still decompose if I
don't go out and turn it? Or is turning it a must?

It will eventually rot down but if you want compost, you must turn it.

2. Are there any additives I can add that will naturally speed the
decomposition process? I remember hearing on TV that bone meal can be
sprinkled on the pile in between layers, but I wasn't sure if that did
anything.

The most important additive is the introduction of air by turning it. The
other important additive is nitrogen which can come from the grass clippings
but also from such simple things as urine or some form of nitrogenous
fertiliser.

3. Are grass and leaves enough variety to get a good pile going?

Yes, but you must get the carbon/nitrogen ratios right. Most of us don't so
give it a hand or just let things rot as you are doing.

Again, I am lazy, so saving and bringing food scraps out to the back
of the yard is really a bummer.

The easiest thing to do with food scraps to improve your soil is to simply
bury them. this can result in animals digging them up so whether you do so
or not depends on your situation.

On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:54:35 -0700 (PDT),
" wrote:

Hi everyone. I am a novice gardener and first time homeowner who has
a question about composting. I have a corner in my backyard that I
have used to dump grass clipping, leaves, and small twigs for the
better part of the year. Now that spring has sprung, I walked to that
corner of the yard expecting to find some black gold that I can use on
my rose and vegetable garden. But what I found instead, was a bunch
of stinky wet leaves that were blackened, but not fully decomposed.
Now I figure that everything is in the process of decomposing, but I
thought that I would have had more by now. So here are my questions:

1. I am generally lazy, so will the compost pile still decompose if I
don't go out and turn it? Or is turning it a must?

It will still decompose, although more slowly and more unevenly. Get
yourself a D-handle fork and use it once a month. It will help get
oxygen into the pile and you won't have the stink.

2. Are there any additives I can add that will naturally speed the
decomposition process? I remember hearing on TV that bone meal can be
sprinkled on the pile in between layers, but I wasn't sure if that did
anything.

It is best not to add anything, except water if needed.

3. Are grass and leaves enough variety to get a good pile going?
Again, I am lazy, so saving and bringing food scraps out to the back
of the yard is really a bummer.

The best mix is 50% green and 50% brown. So your mix of grass and
leaves will work fine. It is better to add vegetable scraps, coffee
grounds/tea bags, etc. To get your pile to really cook a 1 cubic yard
of material is minimum.


Thanks for your input!

In article , Charlie wrote:

On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:54:35 -0700 (PDT),
" wrote:

Hi everyone. I am a novice gardener and first time homeowner who has
a question about composting. I have a corner in my backyard that I
have used to dump grass clipping, leaves, and small twigs for the
better part of the year. Now that spring has sprung, I walked to that
corner of the yard expecting to find some black gold that I can use on
my rose and vegetable garden. But what I found instead, was a bunch
of stinky wet leaves that were blackened, but not fully decomposed.
Now I figure that everything is in the process of decomposing, but I
thought that I would have had more by now. So here are my questions:

1. I am generally lazy, so will the compost pile still decompose if I
don't go out and turn it? Or is turning it a must?
2. Are there any additives I can add that will naturally speed the
decomposition process? I remember hearing on TV that bone meal can be
sprinkled on the pile in between layers, but I wasn't sure if that did
anything.
3. Are grass and leaves enough variety to get a good pile going?
Again, I am lazy, so saving and bringing food scraps out to the back
of the yard is really a bummer.

Thanks for your input!


http://journeytoforever.org/compost.html

http://www.howtocompost.org/cat_generalinfo.asp

http://www.compostguide.com/

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/k...omposting.html

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

http://www.soilfoodweb.com/03_about_us/approach.html

http://www.homestead.org/Gardening/R...ig%20Duchess.h
tm

Should tell ya' what ya' need to know.

Care
Charlie

Your not becoming an arborist, are ya Charlie?;-)

Oh, by the bye, I've heard that gardeners need to avoid getting horse
manure from a horse that has just been wormed because it will also kill
their earth bound cousins. Got an opinion? Actually, this sounds like a
question I should ask Lee.
--

Billy

Impeach Pelosi, Bush & Cheney to the Hague
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/

Phisherman wrote:
On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:54:35 -0700 (PDT),
"
wrote:

Hi everyone. I am a novice gardener and first time homeowner who
has
a question about composting. I have a corner in my backyard that I
have used to dump grass clipping, leaves, and small twigs for the
better part of the year. Now that spring has sprung, I walked to
that corner of the yard expecting to find some black gold that I
can
use on my rose and vegetable garden. But what I found instead, was
a bunch of stinky wet leaves that were blackened, but not fully
decomposed. Now I figure that everything is in the process of
decomposing, but I thought that I would have had more by now. So
here are my questions:

1. I am generally lazy, so will the compost pile still decompose
if
I don't go out and turn it? Or is turning it a must?

It will still decompose, although more slowly and more unevenly.
Get
yourself a D-handle fork and use it once a month. It will help get
oxygen into the pile and you won't have the stink.

2. Are there any additives I can add that will naturally speed the
decomposition process? I remember hearing on TV that bone meal can
be sprinkled on the pile in between layers, but I wasn't sure if
that did anything.

It is best not to add anything, except water if needed.

3. Are grass and leaves enough variety to get a good pile going?
Again, I am lazy, so saving and bringing food scraps out to the
back
of the yard is really a bummer.

The best mix is 50% green and 50% brown. So your mix of grass and
leaves will work fine. It is better to add vegetable scraps, coffee
grounds/tea bags, etc. To get your pile to really cook a 1 cubic
yard
of material is minimum.

What I haven't seen anyone list is soil. I add in dirt that contains
earthworms.

Tom J

Charlie wrote in
:

On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:52:41 -0700, Billy
wrote:
Oh, by the bye, I've heard that gardeners need to avoid
getting horse manure from a horse that has just been wormed
because it will also kill their earth bound cousins. Got an
opinion? Actually, this sounds like a question I should ask
Lee.

I got's lots of opinions..but on this, I don't know. Don't
most anthelmintics work systemically? Or do they act
directly in the gut upon the parasites?

most are systemic, even the ones given orally. i give the
llamas & goats the shots though, mostly because that way they
get *into* the animal instead if all over me (and i'm more
worried about menengial worms in the brain/spinal cord than
gut worms).
i'm not sure if they would affect earthworms anyway.
did you know that there are no native earthworms in the US?
they're all imported.
lee
--
Last night while sitting in my chair
I pinged a host that wasn't there
It wasn't there again today
The host resolved to NSA.

On 3/17/2008 3:36 PM, Tom J wrote:
Phisherman wrote:
On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:54:35 -0700 (PDT),
"
wrote:

Hi everyone. I am a novice gardener and first time homeowner who
has
a question about composting. I have a corner in my backyard that I
have used to dump grass clipping, leaves, and small twigs for the
better part of the year. Now that spring has sprung, I walked to
that corner of the yard expecting to find some black gold that I
can
use on my rose and vegetable garden. But what I found instead, was
a bunch of stinky wet leaves that were blackened, but not fully
decomposed. Now I figure that everything is in the process of
decomposing, but I thought that I would have had more by now. So
here are my questions:

1. I am generally lazy, so will the compost pile still decompose
if
I don't go out and turn it? Or is turning it a must?
It will still decompose, although more slowly and more unevenly.
Get
yourself a D-handle fork and use it once a month. It will help get
oxygen into the pile and you won't have the stink.

2. Are there any additives I can add that will naturally speed the
decomposition process? I remember hearing on TV that bone meal can
be sprinkled on the pile in between layers, but I wasn't sure if
that did anything.
It is best not to add anything, except water if needed.

3. Are grass and leaves enough variety to get a good pile going?
Again, I am lazy, so saving and bringing food scraps out to the
back
of the yard is really a bummer.
The best mix is 50% green and 50% brown. So your mix of grass and
leaves will work fine. It is better to add vegetable scraps, coffee
grounds/tea bags, etc. To get your pile to really cook a 1 cubic
yard
of material is minimum.

What I haven't seen anyone list is soil. I add in dirt that contains
earthworms.

I only added dirt to start the composting process. Dirt adds the
necessary molds, yeasts, and bacteria. A good compost pile might be too
hot in the center for worms. Once the pile is "working", I just leave
some old compost in the pile to "innoculate" new material.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/

"David E. Ross" wrote in message
. ..
On 3/17/2008 3:36 PM, Tom J wrote:
Phisherman wrote:
On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:54:35 -0700 (PDT),
"
wrote:

Hi everyone. I am a novice gardener and first time homeowner who
has
a question about composting. I have a corner in my backyard that I
have used to dump grass clipping, leaves, and small twigs for the
better part of the year. Now that spring has sprung, I walked to
that corner of the yard expecting to find some black gold that I
can
use on my rose and vegetable garden. But what I found instead, was
a bunch of stinky wet leaves that were blackened, but not fully
decomposed. Now I figure that everything is in the process of
decomposing, but I thought that I would have had more by now. So
here are my questions:

1. I am generally lazy, so will the compost pile still decompose
if
I don't go out and turn it? Or is turning it a must?
It will still decompose, although more slowly and more unevenly.
Get
yourself a D-handle fork and use it once a month. It will help get
oxygen into the pile and you won't have the stink.

2. Are there any additives I can add that will naturally speed the
decomposition process? I remember hearing on TV that bone meal can
be sprinkled on the pile in between layers, but I wasn't sure if
that did anything.
It is best not to add anything, except water if needed.

3. Are grass and leaves enough variety to get a good pile going?
Again, I am lazy, so saving and bringing food scraps out to the
back
of the yard is really a bummer.
The best mix is 50% green and 50% brown. So your mix of grass and
leaves will work fine. It is better to add vegetable scraps, coffee
grounds/tea bags, etc. To get your pile to really cook a 1 cubic
yard
of material is minimum.

What I haven't seen anyone list is soil. I add in dirt that contains
earthworms.

I only added dirt to start the composting process. Dirt adds the
necessary molds, yeasts, and bacteria. A good compost pile might be too
hot in the center for worms. Once the pile is "working", I just leave
some old compost in the pile to "innoculate" new material.

I also sprinkle each layer of compost with a little dirt to innoculate it. I
find that worms show up after the compost has mostly composted and gone cool
without additional effort.

"Billy" wrote in message
news:wildbilly-E54D22.15524117032008@c-61-68-245-
Oh, by the bye, I've heard that gardeners need to avoid getting horse
manure from a horse that has just been wormed because it will also kill
their earth bound cousins. Got an opinion? Actually, this sounds like a
question I should ask Lee.
--

Billy


I have 10 horses that are given a parasite paste quarterly. This will
control all sorts of parasitic worms and insect lavae (eg bot flies). A horse
weighing 500 kg (half a ton) gets about 30 g (1 oz) of paste. It produces
20-30kg (30-50lb) of manure a day in multiple piles. So that's 1 oz in about
3-4 tons of manure over the period. I am guessing that by the time you
collect it up and leave it to compost the active ingredients would be very
diluted and at least partially or maybe fully decomposed. Obviously if you
pick up the pile the day after worming and apply it straight away your result
will be different.

I wish that I could give a definitive answer but the only way you will know
for sure is if somebody analyses the compost heap. I use much rotted horse
manure from these animals and my garden has excellent wormage. I think on
balance the added organic material does more for the worms than any harm of
toxins.

David

In article , Charlie wrote:

On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:52:41 -0700, Billy wrote:


Your not becoming an arborist, are ya Charlie?;-)

Nope! I don't want you and Don all over me butt about this! :-) I just
figgered that since the OP seemed to be ...something....about their
laziness, I sure as hell wasn't gonna spoonfeed 'em. They can learn a
little about what they need to know by ...... study! Gardening, even
minimalist methods sometimes require a bit of sweat equity. Maybe
someone else will get some good out of the links I've collected, and
discovered, here in the last year or so.

Oh, by the bye, I've heard that gardeners need to avoid getting horse
manure from a horse that has just been wormed because it will also kill
their earth bound cousins. Got an opinion? Actually, this sounds like a
question I should ask Lee.

I got's lots of opinions..but on this, I don't know. Don't most
anthelmintics work systemically? Or do they act directly in the gut
upon the parasites?

If the latter is the case, then I would wonder also about doing damage
in the worm farm.

We'll await ideas from Lee.

Sliocht sleachta ar shliocht bhur sleachta
Charlie

and another case of Guinness bites the dust.
--

Billy

Impeach Pelosi, Bush & Cheney to the Hague
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/

In article , Charlie wrote:

On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:21:12 +0000 (UTC), enigma
wrote:

Charlie wrote in
:

I got's lots of opinions..but on this, I don't know. Don't
most anthelmintics work systemically? Or do they act
directly in the gut upon the parasites?

most are systemic, even the ones given orally. i give the
llamas & goats the shots though, mostly because that way they
get *into* the animal instead if all over me (and i'm more
worried about menengial worms in the brain/spinal cord than
gut worms).

;-) I've found that quite a few different breeds of critter aren't all
that keen on being drenched or balled or pilled. The last broad spec
cat wormer I got is available as a transdermal, like frontline , etc.
Much more pleasant for both the cat and I.

i'm not sure if they would affect earthworms anyway.
did you know that there are no native earthworms in the US?
they're all imported.

I didn't know that about earthworms until sometime in the last year a
caught a bit about it on Discovery or NGS. Imported in the rootballs
of native plants from Britain and Europe. I found fascinating, as I
woudl have assumed earthworms to be a part of soil worldwide. That
import seems to have worked out well for us, unlike some others. They
really spread fast, eh?

Thanks for the wormer thoughts. I tend to agree with your thinking
about toxicity to earthworms, different type of "worm" and likely to be
diluted by the time, and after, it gets composted.

Charlie

Well this year it is "green manure", if that doesn't work out, it's back
to the truck and flat shovel for me:-(.
--

Billy

Impeach Pelosi, Bush & Cheney to the Hague
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/

Billy wrote in

ct.net.au:


and another case of Guinness bites the dust.

Guiness isn't my favorite to drink, but i did toss a bottle
into the corned beef & cabbage yesterday. it was pretty good.
the corned beef was eye of round instead of the standard
brisket.
i bought Tom a bottle of Bushnell's 21 year old Whisky for
St.Patrick's day, but i didn't try any (yet). it smells really
good though.

lee
--
Last night while sitting in my chair
I pinged a host that wasn't there
It wasn't there again today
The host resolved to NSA.

"Andrew Ostrander" wrote in
:


"enigma" wrote in message
. ..

(snipped)

did you know that there are no native earthworms in the
US? they're all imported.
lee

I used to think that too, but have changed my idea.
Here's a quote from
http://www.nrri.umn.edu/worms/action/FAQ_sheet.pdf.

There are over 100 species of native North American
earthworms in unglaciated areas such as the southeastern
U.S. and the Pacific Northwest. However, native species
have either been too slow to move northwards on their own
or they are not able to survive Minnesota's harch climate.

ah, so it's only us northerners that have no native worms
(due to glaciers)? and the southern worms choose not to adapt
to cold climate, so we have the imported European worms.
makes sense.
lee

--
Last night while sitting in my chair
I pinged a host that wasn't there
It wasn't there again today
The host resolved to NSA.

wrote:
Hi everyone. I am a novice gardener and first time homeowner who has
a question about composting. I have a corner in my backyard that I
have used to dump grass clipping, leaves, and small twigs for the
better part of the year. Now that spring has sprung, I walked to that
corner of the yard expecting to find some black gold that I can use on
my rose and vegetable garden. But what I found instead, was a bunch
of stinky wet leaves that were blackened, but not fully decomposed.
Now I figure that everything is in the process of decomposing, but I
thought that I would have had more by now. So here are my questions:

1. I am generally lazy, so will the compost pile still decompose if I
don't go out and turn it? Or is turning it a must?
2. Are there any additives I can add that will naturally speed the
decomposition process? I remember hearing on TV that bone meal can be
sprinkled on the pile in between layers, but I wasn't sure if that did
anything.
3. Are grass and leaves enough variety to get a good pile going?
Again, I am lazy, so saving and bringing food scraps out to the back
of the yard is really a bummer.

Thanks for your input!

I think too many people want to fetishize composting.
I like doing it, and I don't mind working at it some,
but I don't figure I need to learn all that much about it.

If you don't like turning the whole pile, and I agree
that can be a lot of work, you should at least get a
fork and mix up the new material and a little bit of
the top layer when you put new stuff in the pile.
That's sufficient to keep leaves and grass from
clumping; when the stuff clumps together, it really
slows down the decomposition. After adding a lot of
new material, sprinkle a couple of shovelsful of soil
over it, and stir that up a little with your fork; lots
of bacteria in soil to help with the decomposition.
Keep the stuff reasonably moist, and that should be all
you need to do.