Sorry, another composting thread…but like the title says…

I’ve had this compost heap going for 3 years now. Just the one heap, in a big black compost bin that would probably hold 44 gallons in the old measure.

It was going great, continually melting down, and then the kids kept throwing the kitchen scraps in it last year, without the shredded paper every now and then. So it got very sludgy and smelt a little bit “off”. I have been adding the shredded paper the last 2 school terms but it wasn’t gunna co-operate, nosiree, even with a couple of doses of molasses and water.

So I dug a hole in it, added the freezer-burnt prawns (about 4 kilos worth, sob ) covered it with kitchen scraps and also a goodly layer of shredded paper…it became as close to mutinous as a compost can go…so I used my new hose nozzle to jet the water in good and properly…

Left the lid off as the birds were wanting a bath that the pony couldn’t tip over and I thought perhaps after my little tussle of wills with it, the compost might like some fresh air…(I put the upturned lid in a garden bed, with a brick in it, and when the garden gets watered the birds have a shower and the lid holds water for several days as a birdbath)…

Went back yesterday and the shredded paper has dried to form a loverly organic lid in its’ own right…the compost smells like dynamic lifter…Is this a good smell? I think it might be…

So now, what do I do? Can I just spread this compost over a garden bed and start again? I’m happy for the birds to pick out any “treats”, or will this poison them?

Silly questions I know, but I said it was for a Dummy…

if i read right this compost is three years old. spread it.

when you do tip it out on the ground smell it – and if it smells unpleasant fork it to the side in a heap.
keep turning it until the smell is gone.

you should be alright tho’ – by the time the prawns have broken down its time to spread it and fork it into the soil.

You certainly read this right…3 years old this is…cos I’m lazy and baggy-*rsed …

Okies, so you reckon I can spread it out almost straight away…that’s if it smells OK and the prawns are melted…do I leave it to “cure”? How do I know if it’s “cured”?

partly rotted compost has more oomph.

Three year old compost shold have been well composted.

If wishing to avoid the stinky compost ting by using kitchen scraps then yoou perhaps may need to use a stand by bin to collect enough kitchen scraps to combine with the paper or straw as a layer.. rather than higgledy piddly tossing n a handful of scraps a day.

How do I know if it’s “cured”?
————————
‘well rotted’ actually – ‘cured’ is something else.
green grass turns brown in about two weeks and normally looses its structure to become like tea leaves in about two months. by a year it is humus – a fine soil.
however lack of water will prevent this happening – i’ve heard that toilet paper survives in the desert for several years if no rain comes.
also if its unshredded or woody its will last much longer. you have been adding to it as well so the stuff on top will be fresh still.
try moving the bin (after emptying it) and any fresh stuff on top can go back in the bin. use the well rotted stuff from the bottom of the bin.

roughbarked said:

partly rotted compost has more oomph.

Three year old compost shold have been well composted.

If wishing to avoid the stinky compost ting by using kitchen scraps then yoou perhaps may need to use a stand by bin to collect enough kitchen scraps to combine with the paper or straw as a layer.. rather than higgledy piddly tossing n a handful of scraps a day.

Hi RoughBarked, this is what we do: collect the scraps in a 9 litre bucket with a good sealing lid. The worm farm was purchased earlier this year and most of the moist scraps go there, the compost now gets the scraps that should not be fed to the worms, and sometimes if the vegetation intended for the worms goes “off”, then I put that in the compost as well…the problem began before the worm farm, when the kids were just throwing in the compost bucket scraps, without any dry stuff between…

I use hay (lucerne) scrapings for the bottom of the kitchen compost bin, it stops the food from sticking…there used to be Natty Cat kitty litter (lucerne pellets) then I moved to pine pellets, and now there’s one made from wood materials but I haven’t used it for nearly a year…

RoughBarked, are you saying applying the compost to the garden when it is only partially composted, is a good thing? This is a vacant bed, never grown anything apart from roses about 10 years ago…

pepe said:

How do I know if it’s “cured”?
————————
‘well rotted’ actually – ‘cured’ is something else.
green grass turns brown in about two weeks and normally looses its structure to become like tea leaves in about two months. by a year it is humus – a fine soil.
however lack of water will prevent this happening – i’ve heard that toilet paper survives in the desert for several years if no rain comes.
also if its unshredded or woody its will last much longer. you have been adding to it as well so the stuff on top will be fresh still.
try moving the bin (after emptying it) and any fresh stuff on top can go back in the bin. use the well rotted stuff from the bottom of the bin.

I’d believe that about the toilet paper…although you would expect the sun to rot it…

hmmm, it would appear that I should remove the bin from the heap, and look at the structure of the heap…will do that tomorrow, if I can stop playing with the chick-pea straw ;)

Depends what you are composting. I never put any meat or fish in mine.

roughbarked said:

Depends what you are composting. I never put any meat or fish in mine.

Bones and prawn refuse…not scraps of meat, elle wuffles gets those…not all bones, just every now and then I put the odd bone in…they fade away to nothing…

Why don’t you put meat or fish in your compost? Is it an open compost (like Pepe’s, that 3-bay affair)…?

Dinetta said:

roughbarked said:

Depends what you are composting. I never put any meat or fish in mine.

Bones and prawn refuse…not scraps of meat, elle wuffles gets those…not all bones, just every now and then I put the odd bone in…they fade away to nothing…

Why don’t you put meat or fish in your compost? Is it an open compost (like Pepe’s, that 3-bay affair)…?

Why don’t I ?

well like, I don’t have any to put in.

I make dirt from rubbish in ten days though.

Any way you like. An open heap, a three bin set up, a tumbler or a black plastic thing even an old bathtub..
I’ve mainly used open heaps for most of my life and occasionally I get serious and use the three bin set up..
I inherited those stupid black things you get from your shire council or from the store with the big B.

Compost can be made using science or it can be made after having been lulled into thinking that the science has been done for you.

My opinion of the black dalek things .. is that they were not the smartest bit of scientific marketing out there.

Compost does need to have the greens and the browns so to speak but it also needs the correct amount of moisture and the correct amount of aeration.

Done properly it can be a fine useable compost after just ten days..

Giving people a plastic bin to stick up the yard takes the science of composting out of composting and replaces it with a out of sight out of mind mentality.

Once a compost heap is made. It really should not have any more recent additions. It should either be allowed to compost or it may be assisted to compost but .. adding more to it unscientifically will only make it turn into the stinky pot.

If there isn’t enough compostible material produced on any one day to make a small compost heap then a worm farm or sheet mulching would be better ways to convert it if you don’t have chooks or pigs.

roughbarked said:

If there isn’t enough compostible material produced on any one day to make a small compost heap then a worm farm or sheet mulching would be better ways to convert it if you don’t have chooks or pigs.

What is sheet mulching? (great info in that last post, by the way – thanks)

sheet mulching is using the surface of the soil. Green manures can be turned in. They can also be laid out on top of the soil to make the whole area a worm farm.

I thought it said “Dunny”…

pain master said:

I thought it said “Dunny”…

You need specs…