Fast, Biologically Active, Highly-Efficient, No-Turn Composting-Really!
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Article by: Fred Davis Most now-old-fashioned composting methods are actually labor , A Couple of Good Places to Buy Lawnmowers intensive and often a little too slow for my taste and purposes. The pile must be turned to re-introduce air , Planning Your Flower Garden into colonies of oxygen-starved bacteria, fungi and other organisms. Now there's an easier way which incorporates very nearly all basic composting principles but which vastly improves two crucial factors: aeration and time. Here's my system for producing finished "black gold""”fully decomposed, rich, dark, nutrient-saturated, almost totally weed- and pathogen-free organic , Garden Gnomes Inspire Cult Following Worldwide matter ready to be worked into garden , Small Bridges You'll Love To Cross! soil"¦in 21 to 28 days, with no turning"”REALLY! The Enclosure. A diversity of materials may be used for the enclosure"”concrete blocks, timbers, , Want A View? Start Growing Orchids On Trees wire mesh or boards, for example"”but for economy's sake, I have constructed my "no-turn, self-aerating, 21-day" compost , A Guide to Vines and How to Vine Beauty with Your Garden bin from salvaged pallets commonly used by truckers in the transport of equipment or supplies. Other sources of these used"”oftentimes perfectly usable"”pallets are large hardware , Gardening for Wildlife stores, plumbing , Garden Statuary - Time for a Fresh New Look and heating suppliers, lumber yards. , Hot New Sunflowers to Grow ..and don't overlook your local , Why Bonsai Beginners Love Baby Jade landfill or waste transfer station. A friend or neighbor who works at large discount stores or on construction sites may be of some help, as well. As interest in using recycled or salvageable pallets increases, it is likely that you may have to pay for them. $5 would not be an unreasonable amount for sound, fully-intact pallets. Most medium-to-full-size automobiles are wide enough in the trunk to accommodate one or two pallets. Recall that biological composting does not rely on bright light , Hedge Trimmers Are Tools Not Toys and sunshine, so you can secrete your bin in a dark corner of the yard, , Beneficial Mycorrhizae - Your Plant's Best Friend behind shrubbery or "back in the woods" where it won't be seen. Place , Compost Tea Tea Time For Your Garden the least attractive pallet on level ground where you want your compost , Abatement Challenges of Non-Native Noxious Weeds pile to reside. This base or "foundation" allows air , A Guide to Vines and How to Vine Beauty with Your Garden circulation (remember that free air , Re-Potting Your Orchids movement is key to the composting process) and prevents tree , Garden Tips for Planting Super-Sweet Grape Tomatoes roots from creeping in and feasting on your compost. , Whack 'Em Back - Getting More Flowers by Pruning You might consider nailing additional narrow strips on this "foundation" pallet between each top-surface board, leaving just enough space for air , Easy Pond Algae Control the Ecologically Safe Way to pass without difficulty, while preventing your shredded garden , Folklore: It Starts with the Soil wastes from falling through. Half-inch gaps work for me. You could also use saplings instead of sawn strips. Next, stand the remaining four pallets on edge with the closely-spaced boards facing inward and vertical (perpendicular to the ground) to form a box just outside , Ponds of the foundation pallet. Lash them together using wire or synthetic cord (so it won't decay in a few weeks). I've used the same two-foot lengths of plastic , Planning Your Flower Garden clothesline cord for years. Later, you'll want to untie the pallet which constitutes the "front" in order to access finished compost"”so select your knots carefully. Allowing For Maximum Air , Harmonize Your Yard: 8 Ways to Add Feng Shui Outdoors Circulation. Important to the function and success in this new system are appropriate length sections of salvaged 1-1/4" or 1-1/2" black plastic water , Do It Yourself: An Attractive Rock Garden Anyone Would Be Proud Of or PVC drain pipe. Most discount salvage stores (here in Maine we call , Palm Trees them "Mardens") sell such pipe for a fraction of what the same material would cost at a builder's supply. You'll need ten or twelve lengths about 4-1/2 feet long. Use a half-inch "spade" drill bit and an electric , Ponds drill to create random perforations about every four or five inches all around the pipe. Precise spacing is not important. All right - ready? Let's assume you've gathered all your shredded "greens" and "browns" and are ready for some serious composting action. I like to mix these two main ingredients together before tossing them into the pile. Place , Small Garden Bridges You'll Love To Cross! a layer of mixed material 4" to 6" deep on the foundation pallet of your new, high-efficiency, low-cost, no-turn composting bin. Make certain that the material's moisture , Home Landscaping Etiquette level is adequate (it should feel like a wrung-out kitchen , Making the Most of the Front of Your Home Using Wind Chimes sponge) and do not press the layer down. Place , Ponds two of your perforated aeration pipes on top of this layer so the cut ends protrude through the side pallets. Space a pipe about 16" in from each side so, when you look down at the layer's surface, it looks as if it's been divided into thirds. Recall that I suggested making the boards in your pallet walls , Abatement Challenges of Non-Native Noxious Weeds stand vertical. Perforated aeration pipes can now slide down freely as the pile settles during the accelerated composting process. Had those boards been placed horizontal, your pipes would have hung up, bent"”and possibly "kinked""”in a short time. You can guess what that'll do to the flow of air , Home Landscaping Etiquette into the pile. Now it's time for a second six-inch layer of shredded material followed by a second set of perforated pipe at right angles to the ones in layer #1, below. Continue, layer by layer, adding another set of pipes to each layer as you go, until you've reached the top (and the end of your supply of pipes). Remember to alternate the direction of each layer of perforated pipes. It is not necessary to install aeration pipes above the top layer. But it is recommended that you lay on an additional 4" or 5" layer of some coarse, insulating organic , Outdoor Waterfalls material like pine needles or whole leaves. This insulating layer allows generated heat , Compost Tea Tea Time For Your Garden to penetrate all the way to the top of your mixed material, thereby destroying most"”if not all"”weed seeds, , The String Algae Blues undesirable insects, and plant , Small Garden Bridges You'll Love To Cross! pathogens. What happens next is pure simplicity and efficiency! Mass temperature , Beneficial Mycorrhizae - Your Plant's Best Friend immediately begins to rise until, between 48 and 96 hours later, it has topped out at between 140° and 160° (F). As bacterial decomposition consumes oxygen in the process, air , Why Bonsai Beginners Love Baby Jade passes through the aeration pipes to replenish supplies. As material quickly decomposes, the pile begins settling. In about seven to ten days, temperatures , A Guide to Vines and How to Vine Beauty with Your Garden will have begun to fall , Hot New Sunflowers to Grow until, by the end of about 3 weeks, it should have reached ambient outside air , Do It Yourself: An Attractive Rock Garden Anyone Would Be Proud Of temperature and the pile's mass will have shrunk to a little over half its original size. There is one small problem, however, which must be dealt with during the high-heat stage. Because fresh, cool outside air , Lawn Diseases Can Be Deadly is flowing through the perforated pipes"”and therefore into the pile"”a small area of the mix near each perforation will remain cool enough to prevent the destruction , Amaryllis - A Perfect Flower For the Festive Season of seeds , Buying Teak Wood Furniture Responsibly and pathogens by heat. , Re-Potting Your Orchids To overcome this small handicap, it is recommended that, for one 24-hour day (only) about 3 days into the high heat , Lawn Diseases Can Be Deadly stage, the open ends of each aeration pipe be plugged, thereby allowing high heat , Cold Frame Greenhouse - Maximize The Natural Warmth Of The Sun to thoroughly penetrate throughout the mix. At the end of this 24-hour period, remove the plugs, and the process continues essentially unaffected by the missing , A Couple of Good Places to Buy Lawnmowers days' worth of air. , Ponds Wadded-up newspaper makes a good temporary plug. It's done! Actually, I like to allow the finished product , Theme Gardens to just sit there for another week or two to stabilize. At this rate, given a large enough supply of greens , Planning Your Flower Garden and browns, you should be able to produce nearly a square yard , Hot New Sunflowers to Grow of finished compost , Buying Teak Wood Furniture Responsibly every five weeks. You guess what that'll do to the health of your garden"”and your success rate!The information , Palm Trees contained in this article was taken from the free downloadable book by the author, Fred Davis, "Keys To The Garden , Lawn Diseases Can Be Deadly Gate," at http://www.HillGardens.com/ Fred Davis is a Master Gardener, Master Composter, , Lap Pools - Great Exercise Inside Or Any Size Backyard lecturer, and long-time nurseryman. He and his wife, Linda, own and operate a popular perennial , Outdoor Living Cleanses The Mind, Body, and Spirit nursery in Palermo, Maine, and maintain a no-frills, no cookies, no-login gardening , Cold Frame Greenhouse - Maximize The Natural Warmth Of The Sun information website at: http://www.HillGardens.com/ |
  
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