[Arid_gardener] RE: Composting Methods

[bit_eimer]

Dick,

 

Interesting to see a different approach to composting.  We have 3 bins
side-by-side bins, each 4'x4'x4', each with a front gate and hinged top (to
keep the roof rats out), each with an adjustable system of micro-sprinkler
heads.  Over the course of a year I accumulate double-shredded material in
Bin 1, including 1/3 acres' worth of trimmings, kitchen scraps, bones, etc.
Around October, I fork this over into Bin 2.  In June-July I turn off Bin
2's sprinkler system so that it will dry out a bit.  In September, I screen
(1/2") this into Bin 3 and then almost immediately run this through my
shredder again. That means I don't actually use Bin 3 for composting action
at all.

 

I usually end up with about five or six 55-gallon drums worth of finished
compost with a consistency and look similar to that of moist coffee grounds,
but I have no idea as to its nutritional value.  We use most it to cover
winter-grass seeding (2000 sqft) in October.

 

So the differences I see are that I only turn the pile once, keep it moist
automatically with sprinkler system, and have not used fertilizer (with
which I think I will now experiment).  

 

Is the fertilizer primarily as a composting-action-enhancer? Or to add
nutrients to the final product?

 

Any idea how I can determine the nutritional value of my compost?

 

.Derek

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Dick [mailto:rkgross3 at cox.net] 
Sent: Saturday, October 13, 2007 5:10 PM
To: bit_eimer; arid_gardener at CALS.arizona.edu
Subject: Re: Wonderful Pomegranate Pests

 

Thanks, Derek, for the information. I have just been lucky with roof rats
but, strangely, have not been plagued by the critters even though I have
five full grown trees with a lot of fruit litter that I have been negligent
in cleaning up. I once had a mouse colony in a bin but it disappeared
promptly after a couple of rotations.

 

For compost, I use three of the recycled City trash bins that I try to turn
every other week when I don't forget. To turn, I just insert a finger in
both sides through the 1 inch holes, lift it off the pile, set it aside and
fork the stuff back in, blended and rewetted withwater and about a half cup
of 21-0-0 disolved in a 3 gallon sprinkler can. It gets so hot it almost
blisters. When the stuff will no longer stay in the tines of a garden fork,
I sift it through a half inch screen and bag it where it will continue to
decompose if kept damp. What won't go through the screen goes back into the
working bin where it acts as a starter, apparently.

 

I have learned that the finer the organic waste can be reduced in particle
size, the faster it will decompose because there is a much greater surface
area for micro-organisms to breed and feed. I have an efficient shredder
that is the best garden investment I have ever made.

 

Dick Gross, Master Gardener Volunteer. 

U of A Maricopa County Cooperative Extension.

 

----- Original Message ----- 

From: "bit_eimer" < <mailto:bit_eimer at cox.net> bit_eimer at cox.net>

To: "'Dick'" < <mailto:rkgross3 at cox.net> rkgross3 at cox.net>; <
<mailto:arid_gardener at CALS.arizona.edu> arid_gardener at CALS.arizona.edu>

Sent: Saturday, October 13, 2007 9:15 AM

Subject: Wonderful Pomegranate Pests

 

 

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