[Arid_gardener] Re: Composting Methods

[Dick]

The Ammonium Sulfate, Derik, is, I neglected to respond, primarily to feed 
nitrogen to the colony of micro-organisms in the soil where the nourishment 
allows them to multiply while feeding on the organic compounds. The nitrogen 
helps to bring a chemical balance to our highly lifeless (desert) soils. The 
organic compounds are decomposed in the guts of the organisms and the 
elements reconstituted in the plants as new compounds that make new plant 
parts as leaves, roots and so on. The sulfur in 21-0-0 helps neutralize the 
alkaline compounds into nutrients that feeder roots can adsorb.  My science 
here is somewhat rough around the edges, Derik, but that is approximately 
what happens as best I understand it without going back to school or hitting 
the books again. If any of you can clarify my hodgepodge science, please 
feel free to do so because I believe sincerely that understanding the 
chemical mechanics makes better gardeners of us.

Dick Gross, Master Gardener Volunteer

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dick" <rkgross3 at cox.net>
To: "bit_eimer" <bit_eimer at cox.net>; <arid_gardener at CALS.arizona.edu>
Sent: Sunday, October 14, 2007 8:19 PM
Subject: Re: Composting Methods


> Derek, I didn't respond to some of your questions but will try to do so 
> belatedly as best I can. My "expertize" in this area is a bit foggy but 
> basically, desert soils are notoriously deficient of organic (hydrocarbon) 
> compounds because of low rainfall. Composting is an attempt to rectify the 
> deficiency with the use of compost to convert dirt to live-soil with 
> micro-organisms that exist where ever there is a food supply. They chow 
> down on decaying organic material and the digestive processes in their 
> guts break down complex organic compounds to elements that plants can, 
> with the help of Mycorrhizae, adsorb as nutrient to build new cells.
>
> Your process sounds like an ideal compost operation but the procedure 
> would be a bit too strenuous for my 83 years. With the use of Ammonium 
> Sulfate and the bins, I believe the process might be a bit faster, too. 
> and if that is too strenuous, I can get my wife to do it.  In a part of my 
> yard, I just layer a 4 inch thickness of shredded leaves, keep the strata 
> damp and let soil organisms feed off the underside.
>
> Home gardening is not complete, in my opinion, unless composting is a 
> critical component letting nothing go to the landfill.
>
> Dick Gross, Master Gardener Volunteer
> U of A Maricopa County
> Cooperative Extension
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: bit_eimer
> To: 'Dick' ; arid_gardener at CALS.arizona.edu
> Sent: Saturday, October 13, 2007 10:16 PM
> Subject: RE: Composting Methods
>
>
> 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" <bit_eimer at cox.net>
> To: "'Dick'" <rkgross3 at cox.net>; <arid_gardener at CALS.arizona.edu>
> Sent: Saturday, October 13, 2007 9:15 AM
> Subject: Wonderful Pomegranate Pests