{"id":4178,"date":"2022-09-14T08:12:47","date_gmt":"2022-09-14T08:12:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifoxany.com\/?p=4178"},"modified":"2022-09-14T08:27:37","modified_gmt":"2022-09-14T08:27:37","slug":"garden-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifoxany.com\/index.php\/2022\/09\/14\/garden-gold\/","title":{"rendered":"Garden Gold"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Adding compost to your garden is one of the best things you can do for your plants. If compost ingredients are carefully mixed you can create compost in a matter of weeks not months. This article explains how.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The\u00a0original Garden Gold article<\/u><\/a>\u00a0talked about the slow and simple way to compost.\u00a0 For many of you slow and simple will be sufficient.\u00a0 However, some of you may want to make compost in a matter of weeks rather than months.\u00a0 This is possible but will take a more intensely managed compost pile to pull it off.\u00a0 Consider this article the advanced way to create your garden gold.<\/p>

Garden Gold<\/u><\/a>\u00a0talks about setting up your compost pile, including where to put it and how to build it.\u00a0 It also covers the material you should put in your compost pile and what you shouldn’t include.\u00a0 If you haven’t already read it\u00a0I suggest you do so now<\/u><\/a>.<\/u><\/a>\u00a0 By now you know that compost will pretty much make itself if you give it enough time.\u00a0 However, to most efficiently turn yard waste into compost you will need to manage carbon to nitrogen ratios, surface area, oxygen, moisture, and temperature both inside and outside the compost pile.\u00a0 If these factors are managed correctly you can have finished compost in as little as 3 to 4 weeks.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Creating the Conditions for Rapid Decomposition<\/b><\/strong><\/p>

The ingredients in compost are broken down by microbes.\u00a0 Creating compost quickly comes down to keeping the microbes in your compost pile happy.\u00a0 In order for the microbes to work most efficiently they need to have the correct proportion of Carbon (also often referred to as brown materials) to Nitrogen (also referred to as green materials).\u00a0\u00a0 The ratios listed in the various articles I’ve read vary anywhere from 30:1 (C:N) to 3:1 (C:N).\u00a0 I would look at putting a ratio somewhere around 8:1 (8 parts carbon to 1 part nitrogen).\u00a0 If you want fast decomposition you will need to place everything into your compost pile at once.\u00a0\u00a0 Putting things in bit by bit doesn’t allow the compost pile to create the conditions for fast decomposition.<\/p>

It is best to layer the materials in your compost pile, think of it as a lasagna.\u00a0 Place an 8 inch layer of brown material down, top this with a 1 inch layer of green, followed by brown, followed by green…\u00a0 Carbon (brown) sources include dried leaves, straw, shredded paper, hair trimmings.\u00a0 Nitrogen (green) sources include kitchen scraps (avoid dairy and meat based products), grass clippings, animal manure and weeds (don’t use diseased or seeding weeds).\u00a0 You can also help kick start your compost pile by adding a few hand fulls of finished compost or soil to the pile.\u00a0 Finished compost or soil will essentially inoculate your compost pile with the microbes needed to break down your components into usable compost.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Importance of Surface Area and Oxygen<\/b><\/strong><\/p>

Surface area is important for speed of breakdown.\u00a0 Smaller pieces of material means more surface area for the microbes to work, this will cause the material to break down more quickly.\u00a0 Chop or shred the materials going into your compost pile so that the microbes have lots of places to feed.\u00a0 A lawn mower can be quite effective at chopping up leaves.\u00a0 Spread the leaves in a layer and then run over them with the mower a few times before adding them to the compost pile.<\/p>

The microbes also need oxygen to live and work.\u00a0 As the microbes work breaking down the material at the center of the pile (where they will be most plentiful) they can use up all available oxygen.\u00a0 To keep them working efficiently you will need to insure that oxygen is reaching all areas of your compost pile.\u00a0 One way to insure that this happens is to turn the pile over.\u00a0 For the quickest decomposition turn your compost at least once a week.\u00a0 Turning the compost pile actually does two things, it gets more oxygen incorporated and it mixes the less decomposed materials (located on the outside of the pile) into the more decomposed materials which will help all of the material decompose quickly.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Moisture is Necessary for Success<\/b><\/strong><\/p>

Moisture is the next important component for quickly turning ingredients into compost.\u00a0 In general brown ingredients will be dry and the green ingredients will be wet.\u00a0 When mixed together the pile should feel like a “well wrung out sponge.”\u00a0 You may need to add water to your pile to get the moisture level right.\u00a0 Try to use rain water or other non-treated water.\u00a0 Chlorine and chemicals to treat water can kill the microbes that will break down your compost pile.\u00a0 If your compost pile stays too wet you will kill off the aerobic microbes (the ones that use oxygen) and anaerobic microbes (ones that don’t use oxygen) will take their place.\u00a0 Anaerobic microbes will still work on breaking down your compost ingredients but they will cause the pile to have an unpleasant odor.\u00a0 If your compost pile gets too wet, add additional dry brown ingredients to help it out.\u00a0 If the compost pile is too dry the microbes won’t work efficiently either so monitor moisture levels.<\/p>

The microbes are also most efficient at certain temperatures.\u00a0 Internal temperatures of 140 to 160 degrees F should be the happy spot for your microbes.\u00a0 This temperature is more easily maintained during warm weather but can be also be maintained in cold weather.\u00a0 Within a day of forming your compost pile it should begin to really heat up, this is from energy given off by the working microbes.\u00a0 As food and oxygen levels fall the pile will begin to cool off.\u00a0 Turning the pile every week will help insure that those internal temperatures remain high.\u00a0 Compost piles that heat up to 140 to 160 F should be hot enough to kill weed seeds.\u00a0 To be on the safe side omit weeds that have gone to seed from the pile.\u00a0 It will take a fairly large compost pile to maintain these high temperatures, especially during cool weather.\u00a0 A 3 x 3 x 3 foot compost pile is ideal.\u00a0 Worms and insects are common in a compost pile, don’t get rid of them they will aid in decomposition.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Common problems with Compost Piles<\/b><\/strong><\/p>