I want to make compost bins

[rrog]

Ah! "Quick Return." Someone else just referenced that term and so did JayK. Now I get it. Good link. A damned online book. Somehow an excellent free book on free compost online and available to all gives me hope for humanity.

I liked this paper: http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/filelibrary/5669/42369.pdf

 

[rrog]

Tuinman, I wanted to thank you for those video links. Essentially the big round pile won. Same as the unit that Jay posted, really. Very cool and very interesting. Thanks again for that.

 

[heady blunts]

i think jay's tried it. i never got around to innoculating my piles with activator. i basically just use a lot of the plants in the activator as composting materials.

if you put a lot of nettle in your compost pile (in proper proportion to your "brown" carbon rich material) shit's gonna heat up

rrog that journey to forever site is FULLLLL of awesome reading material, all free. make sure to spend some time perusing...

 

[rrog]

What is is about these activators, Heady? Like a Nettle, is that just high nitrogen? Or more available Nitrogen?

 

[heady blunts]

it's basically bacteria food. the bacteria get things hot and start breaking shit down. then when the bacterial population is high enough, the fungal and protozoal populations start increasing in response (more food).

the key to fully finished thermal compost is to keep these numbers in balance.

according to teaming with microbes, you want to keep a carbon to nitrogen (C:N) ratio of 30:1. in order to do that you layer your compost piles with lots of nitrogen rich materials (aka "green" materials) and a bit of carbon rich materials ("brown" materials).

keep in mind that carbon rich materials are much more carbon dense than green materials are nitrogen dense. for example wood chips are something like 400:1, while nettle is more like 30:1.

so if your pile isn't heating up enough, you need more nitrogen (or more surface area for the bacteria to access, eg shredding or turning). if you're getting a stinky pile or it's heating up too fast, add more brown material.

 

[rrog]

Thanks a lot for that h.b..

I guess what I meant was that in my brief reading yesterday while stoned I understood that there were certain materials that were more of an accelerant than others. Like urine, nettles, etc. I assumed these were particularly quick Nitrogen release as compared to grass. But not necessarily more Nitrogen, just easier to access. That's what I was a-wonderin'.

 

[heady blunts]

well the nitrogen is part of it. you are feeding the types of bacteria that eat nitrogen.

(if i'm way off base here please correct me!)

 

[jaykush]

RROG read the online book, it explains everything. how it works, why she thinks it works that way, etc....

i can vouch for the method, it produces EXCELLENT compost when you follow her directions. yes FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS.

 

[h.h.]

THE COMPLETE COMPOST GARDENING GUIDE\
BARBARA PLEASANT & DEBORAH L. MARTIN
They suggest using feed meals if you need a nutritional activator. High protein, high nitrogen. I find cornmeal works though it's not really needed. Using horse shit and grass cuttings, though maybe not 'organic", the pile stays hot.






















'

 

[cody2white]

I hear human hair makes a great compost secret ingredient

 

[DARC MIND]

i use and shared my experiance with using the quick return method and plant bioaccumulaters in the OCF discussions..
think it was one on compost,any who the endproduct was mixed with char,pumice,axis & is growing a variety of very happy plants

 

[xmobotx]

Yeah, I read that QR compost book on journey to forever - some dated ideas about the hows and whys - but still good info (like she says "radiation" to describe how it works - we still understand the tense she uses but automatically think radioactive) I intend to try her method - but meanwhile I simply add the same ingredients to my pile after the mower chops em up

that whole journey to forever site is helpful in many ways - reading on ley farming now

 

[jaykush]

dont knock it until you try it. and even if you used the same plants as the activator you dont get the same end result.

done right there is no need to turn the pile.

 

[rrog]

The Quick Return book is really something special. Reading Chapter 1 now. Back in '46 she was amazingly insightful despite the peer pressure to embrace chem ferts.

I bet she toked.

 

[xmobotx]

@ jay yes absolutely - I full intend to try her method as precisely as I can w/o buying anything

my pile is the same pile I've had as long as I've been on IC and plus - I sift out finished compost and add more goodies in a constant rotation - not the best, just a pile on the ground

maybe I could just make the activator and try it w/ my existing pile - almost seems like an unfair advantage though

I do have a crowbar - lol

i bet she toked

lol - hopefully