Yeah, I've paid no attention to my compost piles, but the way I started them makes getting to them difficult. Not as successful as yours.
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TSC Gardening Thread
- Thread starter Luecke3262
- Start date
“Finished” 23 day old compost:
The turning and burning:
-Let it sit for 4 days
-Completely turned over on day 4, the internal temperature was +/-148°F. Added 15 gallons water
-Completely turned over on day 6 the internal temperature was +/-156°F. Added 20 gallons water. We had some anaerobic smells, so I added 2 more bags worth of leaves.
-Completely turned over on day 8 the internal temperature was +/-160°F. Added 20 gallons water.
-Completely turned over on day 10 the internal temperature was +/-154°F. Added 20 gallons water.
-Completely turned over on day 12 the internal temperature was +/-145°F. Added 15 gallons water. Finally getting nice and damp!
-Completely turned over on day 15 the internal temperature was +/138°F. We’ve had plenty of rain and it’s damp throughout and still super steamy.
- Completely turned over on day 18 the internal temperature was +/130°F. I added 10 gallons of water to the base of the pile, which was the top, it was a bit dry. The center was still hot and steamy.
-Completely turned over on day 20 the internal temperature was +/120°F. Added 10 gallons of water, still had a hot center, but it was noticeably more crumbly. This
-Completely turned over on day 23 the internal temperature was +/105°F. The pile was much more loose and easy to work with a much smaller hot center. At this point I’m going to wet it down and cover it with a tarp to mellow for about a month and let the worms and bugs work it some more before using it to side dress. DONE!
On to the next one!
2 day old Hot compost:
I started with the following:
Greens(Nitrogen):
- 2 gallons spent coffee
- 10 +/- lawnmower bags of green grass
- 3 gallons food scraps
Browns(carbon):
-16 +/- mulched Bags of leaves(MULCHED is the key word, the previous pile used whole leaves which have less surface area and took longer to breakdown)
Added 20 gallons water at start. Size was +/- 5ft X 5ft X 4ft+ tall
This pile has about a 30:1 Carbon to Nitrogen ratio. The ideal ratio is 25:1-30:1, so I’ll keep adding some more food scraps and coffee over the next few days before I turn it on day 4.
The internal temperature is already 160°F(71°C), likely because I inoculated this pile with a huge scoop of compost from the very center of my other active pile.
Garden update:
Plants are doing well. Dug posts for the gate, which I built over the weekend, but haven’t brought it down yet. Will install chicken wire all around and put up the new solar powered electric fence this week.
The turning and burning:
-Let it sit for 4 days
-Completely turned over on day 4, the internal temperature was +/-148°F. Added 15 gallons water
-Completely turned over on day 6 the internal temperature was +/-156°F. Added 20 gallons water. We had some anaerobic smells, so I added 2 more bags worth of leaves.
-Completely turned over on day 8 the internal temperature was +/-160°F. Added 20 gallons water.
-Completely turned over on day 10 the internal temperature was +/-154°F. Added 20 gallons water.
-Completely turned over on day 12 the internal temperature was +/-145°F. Added 15 gallons water. Finally getting nice and damp!
-Completely turned over on day 15 the internal temperature was +/138°F. We’ve had plenty of rain and it’s damp throughout and still super steamy.
- Completely turned over on day 18 the internal temperature was +/130°F. I added 10 gallons of water to the base of the pile, which was the top, it was a bit dry. The center was still hot and steamy.
-Completely turned over on day 20 the internal temperature was +/120°F. Added 10 gallons of water, still had a hot center, but it was noticeably more crumbly. This
-Completely turned over on day 23 the internal temperature was +/105°F. The pile was much more loose and easy to work with a much smaller hot center. At this point I’m going to wet it down and cover it with a tarp to mellow for about a month and let the worms and bugs work it some more before using it to side dress. DONE!
On to the next one!
2 day old Hot compost:
I started with the following:
Greens(Nitrogen):
- 2 gallons spent coffee
- 10 +/- lawnmower bags of green grass
- 3 gallons food scraps
Browns(carbon):
-16 +/- mulched Bags of leaves(MULCHED is the key word, the previous pile used whole leaves which have less surface area and took longer to breakdown)
Added 20 gallons water at start. Size was +/- 5ft X 5ft X 4ft+ tall
This pile has about a 30:1 Carbon to Nitrogen ratio. The ideal ratio is 25:1-30:1, so I’ll keep adding some more food scraps and coffee over the next few days before I turn it on day 4.
The internal temperature is already 160°F(71°C), likely because I inoculated this pile with a huge scoop of compost from the very center of my other active pile.
Garden update:
Plants are doing well. Dug posts for the gate, which I built over the weekend, but haven’t brought it down yet. Will install chicken wire all around and put up the new solar powered electric fence this week.
looks fantastic
First fruits!
GearNoir
“The Disney Princess’s Apprentice”
woodpusher
TSC’s International Man of Meh
It's okay. He's just excited.
beginish
The Dr. Who of the TSC
We have a bunch of gardening going on around here. Two small raised beds, one with a mix of radishes, kale, arugula and Brussels sprouts has been going since March. The first crop of radishes is in and either eaten or pickled, and the arugula is a staple in the salads. The other bed is dedicated to scarlet runner beans and we have about 15 plants going right now. They will explode in a riot of leaves and red flowers over the next couple of months. A side benefit is the flowers are hummingbird magnets, so we get dinner and a show.
woodpusher
TSC’s International Man of Meh
I would have thought that hummingbirds aren't worth the effort to cook.
Yea where do you think chicken nuggets come from?I would have thought that hummingbirds aren't worth the effort to cook.
Chicken testicles?
Me loves me some radishes!!! they are amazing pickled
Dang! That's a cool image! I sacrificed 2 of my butterfly weed plants to the Monarch butterfly larvae. Luckily we still have some flowers. I have to keep telling myself, I'm growing those plants to feed the butterflies, but dang I want to squish the caterpillars! lolMatt, hopefully you and Iryna start seeing more of these!
Right now I'm fighting the cabbage worms on my Brussels sprouts. Thankfully the battle is going well
We haven't had rain here since May, 19th. I finally used up the last of my 550-gallon water reserve this morning and switched to tap water. Hopefully, we can get some rain this week, it's terribly dry!
woodpusher
TSC’s International Man of Meh
Have you planted anything yet???
woodpusher
TSC’s International Man of Meh
Yup! Lots of stuff shooting up. Almost all of our pole beans sprouted so now we have some transplanting to do in a week or so, as we put them 3" apart.
Nice! Our radishes are almost spent and we are about to plant another pole bean set in their place. Post some photos!
woodpusher
TSC’s International Man of Meh
It's too hard to tell the food from the weeds at this point.
Plant more! You can keep those going all season. Plant a new batch of them every 30 days and you'll have a constant supply of radishes.