Weekend Gardener: Composting for great soil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQshmzt0KE0
The Importance of Covering Food Scraps
When I went out to the compost pile this past weekend, I noticed that I needed more cover material... how? It just started getting warmer out, and I noticed that the top of my pile had a lot of bugs flying around... when a pile is covered properly, this won't happen. I had been uncovering/depositing without adding new brown material, and since I got lazy this is what happened. You can see halfway above the compost thermometer that there's a section of greenish material/hay and then a solid blanket of leaves on top. I get so happy when I shred a bag of leaves...it gives me several inches of fresh cover, which looks like this: You're looking at the solution to most composting issues. Ample (shredded & dampened) leaf…
Thermal kill temperatures obtained!
After a huge storm last weekend, tons of leaves came down on the block. By Monday they had dried out and I was there for the sweeping. I put my shredder to use and converted 3 bags of leaves into one full, dense bag of shredded brown fuel. I added a bunch of leftovers, the compost toilet bucket, weeds I picked from the side yard, and cat food that the picky guy doesn't want to eat anymore. On a side note, my cat seems to only want the cheap processed crap. I tried feeding him some super good stuff with real meat in it, and he doesn't want it! Anyway, it makes great fuel. My pile has been at or above 131 F for a few days now. Yay! According…