General – Page 187 – Crazy About Compost

Basic Gardening Tips: When is the Compost Pile Finished?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgM1mJJbOz0 How long does the composting process take? How do you know when it's finished? These are two questions that have so many variables that it's hard to answer succinctly. You can expect 6 weeks as a quicker (and not normal) turnaround time, but more like several months and up to a year, depending on how often the material is turned, how shredded the content is, how balanced the pile is, etc. To know when it's finished is to look at it and not recognize anything in there. I like to run my finished material through a sieve to check and make sure i don't have anything else lurking in there somewhere...it can happen. In the video above, Tia talks about this and shows us what some finished material looks…

The BEST Compost Recipe (video)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr4r9-XvPmU I can't believe I never heard of this guy before. If you live somewhere that has kudzu and manure nearby, I suggest paying close attention to this dude. He has good insights on his material selection, like why you should use cow manure instead of horse manure (although either works), or when to use straw. One day I'll have enough material to create a massive pile like this guy does...the temperatures you can reach with huge piles is pretty impressive. Dude's not messing around!

Can You Compost Play Doh?

I get asked somewhat often about composting play doh...so can you? Probably. The homemade stuff? Oil, salt, flour and water, right? That sounds fine. I doubt you'll have enough salt or oil to cause a serious imbalance in a compost pile. But how about Play Doh brand stuff? I dunno. Check out their FAQ: http://www.hasbro.com/playdoh/en_US/faq.cfm I can't stand it when companies say their product's makeup is proprietary. Maybe I don't want to put my trust in a product that won't say how it's made. The company states "non-toxic", and it also names all the ingredients you need based on the homemade recipe...so why would I buy their crap then? Here's a recipe for play doh that you can definitely compost: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Playdough-Play-doh/