How To Compost – Page 92 – 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!

It doesn’t need to be fancy…

When I visited home for the holidays, I had to take a look and see what my mom's old composting area looked like. This really spun me out because I remember making this little frame out of cinder blocks a long time ago and it looked good. What's funny is that if you want to compost, you can make do with this just fine...just make space and add stuff to it in appropriate quantities. Next to this was a nice looking compost bin...again, it does the trick. You can add material nice and high and it stays fairly organized. Note the slits near bottom which double as a spot to anchor it to the ground as well as provide some needed air circulation. Way to go, mom! To start composting,…