Compost how-to
Composting at the community garden I work with (it smells so bad right now cuz the people who I've taught to do it are never around, and noone who does try to make it in my absence can bother to ask what they should do). Sigh! Does this make sense to you?If you are dropping compostable materials off, please put them into buckets and put lids on top (not too tight). You could put dirt on top of the stuff in the bucket to keep the smell down. Do not leave cardboard boxes or plastic containers other than large buckets in the garden- we have no trash or recycling service, and in the winter, boxes can get pretty gross as they start to break down.
You don't have to put the compostables into a compost bin. You can just leave them in buckets. The chickens love corn cobs, apples, and not-rotten leafy greens. You can put them on the ground in the pen, but do not put anything other than chicken feed into the coops.
Please don't put compost into bins unless you have read and understood all of the below.
No grass or other weeds. Please, no bread, milk products, or meat- these can stink really bad and/or attract rodents.
There are 6 bins. The one on the far right is the oldest compost, which should be ready for use in the garden (or close to it!). You might want to pick through it for rubber bands, avocado and peach pits, and the like before you use it. Sometimes there are branches or other large objects that could go thru the compost again.
1. Shift the other 5 bins from left to the right:
First, stir each of the 6 bins with a pitchfork. Check to make sure that bin 6 is solid- bang any pieces that are out of place back into place. If there isn't a dirt pile anywhere in the garden, you might want to shovel a bucket or two's worth of compost to save for later. Then, using a shovel, start with bin 5 and move its contents (as much as will fit without spilling out) into bin 6. You will probably want to take apart the stacking layers as you go lower and lower. You might find some worms in the compost, but overall it is probably pretty dry. Then move the contents of bin 4 into bin 5. By the time you get to bin 3 or 2 you might find some smelly stuff- use a sharp shovel to chop up any large pieces. Throw in some dirt or finished compost, especially on top, to help soak up the wet, smelly stuff. Add dry matter such as straw as needed.
2. Start a new compost:
Check that bin 1 is not falling apart. The side panels usually start to stick out when the shovel has hit them a few times, so you want to make sure they are in tight. Get your shovel. If empty buckets are available, put dirt or finished compost into 1 or 2 and straw into 1 or 2, depending on how many trips around the garden you want/have time to take. Throw some dirt and straw into the bottom of bin 1. Dump the contents of a bucket into the bin. Chop its contents up with the shovel. Throw in a bit of straw and/or dirt depending on how wet it is, and throw in another bucket. I usually add straw and/or dirt about every 2 buckets. At the end, throw some dirt on top, stir a bit (pitchfork) and then throw more dirt on top. This way it won't smell.
3. Rinse the buckets VERY well so they don't stink or attract flies. Don't dump the water into ponds in garden. Don't put on starts or young plants. I sometimes dump the water at the ends of beds, and a bucket or two into bin 1 and 2 if they aren't too wet. Leave them upside-down so they can drip onto the ground. When they are dry (next day) stack most of them in some out of the way place.
posted by mahtin @ 11:32 PM
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