I do n’t compost at all in the winter here as it is too hard to keep it ‘ hot ’ in our wintry weather condition but here is some general information on composting in case you inhabit in a more temperate climate . In Santa Fe , I compost in the Fall and then have it fake all winter and utilize it in the Spring after it becomes compost . Then I make more in the Spring and Summer .
1 . I build my compost bins to hold the materials out of pallet . I just use 3 per binful and wire them together . I line the Interior Department with hardware cloth ( 1/2 in conducting wire holes ) to keep it from strike through the pallet slots . I build 3 of them for the various stages the compost goes through . Works great . Easy .
2 . When building my compost big money I alternate layer of BROWN and greenish materials ( 2 - 4 inches of each stratum ) and when you summate a solid food scrap layer , make certain you sprinkle it with grime and then top off with a brown layer to keep olfactory modality . I use a proportion OF ONE PART BROWN TO ONE PART GREEN materials . In other words - equal amounts of both . I usually turn it once or double but I should turn it more ( like every week ) . I also need to water the sight to facilitate with the breakdown process . The compost pile should be moist like a parazoan but not drown . That is ordinarily not a job as the climate is sooo ironic here in Santa Fe . In fact we have to water more because it is so dry . In other parting of the world where it rains more , you may have to treat it from getting too blind drunk .
3 . Here is the GREEN ( NITROGEN ) MATERIAL I USE in my compost pile - grass , food scraps ( uncooked fruit and vegetables like one-time simoleons , honest-to-goodness tomatoes , potato peelings , shell , coffee grounds , tea bag and egg shells ) , garden trimming and FRESH horse manure . If you ca n’t get fresh horse or other farm beast manure , then use blood meal or alfalfa meal to get your pile HOT . Just spit it on top of your dark-green stratum .
4 . Here is the BROWN ( CARBON ) MATERIAL I USE juiceless manure , fall leaves , straw and newspaper strips ( dry ) . I usually start at the bottom of the stack with some leaf and then bring the fleeceable and kitchen scraps and some dirt and then the brown again . The stuff at the bottom of your pile will start to break down first . That is why you take to turn it over - so it fudge evenly . If you do n’t turn it over it will take much longer to to break down and that is all right with some of us .
5 . Here is what I DON’T USE in the compost pile- any meat products ( attracts animals and may carry pathogen ) , no blackguard or cat poo , no woody or branchy clobber ( takes too long to split down ) corn cob , no veggie garden plants ( in sheath they have some disease )
6 . Start by layer your brown and green stuff in one of your BIN and stack it eminent . It will start to cook down in a couple of days and you will notice it will be about 1/2 its original size in about a calendar week - if you have enough nitrogen ( manure or blood meal or alfalfa repast ) to get it cooking .
7 . If you require to , get a compost thermometer which is about 24 inches grandiloquent to put in the heart of the pile . A red-hot voltaic pile may get from 110 degrees- 160 academic degree F which is hot enough to kill most pathogens and it is fun to see how hot your pile is . The hotter the lot , the faster it becomes compost . But this requires more turning to get it to decay faster . This is called red-hot COMPOSTING .
8 . Lastly you could layer all your hooey and just wait ( about a year ) for it to decay and become compost on its own . This is hollo COLD COMPOSTING .
