Compostin" puts # rbon b #$ where it belon"s % in our soils&

18-Day Compost the Appliance of Science

Posted July 26, 2008 by Andy Kenworthy & filed under Compost.
You may have got beyond the heave it in and hope stage of composting, but the average heap or bin still involves a lot of trial and error. This 18-day compost system takes the guess ork out of your heap and turbo-charges the hole process. !ut, it does re"uire consistent effort for t o eeks and careful monitoring to ork properly.

#eres ho it as described to Le f!urner by $eoff %a ton, head of the &ermaculture 'esearch (nstitute of )ustralia. )s part of $eoffs academic research into the usefulness of this approach he has successfully composted the discarded bodies of a kangaroo, and even a penguin *both of hich had died of natural causes+. !ut it is not recommended you try that at home, You will need:

a long handled fork a rake a minimum of 1m- of semi-shaded floor space and room to ork around it a ater supply old clothes enough compostable material to create a pile 1..m high. /ne third of this should be manure *animal dung 0 horse or co is good+ and t o-thirds carbon rich materials *also kno n as bro ns+, hich can include1 ashes, ood, cardboard, corn stalks, fruit aste, leaves, ne spaper, peanut shells, pine needles, sa dust and stra

!he m "i# of mu#$ % #ompost pile "i'es e'iden#e of the he t(produ#in" #tion of b #teri bre $in" down or" ni# m tter

Building and turning Day 1: 2hred the carbon material to pieces no bigger than .cm, about the si3e of your thumb, and crush them so they are as fibrous as possible. This offers more surface area for the composting process. 2aturate the pile ith ater as you mi4 the manure and the carbon materials together./nce this is done, cover it if it is rainy, to avoid too much ater getting into your pile. Day 4: Turn the pile upside do n and inside out *this should take about 56 minutes+. Then repeat this process every t o days, adding ater as necessary. Getting the correct moisture content This is crucial. Test this each time you turn the heap by picking up t o handfuls of compost and s"uee3ing them together. (f you see ater pushing to the surface, or a single drop comes out, it is fine. (f no ater is seen, the pile is too dry 0 add ater as you mi4. (f t o drops or more come out, the pile is too et. This is a problem and ill slo compost production by at least t o days. To remedy this, fluff the pile ith a fork and dig a chimney-type hole through the centre to let more air in *force in an implement handle or pole and move it about to iden a little+. Getting the right temperature !y 7ay 8 your heap should be bet een ..-8.9, hich is too hot to keep your hand in.

(f you see hite po der forming in the heap, it is too hot1 do not compact the heap, fluff it to allo more air to circulate add sa dust. (f you are successful you should end up ith a nice smelling, arm, dark bro n compost hich can be sieved and used for potting.