Are you a hottie?

GWN wrote:

My goal this year is to crank out finished compost in less than two months.

So I am hearing that the rise to 140 degrees is only a preliminary step, then it takes 2 months for a fully finished compost?
What about putting all your finished compost in large garbage bags?

You'll probably hit the 140 more than once. After your pile cools off a bit, turn it. It will heat up again. Continue this process and don't forget to add moisture! The heat generated will dry out the pile fairly quickly.

Finely chopped materials will compost quicker.

If you really want to chop up your compostables, get yourself one of these....



I'm considering one to add to my gardening tool arsenal.

My lawn mower actually works pretty good chopping stuff up, but I must admit TTT, I have seriously considered one of those

RoOsTeR wrote:My lawn mower actually works pretty good chopping stuff up, but I must admit TTT, I have seriously considered one of those

I have a bagging lawn mower and an electric blower/vac for grass and leaves, but something like that chopper would work great for finely chopping up produce scraps and small twigs.

so How much are these little babies...??
I am in the market for something since I do not have a lawn mower.
Staying steady at 110, and the other pile went from 68 up to 84.
(don't worry I am leaving this morning so no more play by play of GWMs compost )

http://www.homedepot.ca/product/electric-leaf-eater-shredder-and-mulcher/945552

This is similar and available in Canada. It also shreds paper wet or dry.

GWN wrote:so How much are these little babies...??
I am in the market for something since I do not have a lawn mower.
Staying steady at 110, and the other pile went from 68 up to 84.
(don't worry I am leaving this morning so no more play by play of GWMs compost )

They're about 130 bucks. Check them out....

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_nr_i_1?rh=k%3Aiworx%2Ci%3Alawngarden&keywords=iworx&ie=UTF8&qid=1335190698

I can't speak for everyone else but I love your compost's play-by-play. It's awesome

Me, too! I mean, c'mon, if you stop your play-by-play, how am I going to feel brave enough to post how extremely excited I am to have my first ever hot pile?

Well I am on the road now, wondering.... how high the temp went to today. The guy who is going to water everything on Wednesday, met my sister yesterday, and told her that he thinks I am completely nuts.
SO there you have it we are just compost nutbars. And here I thought he was genuinely interested in how hot my compost was.... . FICKLE....

GWN wrote:Well I am on the road now, wondering.... how high the temp went to today. The guy who is going to water everything on Wednesday, met my sister yesterday, and told her that he thinks I am completely nuts.
SO there you have it we are just compost nutbars. And here I thought he was genuinely interested in how hot my compost was.... . FICKLE....

I forget where you said you're going but have fun getting there and be safe about it

But, see, that is EXACTLY why you need to keep posting here your compost pile's daily behavior. We really are interested, and don't think you are crazy. Um, well, no crazier than the rest of us, anyway!

martha wrote:But, see, that is EXACTLY why you need to keep posting here your compost pile's daily behavior. We really are interested, and don't think you are crazy. Um, well, no crazier than the rest of us, anyway!

I think I have to be the nuttiest about compost....

I would go out at nighttime(after midnight) with a flashlight to check the compost temperature. I often wonder if the neighbors ever saw me out there.

Well, TTT, I think they will only think you are a little weird, unless you go out dressed the way you are in your avatar photo!

martha wrote:Well, TTT, I think they will only think you are a little weird, unless you go out dressed the way you are in your avatar photo!

Hey...if I was that guy in the avatar, I wouldn't care what people thought of me

Reading thru these posts take me back to the 70's organic craze and Rodale Press in all it's glory! Wife used to give me fits, I'd get home from work and run out to check the temp of the compost pile! Loved it then, lots of smiles now. I now just let nature do its thing.

At last I can report i am a hottie again. JEESH this has been a frustrating composting time. I had turned my first pile and added some chicken droppings and it never heated up again or minimally. After a week I watered it well and recovered it, no heat. Yesterday I started a new pile, this time in a stack of pickup truck tires (with the side walls cut off). Because getting dry hay/straw/ manure wet enough is always my problem I filled the wheel barrow it was in with water and let it soak for a couple hours. Then I shoveled that into the barrels. The extra manure water went into a bucket and watered the old pile again. Today I refilled the wheel barrow and added water to it and then felt the started new pile. IT was already nice and hot The old pile is heating up too. 110 and 90 F. Tomorrow before work I will add on the final couple tires and fill them.

I am glad there are other people to talk about compost with.

Turan wrote:I am glad there are other people to talk about compost with.

Yes it is fun. It's so fun that I'm already lining up my composting materials for a batch that I can hopefully start next week....or the week after.

Turan wrote:At last I can report i am a hottie again. JEESH this has been a frustrating composting time. I had turned my first pile and added some chicken droppings and it never heated up again or minimally. After a week I watered it well and recovered it, no heat. Yesterday I started a new pile, this time in a stack of pickup truck tires (with the side walls cut off). Because getting dry hay/straw/ manure wet enough is always my problem I filled the wheel barrow it was in with water and let it soak for a couple hours. Then I shoveled that into the barrels. The extra manure water went into a bucket and watered the old pile again. Today I refilled the wheel barrow and added water to it and then felt the started new pile. IT was already nice and hot The old pile is heating up too. 110 and 90 F. Tomorrow before work I will add on the final couple tires and fill them.

I am glad there are other people to talk about compost with.

Too much heat ... Turan ....... you've over cooked things .. let me know what you meant , when things cool down a bit

plantoid wrote:

Too much heat ... Turan ....... you've over cooked things .. let me know what you meant , when things cool down a bit

There must be some sort of punctuation dot thingys that would sort my long string of letters into sense..................



This morning the tire composter is 140F and then I added 2 more tires high of wet barn stuffs.
The other pile is 100F. That is in a bed I made, 3'X8'X10" , last fall and then filled in late February before shearing. Besides the moisture problem I wonder if the bed does not allow a tall enough pile to heat well.

Yes it is fun. It's so fun that I'm already lining up my composting materials for a batch that I can hopefully start next week....or the week after.

AHA... so you ARE starting a new pile, I was worried about you.
All this talk has me home sick... Here I am in glorious Vancouver wishing I was back in Scotch Creek.

GWN wrote:

Yes it is fun. It's so fun that I'm already lining up my composting materials for a batch that I can hopefully start next week....or the week after.

AHA... so you ARE starting a new pile, I was worried about you.
All this talk has me home sick... Here I am in glorious Vancouver wishing I was back in Scotch Creek.

I am wondering what he is going to do with his bountiful supply of top soil so he can get down to business of Too Tall Tomatoes

PHONE HOME ET!
Well I phoned home and asked the guy who is looking after my garden, what the temp was in the compost pile and it is 121 degrees..... whoopee. So I MIGHT be a hottie by Friday...

160F this morning in the tire composter. Too hot to stick my hand into!

Turan wrote:160F this morning in the tire composter. Too hot to stick my hand into!

That's just awesome.

The highest I got my compost was 162F. It might've climbed higher but I decided to poke around the compost and it started cooling back down. That was about a month ago I think.

Anyway, if the weather isn't rainy tomorrow, I'm going to mix my compost with the compost I bought from a few different sources. Then next week I'm going to make the mix, fill the beds, plant and seed the things I can now.

Then I'll start composting all over again.

WOW 160, now that is HOT.
One thing I have read about is that white stuff in composting stuff.
I found a website where they do very active composting in a third world country, and do it in a pit to decrease the moisture loss.
They said to take some of that white stuff from previous composts, in the most active part and put in in to start your next compost.
The bacteria the makes that white stuff is the most essential bacteria for hot composting. I think it is sort of like sourdough starter.
SOOO TTT, save a little of your old compost pile to get your new compost pile going,.
I am on my way home after being gone for 5 days, amd VERY anxious to know how hot my pile is
What is the cutoff for getting your hottie degree?