Are you a hottie?

staf74 11/28/2011, 4:17 pm

Well I guessed the subject line got you hooked eh?

I'm referring to your method of composting of course!!! (although from what I hear Josh is the hottie around here, ask his TWO dates Wink

.....seeing as many people are scouring the earth this time of year for places to score manure to work on next springs MM, I thought I'd see how our various piles of poop are coming along.

I like the hot method personally and I decided to take the meat thermometer from Thanksgiving (much to the horror of the wife) and stick it in the pile to see where it's at.

Are you a hottie? 100_0412

I'm looking for between 130-150 F I'm told as optimal, so I'm in good shape thus far. Anyone else decided to check the temp this way? Helps me know when to turn, although it does not have to be an exact science. Putting the hand in the middle always works also.

Here's where I'm at....

Are you a hottie? 100_0413

I'll have a few wheelbarrows full of the good stuff come spring.

Got poop?

arla 11/28/2011, 4:35 pm

No, not at present, looking to be, but bleh at present a mere 70 degrees (and honestly, that could be the outside air temp).

However, it brings up another question, you say it helps know when to turn, is that you turn it when the temp starts to cool?Just wondering, I've been "good" about turning mine on a roughly weekly basis (since I normally add a new batch of stuff about once a week) but wondering if I'm actually hurting it by turning it?

staf74 11/28/2011, 4:50 pm

Yes I turn when the center cools which is about once every week. I take it all out and replace the least composted items to the middle and take the chopped up weeks kitchen scraps and add that to the middle also. Labor intensive and perhaps overkill but I really don't mind. I lightly hose off every 6 inches or so. People sometimes who turn every couple of days can interrupt the microbial action before its able to heat up sufficiently. In your case, after a week, you really should be at least over 100 degrees which leads me to think you are lacking in something. I posted to your other post for an idea.

arla 11/28/2011, 5:11 pm

Okay thanks, good info for me to bear in mind, also sounds like I may need to do a bit more "work" with my compost, right now I kind of just mix it all up, rather than carefully putting "uncomposted" stuff near the middle.

Might need another new dustbin to store stuff in, have to look for those christmas sales

Regarding rabbit poop, wish I had some rabbits to provide it (but then I'd have to look out for them and deal with them and....)

newstart 11/28/2011, 5:46 pm

Im not a hottie yet.. Right now I have just putting grass clippings leaves and kitchen scraps. Also the nieghbors yard trimmings. so Far it has been working for me. I will turn it occasionally.

Should I be doing it differently? I do get some really good stuff out of it.

southern gardener 11/28/2011, 6:19 pm

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I guess I AM a hottie?? What a Face

Haven't even wet down all the dry ingredients yet bounce

staf74 11/28/2011, 6:22 pm

New start - Nah you don't need to do it differently if it works for you Very Happy

Cold composting purportedly holds more nutrients and mother nature will do her thing despite our interventions. However, I'm really a hands on guy and like to "muck in" as it develops. As I said, I'm sure I overkill.

Arla - Have you looked on craigslist and then ventured out into the local surrounding craigslist areas? That where I got my horse, rabbit and Alpaca....all for free (minus gas $$) It was a 45 minute drive but hey...it's really only once a year that I stock up on compost. That Alpaca stuff was steaming away right out of the tractor scoop as I bagged it.

I think I'm just a visual learner. I like to see the steam on a cold morning when I go out with my pitch fork and dig into my pile. It proves to me somethings happneing in there.

Therefore, I am definately a hottie !!!!

staf74 11/28/2011, 6:23 pm

Southern Gardener - ooohhhh......yes. You are most certainly a hottie Laughing

You'll be scorching once you wet that puppy down.

southern gardener 11/28/2011, 6:46 pm

LOL Staf!

I just got back from watering it down! We were house sitting, and there was a whole trash bin full of leaves, so we added them to our pile (husband is wondering what we're gonna do with all this compost hehe :scratch: ), so we piled it on top of our FREE alpaca rendeer

manure and our existing compost pile, and it's definitely steaming! A couple places were too hot to put your hand in! I'll check it again soon...this is gonna be a fun post to watch cheers

**camprn** 11/28/2011, 7:54 pm

This was on May 8, 2011
Are you a hottie? 12610

**RoOsTeR** 11/28/2011, 8:02 pm

I will have to venture out tomorrow and see if I rate hottie status Very Happy

Camprn, that is pretty impressive. I would think you are seeing some fairly cold temps there this time of year. When we start getting our really cold and windy nights, I just can't keep it at the higher temps.

boffer 11/28/2011, 8:17 pm

nKedrOoStEr wrote:I will have to venture out tomorrow and see if I rate hottie status

nKedrOoStEr wrote:Camprn, that is pretty impressive. I would think you are seeing some fairly cold temps there this time of year...

Wasn't camp's picture from May?

**camprn** 11/28/2011, 8:20 pm

I just built my winter compost pile, tomorrow I will go measure it's temperature. The day I took this photo it was about the same ambient temperature as today, 62F. (Thank you Garden notes!) Very Happy

**RoOsTeR** 11/28/2011, 8:48 pm

Wasn't camp's picture from May?

I failed to see that part afro

Too Tall Tomatoes 11/28/2011, 9:20 pm

I checked the temp of my compost pile and it was at 128F. When I added all that I did to it on Saturday it was around 90F

staf74 11/28/2011, 9:59 pm

TTT - Welcome to the club !!! I'm sure that temp will increase by more as activity in the pile multiplies. If it's gone up like that since saturday, you'll be happily steaming along in another few days.

Camprn - As usual, you claim "hottie" status. You might need a few days to officially join but that pic from May grandfathers you in as an honorary member to the club.

Any other hottie's out there?

Too Tall Tomatoes 11/28/2011, 11:43 pm

If I remember to do it in the morning, I'll take a picture of the thermometer.

BackyardBirdGardner 11/29/2011, 12:47 am

Well, as in life, I rate "luke warmy." I had my wife just stick her hand in my pile and she said...."meh, now I'm just stinky."

2 quickies...1) I've read to turn every two weeks because the natural cycle will cool down around that time. I would think the lazy "hottie" would turn things, wait two weeks, and turn again without giving second thoughts to temps. The speedsters will watch with a thermometer and turn when things cool back down to closer to ambient temps. 2) I never thought of wetting when turning....duh. I'll at least add that to the procedure.

Thanks for sharing, staf! I think a lot of people will get a lot from this.

**RoOsTeR** 11/29/2011, 8:00 am

Well, as in life, I rate "luke warmy." I had my wife just stick her hand in my pile and she said...."meh, now I'm just stinky."

:lolsignwave: nuff said!

I gotta get on this quick. Our temps are supposed to drop into the single digits this week.
This whole process still just amazes me!

Great thread staf!!

Too Tall Tomatoes 11/29/2011, 8:41 pm

Here's a picture I took this morning. It's really blurry but you should be able to see that the temp is at 134F.
Are you a hottie? Photo110

According to the grey area on the gauge, I'm officially a hottie!

staf74 11/30/2011, 12:38 pm

TTT - Welcome to the club Very Happy

With all you have added, I was hoping you'd get all hot and steamy. Wait a minute....that sounds waaayyyy too weird... Embarassed

Good temps by all so far.

As you turn you might notice a white fuzz in your pile. This is a normal part of the process and goes away when you turn. Sometimes its indicative of a pile perhaps slightly too hot. If you see a lot of it, turn more often. Its harmless.

Too Tall Tomatoes 11/30/2011, 1:19 pm

I didn't turn the pile today, I had a stick and poked around it pretty well. I might get one of those aerators to do the job for me.
My problem is that the pile is too big for me to turn it without killing my back.
Part of me wants to let it go until early spring and part of me wants to keep aerating it.
I haven't seen any of those white fuzzies you talk about but I did notice one little mushroom sprouting up.

**camprn** 11/30/2011, 1:55 pm

I can think of no good reason to turn a compost pile more than every other week. Turn it and let the magic happen... it's all about biochemestry, it will save my back for the springtime! Wink

**camprn** 11/30/2011, 5:36 pm

Late this afternoon the outdoor air temperature was 45F, this was the temperature about a foot down into the compost pile. Very Happy

plantoid 11/30/2011, 6:02 pm

You can cook eggs over a week or so in the shells inside a decent hot manure or compost heap though I'm not sure I'd want to eat them .

I'm close to being a hottie in one full bin of layered materials plus a dose or two of compost making powder and a few buckets of diluted Pee , I have only turned it once in six weeks.
There is a shed load of Cypress Leylandi hedge trimmings in it so there is good airiation to keep things running .

But there's nothing in the othertwo bins which only have a few layered inches of pure vegetable matter ( no earth ) , shredded paper & non meat food scraps such as bits bread , cooked pasta etc. in them as I'm hoping for a bit of worm cast enrichment from these two bins .

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