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In May 2002 I built a compost pile behind my garage. I had several reasons for doing this:
You don't have to do much reading about composting to learn that composting is the breakdown organic matter by bacteria. The goal is to meet the optimum conditions for the bacteria to flourish and speed the breakdown of the organic matter. You must have the correct ratio of carbon, nitrogen, and water to ensure a healthy rate of decomposition. In a typical residential environment, lawn grass clippings are a great source of nitrogen and dead leaves are the main source of carbon. If you fertilize your lawn with typical lawn fertilizer, then it will be nitrogen-rich. If you have trees that drop their leaves during the winter, those are your best source for carbon. Your compost heap must also have the correct moisture content; if it is too dry or too wet, the decomposition process will slow down greatly. There are other important factors such as pH balance, but in a residential environment you should generally be okay by following the basic guidelines. Earthworms are also a fantastc element to help speed the breakdown of the raw materials. Building a compost bin There are many different types of compost bins available for sale, or you can build your own. I read somewhere that the ideal composter should be at least 3 feet in all direction because this allows the center of the compost to reach a high peak temperature and retain moisture whereasanything smaller than that will not achieve optimum decomposition. I think that a smaller unit would work okay, because there are a number of units commercially available that arsmaller than 3x3x3 feet. My composter is slightly larger than that. Photos of the construction of my composter: 
 Which materials are composted? The normal activity of the compost pile depends on the season and the amount of raw materials I have available. At its peak during the 6 month tropical summer here in Houston, I have an abundance of green, nitrogen-rich St. Augustine grass clippings from the lawn as the grass can grow 3 or 4 inches a week. Combined with leaves that I have saved over the winter, these two items make up the bulk of the compost. I also compost all vegetable and fruit scraps, coffee grounds, and sometimes dryer lint, but these make up a small percentarge of the raw materials. I also get a steady supply of free used coffee grounds from Starbucks. They put the used grounds in tough plastic bags, tape them shut, and they're yours to take home. The acidity of the coffee is almost totally neutralized during the brewing process, so coffee grounds make a great carbon-rich addition to the pile. The other essential element in a successful compost pile is water. The pile has to be moist enough to facilicate the bacterial breakdown of the raw materials. At the peak of the summer I may water the pile from time to time to keep it moist. One by-product of the composition is heat. At its peak my compost pile reaches about 140 degrees Fahrenheit (56 degrees Celsius) when I have the right ratio of carbon, nitrogen, moisture, and everything else. Finished compost 
What other website gives you real compost images? Tools There are 4 tools I use when composting:
The compost thermometer looks like an analog stainless steel meat thermometer, but the shaft is about 18 inches long. Based on the temperature of the pile, I know how well things are proceeding along and if my ratio of raw materials is correct. The use of a wheelbarrow is fairly obvious. I use it to transport both raw materials and finished compost to and from the compost bin. The compost crank is an interesting gadget that you can find here. This tool is used to pull compost from the very bottom of the heap and bring it to the top, thus keeping the pile turned and allowing raw materials to get to the the bottom of the heap. It's also a good way to pull a sample of bottom compost up to the surface so I can see how decomposed it is. Using the pitchfork to dig to the bottom would take several minutes and usually results in spilling compost and raw materials over the sides of the bin. The compost crank gets right to the bottom easily. Uses for compost When we bought our house, the landscaping and yards had been neglected. I primarily use compost to level the lawn by filling in ruts and low areas. I also use it in the flower beds, the garden, in potted plants, and to enrich the clay-ridden soil that is so common in Houston. I was originally surprised by this, but it is true that if you spread compost on the lawn, the grass will take on the same dark green appearance as if you had used commerial lawn fertilizer. Destruction of the bin A year or so after I built the compost bin, it was obvious that termites had gotten to it. This wasn't surprising since they're in the soil. There was no easy way to stop the termites, so I let them continue to eat the wood. In the spring of 2005 I used a large amount of compost to plant a tree, so I removed front of the compost bin to get to as much of the compost as I could. It was obvious that the bin had been very bandly damaged by the termites and would not survive regular use without falling apart. So shortly after that I dismantled the whole thing. 
Damage done by termites The compost project has been fantastic. I plan to rebuild the thing and make some minor adjustments to the positioning and size. This time instead of using discarded lumber, I'll use plastic boards which shouldn't be bothered by termites. Update, 2007: I have gathered some steel T posts in order to rebuild the thing some day. I'll get to it eventually. |
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| Wednesday, January 07, 2009 |
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