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Jim McLaughlin
 
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Default Speaking of composting....

ONe other item -- ivy -- especially "English ivy" -- its probably a bad ide
t include ivy leaves and stems ib a conpost pile. You run a decided ris f
propagating a whole loyt of ivy, and it already sounds like you are _not_
an ivy fan.

--
Jim McLaughlin

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"Jim McLaughlin" jim.mclaughlin wrote in message
. ..

" wrote in message
ups.com...
I was reading the "what to do with wood chips..." posting and it
brought to mind some questions I have about composting.

The village where I live makes no arrangements for yard waste. There
is no pick-up day, no drop-off location, and the trash collectors
refuse to take it if they can see what it is (i.e., if one puts it out
in paper yard waste sacks as opposed to disguising it in black garbage
bags).

Last fall, I left most (okay--all, LOL!) of the fallen leaves on the
garden beds and raked them off in spring. I constructed a rudimentary
composter by making a 3-foot circle with some 4-foot tall field fence
out behind my garage, and these partially broken-down leaves became the
first layer. Since then, I have added grass clippings, small brush
clippings, and lots of weeds and ivy (someone before me r-e-a-l-l-y
loved ivy). I'll probably be adding lots more bushy stuff now that
I've got a new hedge trimmer.

I plan to turn the compost occasionally with a pitchfork. Other than
that, I've done nothing. Since the pile is completely open and
exposed, I don't add any foodstuffs (vegetable peels, etc.), since I'm
concerned that would draw animals and flies.

Is there more I should do to hasten the breakdown of the yard waste I
put in the pile? About how long should I expect to wait before I can
remove compost and put it on my flower beds? Other tips?

Thanks in advance!
Jo Ann



Go easy on the brus clippings / busl bracches, etc. You need more green
than woody brown, use lots of green bush leaves, very few stems. Brown
leaves are great. Just not much woody stuff. Takes a long time to

decay.

Keep it wet / damp.

Put in couple of cups of amonium sulfate every two weeks.

Turn it.

Ideally you have two identical sized bins, andwekly turn all of one bin

into
the other, so that you are constantly rotating the top layer to the bottom
over and over.

If you can get some, add some fresh cow manure to the middle of the pile

as
you rotate it. Amazing stuff ( yeasts, bacteria) in a cow's gut as far

as
digesting green grasses, ets., and it gets carried out through the manure.

You should have use able stuff in 6 mos, good stuff in a year.
--
Jim McLaughlin

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