Re: [compost_tea] Re: Simple is best

From: Ted Peterson <ted.peterson_at_tcsn.net>
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 13:09:28 -0800

I hardly know where to begin. . .

>From the way you present this, it would appear that all you need to make co=
mpost is green and brown waste and that the N function of the green would b=
e enough to compost the rather high C of the brown (and the green by the wa=
y). If you intend to create compost in anything less than a year, I think =
this type of information will make a lot of frustrated users. Composting is=
 a lot of processes and needs a lot of elements to be really successful in =
a short time period. If we had the lifetime of the forest it wouldn't be s=
o important but we tend to operate on shorter cycles than that. One of the=
 most important is O2. You can pile up all the stuff you want. You can ma=
ke big piles of grass and throw leaves in but the chances of that mixture p=
roducing anything like good-quality compost is rather remote.

I make different kinds of compost. Some use manures and some do not. I ca=
n tell you that it is very difficult to make good quality compost using pla=
nt ingredients only. Yes, green grasses are highly bacterial and are high =
in the thermal-type bacteria required for heat. However, the C:N ratio of =
most grasses is still in the 12-20:1 range. Their function can be N in the=
 compost pile but this N is the result of the breakdown process and is usua=
lly given off as a gas. Some is used but not enough is produced, in a shor=
t time range, to account for the amount of C. This is one of the reasons m=
anures work so well. Manures provide enough N to compensate for the C in t=
he organic waste.

Organic compost can be created but it takes much longer than compost using =
either a starter compost or manures or another source of N that can be used=
 by the bacteria.

Jeff, you may want to look at how you presented the information. It could =
lead to a lot of misconceptions when your intent is to inform.

I can't tell you the number of people who hire me then tell me they have th=
is great compost. I go an look and what they have is a pile of trash. I ha=
ve neighbors who have compost bins that cost quite a lot of money and they =
can't figure out why they can't make compost. Some even buy those starter =
kits at the nursery and still nothing works. They are amazed when I stack =
up some stuff and two to three months later are giving them compost.

I would suggest a couple of sources:

Field Guide To On-Farm Composting, NRES Publication, 118pp, (607) 255-7654=
 
The Rodale Book of Composting, Rodale Press, 1992, 278pp.

By the way, don't just get the books, actually read them. The Rodale book =
has a whole list of ingredients and all their C:N ratios as well as other m=
aterials like ground crab and squid and Timothy and Alfalfa and the chemica=
l make up of these and how they operate in a compost pile. The Field Guide=
 is the best single source on composting I have seen.

Ted Peterson
SOE/EW






Received on Wed Dec 15 2004 - 16:35:28 EST

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