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Posted by Jim McLaughlin on June 19, 2006, 6:44 pm
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
Reply address is deliberately munged.
If you really need to reply directly, try:
jimdotmclaughlinatcomcastdotcom
And you know it is a dotnet not a dotcom
address.
"Jim McLaughlin" <jim.mclaughlin> wrote in message
>
> > 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
>
> Reply address is deliberately munged.
> If you really need to reply directly, try:
> jimdotmclaughlinatcomcastdotcom
>
> And you know it is a dotnet not a dotcom
> address.
>
>
> >
>
>
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