Compost

[Powelly]

Who here makes their own compost? I just inspected the product of last years efforts and wow- blown away by the quality of this compost, far exceeds anything you can get in the stores. And all made on a small balcony! Even this small space netted me 10 litres of high quality compost.
 
This compost was made by throwing my food scraps and pepper plant trimmings into a plastic bucket with a lid. When it was full I kept the lid on for 2 months to allow it to ferment. After the fermentation period I scooped the resultant slush into a plant pot and covered it in an inch of mulch to stop the smell and light getting to it. After two months I gave it a good stir and applied some more mulch. Another 2 months later and we have this finished product.
 
This year I have a thermal compost heap set up as well as vermicompost. Still doing the fermenting as well but I'll throw this in with the worms after it's done fermenting and the pH has settled back down to 10.
 
What setups do people here have?
 

 

 

[DWB]

Who here makes their own compost? I just inspected the product of last years efforts and wow- blown away by the quality of this compost, far exceeds anything you can get in the stores. And all made on a small balcony! Even this small space netted me 10 litres of high quality compost.
 
This compost was made by throwing my food scraps and pepper plant trimmings into a plastic bucket with a lid. When it was full I kept the lid on for 2 months to allow it to ferment. After the fermentation period I scooped the resultant slush into a plant pot and covered it in an inch of mulch to stop the smell and light getting to it. After two months I gave it a good stir and applied some more mulch. Another 2 months later and we have this finished product.
 
This year I have a thermal compost heap set up as well as vermicompost. Still doing the fermenting as well but I'll throw this in with the worms after it's done fermenting and the pH has settled back down to 10.
 
What setups do people here have?
 
 

 
I started something like this early in July. It's all the bad tomato and pepper produce, kitchen waste, a bunch of old herbs, coffee grounds, some water and nitrogen. I keep this 15 gallon bucket covered. It got too full so I started another 15 gallon bucket and added some of this slop to the new bucket to give it a head start with the bugs.
 
The surface of these are always bubbling and boiling with the constant activity of the BSF larvae and whatever other vermin exists in there. When I stir the mess, I see it's very much decomposed from what went in there. Nothing but brown goo.  At some time I guess I should uncover it so it can dry out but as long as it's full of larvae, I suppose it's best to keep them covered so the bug farm can continue to eat. Your advice on how and when to finish this will be welcome.
 
Otherwise, I have the usual household compost pile which isn't being fed lately and tons of compost in various stages of development out around the garden. I have many cubic yards of sheep manure/hay and shredded oak leaf/grass clippings/horse manure compost n process. Pictures of those over in my grow log.
 

 

[solid7]

I use BSF larvae, and can easily compost 100lb or more of waste in 3-4 weeks.  I put over 200lbs of mangoes and scraps in last summer, and it was cycled in 8 days.

 

[DWB]

Good for you. Does that mean my compost is done and all I have to do is let it dry if I wanted to finish the process now?
 
Edit: I filled that bucket up with finely chopped dry grass. Interested to see what the BSF do with that. I have a feeling there won't be any of it visible within a day or two.

 

[Powelly]

Good for you. Does that mean my compost is done and all I have to do is let it dry if I wanted to finish the process now?
 
Edit: I filled that bucket up with finely chopped dry grass. Interested to see what the BSF do with that. I have a feeling there won't be any of it visible within a day or two.

 
Let it dry out, you could also feed it through a worm bin. I'd let it cure for a little while, just keep it moist. If you're using it outdoors then it will definitely be fine to use by spring

 

[DWB]

Thanks. As long as the buckets are full of the BSF larvae, I think I'm gonna just keep throwing stuff in and dry it out that way. I've thrown 3 gallons of the dry grass on top of the sludge 3 times since yesterday afternoon. That mass of critters drags it all beneath the surface within hours.

 

[solid7]

Good for you. Does that mean my compost is done and all I have to do is let it dry if I wanted to finish the process now?
 
Edit: I filled that bucket up with finely chopped dry grass. Interested to see what the BSF do with that. I have a feeling there won't be any of it visible within a day or two.

 
If you are using a double bucket, then you may want to use a double bucket with a sludge tap.
.
In the first bucket, put a 5 gallon paint strainer. (you'll put all of you existing compost plus BSF larvae in here) Drill a 1/4" hole in the bottom of the first bucket, and sleeve it into a second bucket.  The second bucket just needs a way to open the valve and drain the juice once in awhile.  That's highly useful sludge.  You can dilute it about 30 parts water to 1 part juice, and use it weekly to supplement the plants. Good microbe feed/culture.