Practical Blog Post #7

Composting In Practice

Last time we looked at the principles of composting and viewed them as a form of alchemy. Now we will present how we apply these principles in the building of compost piles here at Living Earth Garden Project. These compost piles are built to provide fertility to vegetable beds and orchard trees.

The minimum size for a compost pile to properly heat up is 3ft x 3ft x 3ft. Maximum size, with some exceptions, to keep the center aerobic is 6ft x 6ft x 6ft. We build our regular compost piles to this larger size and our first step, then, is to mark out a 6ft x 6ft square on the ground with stakes. Next, using a digging fork, we loosen the soil lying within this square to ensure adequate drainage to the bottom of the pile and thus avoiding anaerobic conditions.

The first materials to be put down are the coarsest, most carbonaceous ones. Here, we use the woody stalks of quelites, a kind of wild spinach that volunteers freely around Taos. Sunflower stalks, cornstalks, or even tree branches could be used instead to ensure that Air is allowed to infiltrate the bottom of a pile. Putting the woodiest materials at the bottom also gives them the best chance for breaking down, and eventually becoming finished compost as well.

The next step is to begin layering green materials (nitrogenous - Fire element), with brown materials (carbonaceous - Rock element). The thinner these materials are layered, the better they will mix together to form finished compost. Yet, layering too thinly makes building compost tedious, so one effective recipe is to fill 2 five gallon buckets with green materials and layer them, then fill 2 five gallon buckets with brown materials and layer that, then back to green materials, and so on. Here in our vega (meadow) land, we are blessed with lush pasture, that, at many times of the year, is at a good ration of carbon (Rock) to nitrogen (Fire) for composting. We simply cut wheelbarrow loads of our pasture and layer them that way, keeping an eye on the proportion of green to brown materials.

It is best to build an entire compost pile all at once, yet in practice, we build onto them as time and energy allow. When we reach a height of 6 feet, we call it done and top the pile off with 4 five gallon buckets of soil. This soil weighs the pile down, holds in moisture, and introduces beneficial microorganisms. Soil could be added with each layer of green and brown materials and doing so would actually introduce these microorganisms more effectively. If following a 2 green/2 brown recipe, add 1/2 five gallon bucket of your own native soil to each layer.

The final step is to drench the compost pile with Water, pouring another 4 five gallon buckets worth on top. Again, it could be more effective to add Water with each layer, fully saturating all the materials up to that level. Sometimes, piles built in this manner, with materials getting completely soaked every step of the way, do not need any supplemental Water once they have been built. Here. in our situation of high winter groundwater, we are beginning with a minimum watering approach, to see how much moisture wicks up from the ground. If a compost pile does not receive enough water, the composting process slows down or stops. and the formation of finished compost is delayed.

Once the compost pile is built, if supplemental water is needed, a good method is to treat the pile as a garden bed. Give water to the pile whenever irrigating the garden beds nearby. Aim for that 50/50 Air to Water ration that we spoke about last time. Such an approach usually produces finished compost within 3 to 6 months, and almost always within one year.

One way to speed up the composting process is to turn the pile. Although some super fast methods call for more frequent turning, I do not recommend turning more frequently than once per month, once per lunar cycle, that is. Turning a pile involves preparing another square on the ground near or adjacent to the first square with woody material also layered on the bottom. Then some kind of strong fork and/or shovel is used to move all the materials over from the first square to the second one. The top and outside of the first pile are intentionally moved to the middle of the second pile, where they will compost better, and the inside of the first pile becomes the top and outside of the second pile.

If a second turning is desired, the compost pile can be moved back onto the first square, and so on, back and forth, with any more subsequent turnings. Although turning a compost pile is optional, and we have not turned our own fruit and veggie piles, one turning can help to ensure a more even breakdown of materials by following the outside to inside, and inside to outside rule. Without turning, some materials in the pile that did not break down fully may need to be screened out or picked out by hand, and then added to the next compost pile that is built, where they will finish decomposing.

Having stated some of the advantages of turning a compost pile, now let's look at simply letting a pile sit. While turning does speed up the composting process by introducing more Air between all the layers of material and a subsequent reheating of the pile to a higher temperature, the primary drawback is that more material, carbon especially, is burned off, oxidized, as the pile reheats each time, so that there is less finished compost as a result. A compost pile left unturned may retain as much as one-half of its’ original built volume when finished. On the other hand, a frequently turned pile may give us little as one-tenth of its' original volume. To use a cooking analogy, this would be the difference between letting one pot of soup simmer, after an initial boil, and keeping a second soup on high heat, or continually bringing it back to a boil. The second soup will boil down much more quickly and yield less food overall. Water could be added, but the flavors (nutrients) will not meld together as in the first soup. Once again, we find that having patience is indeed a virtue!

We welcome your questions and comments.