Compost heat
 

Got my compost up to 107 degrees today after mixing in some grass. I should have wet it a little. I think I could have hit 120, which is I guess just about the perfect temp for decomp. Hhaving hard time converting the compost quick enough. Trying a few different approaches to making compost to see, which one works best. The last one, which seems to be pretty good is spraying a mixture of 8 oz. Of amonia, 12 oz. Of cola, and 12 oz. of beer mixed together on a brown layer, then green layer, and placing your table scraps amd green leftovers from making food for the table, plus of course coffee grounds.

Wow, that seems like a lot of additives just for compost. Were you getting sludge before or nothing at all? I have always believed in turning it and a general mix of whatever needs to be composted, as in no fuss, its a compost pile. I have read and expiremented a bit with the textbook brown green mix however just to see and I do think it makes a difference. If you bag grass clippings they can get it going quick but need some other leaves or shredded paper or whatever to help balance it out. Starting in a couple weeks it will be about the perfect mix on the ground.
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made it in 14 days
 

hopefully you added plenty of non composted soil
adding in one inch layers to distribute soil bacteria

or you can simply buy compost activator....

turning the outside to the middle say...every third day
or when it slows the steaming makes it process faster

the smaller the pieces the easier for the bacteria to
finish the job....

AT my old house the were bats in the barn and you could
sweep up guano daily to salt into the compost piles and
get them heating up....

i hope someday to recreate the perfect guano station
with a guano catch tray system :btu:

I have five different piles going right now from crushed leaves I mowed up last year couple with my weekly grass clippings. One pile was started with an organic activator, which has been working for five to six weeks and is pretty much done. About to add soil to the mix to finish it. One brand new pile started with kitchen scraps, layered brown and layered green with the three part activator mixed in. That is working pretty well also. Two other piles were started using the regular, brown, green, water mixture, and they seem slowere. Just experimenting to find out which works the quickest, and is the most thorough. Its interesting trying to different approaches.
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Just checked the compost pile I have been watching and working on the most and its 123 degrees, perfect temp.
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I agree its pretty interesting stuff. Glad to here you are doing so well with it.
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James its just that whenever I have had enough compost for all nine raised beds the whole garden does really well. This year I was lucky enough to have all I needed, with none left for next year. For a few years the beds didn't get any and you could tell. And the wife does not want anything not organic mixed in the soil.
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I can't believe this thread is so long already! I have good luck in my beds and go the same organic route. In my pile I also use seaweed that I collect, you would think the salt would be an issue, but its not by the time it over winters.
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133 degrees this morning in the same compost pile that was 123 degrees yesterday afternoon. Cooking away......
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Seawood is a tremendous source of nitrogen. I buy the oil from the company on the north shore. Stopped a truck once doing an inspection and inside the trailer there were ten 55 gallon barrells full of the organic fish oil and seaweed oil. He was delivering it to a golf course.
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One of the reasons I have had such a keen interest in the healthy organic science of growing your own produce is that we attended the Maine Organic Farm Growers Association (mofga) fair in Unity, Maine for a number of years, and at one of them an older lady put on a demonstration about making your own compost. I will never forget that she said several times it should only take two weeks per pile to get the greens, browns, and table scraps to a point where its usable in the garden. Thats what I am trying to accomplish. We'll see!
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Temp still 133 degrees at 4:30 p.m.
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My compost heap has been table scraps, seaweed and whatever is all done in the garden. I hope to add some chicken droppings and peat before Winter comes. So far it has been turning really fast, I'm pleased with the results. I water lightly between layers.

Watering is very important, no moisture, no heat. Suppose to be wet to the consistitancey of a moist squeezed spunge.
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Checked the temp earlier today and it was still 117 or so. Not bad after almost five days when it topped out at 133.
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i used to take a piece of the thinner 6 "wide landscape tubing
and place it in the center to deliver more oxygen to the interior of the pile
with the last foot drilled with many 3/4 in holes to allow it
more infusion points.

Just add saw dust,it'll heat up and break down quicker....
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I have added sawdust. Have some down cellar ready to throw in.
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