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Old February 23, 2006   #11
Dr_Redwine
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Pike Road, AL
Posts: 111
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Don:
I have been making my own compost for about 10-12 years. The BEST I've made by far is from using chopped up, green corn stalks from my garden right after I pull the corn.

Here is what I do at sometime during the early summer:

I build my pile in a 4' X 8' bin that's about 3 feet tall. It was made from landscape timbers stacked so that there is a timber-sized gap between each neighboring piece. Ends on the side pieces, then side pieces stacked on the end pieces, and so on all the way up. Each corner is held in place with a steel rod that fits through a hole I drilled at the end of each timber.

I put some old limbs on the very bottom so air can circulate a little beneath the pile. Then I alternate 6" of wheat straw (very good because its porous for air circulation) or dry leaves, 6" grass clippings (here's where my corn stalks came in), then spread on 2" or so of garden soil. Wet each layer as you put them on. Don't saturate it, but do get everything moist. The more things are shredded, the better, but it will be harder to wet. If you really want to jump start it, put about 1/2 a beer and 1/2 of a regular Coke in a hose end sprayer, dial it it up to a few oz per gallon, and use that to moisten your layers.

In about 2 days stick your hand in about 6" into the pile and see if you can hold it there. My bet is that you won't for long. :wink:

It's usable within months in my and your climate, but I usually don't use mine until the following spring. There are usually thousands of earth worms in mine. No fooling. It also helps if you can turn it to get the outside to the inside. I usually pick a rainy day in the fall to take everything out with a pitchfork and put it on a large tarp, then pile it back in with some more water if it needs it. After this I put green grass clippings right on top for maybe a foot or two. They quickly heat up and then dry out giving me a 'thatch' roof over the pile to keep it from getting waterlogged during the winter. It will only get better as it ages, but I usually use all of it every spring.

My 0.02...
DrR
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