Composting 101 The Cold Pile (How to heat up an old or start a new compost pile) Presentation by Steve Hale

Dried out and neglected Not much was happening here with an old compost pile. Maybe you just have a pile of yard and garden clippings. Time to start a compost pile You will need just a few things.

Modified wire compost “bin” by adding weed cloth Modified wire compost “bin” by adding weed cloth. This allows some air movement for O2 but also reduces evaporation. Compost piles need moisture and oxygen to work best. Bin should hold 3’x3’x3’ pile Bins can be made from a variety of materials or purchased

Other good tools to have Garden Fork Spray with shut off Tarp or cover to hold in moisture Screen for sifting finished compost Long stem Thermometer (useful and fun)

What else is available? Look around the yard ( started early Spring)

Getting started; Use Branches and other “open” matter to help create an air layer at the bottom of the pile.

Adding contents of old compost pile or yard waste and water Adding contents of old compost pile or yard waste and water. This puts the browns (carbon) and moisture in. What’s missing in this mix is the greens (nitrogen)

Ahh! My Kitchen food disposal!

Compost Gold! Aka Chicken Manure

About Greens and Browns Compost piles needs both Carbon and Nitrogen to create compost. The best ratio is about 25 carbon to 1 Nitrogen (C:N is 25:1). All plant matter has both but in different ratios. Green Grass is high in Nitrogen, so are coffee grounds, chicken, horse and cow manure. Fall and winter will generate more browns as leaves and grass go into winter mode. Spring and summer will see lots of greens starting; young weeds, grass etc.

Some ratios of compostable materials (given in Carbon: Nitrogen) Greens Cut Grass 19:1 Coffee Grounds 20:1 Chicken Manure 10:1 Cow Manure 18:1 Fresh tree trimmings 16:1 Kitchen waste Vegetable trimmings 12:1 Food scraps 15:1 Browns Leaves 54:1 Bark 220 to 500:1 Corn Stalks 60:1 Weeds 30:1 Pine needles 80:1 Dried / brown vegetation will be higher in Carbon than when green and growing

Rejuvenation Day One Compost pile is moist and the chicken manure is mixed / added with the old compost

Always good to have a helper

Day 5 Temp stabilizes at 150

Hot composting Temperature Hot Compost temperature range is from 105 to 170 degrees F. How hot is gets is based on the mixture Air - O2 (Stir pile as it cools to add air) Water (Think of a wrung out sponge) Carbon (Easiest matter to find in the yard) Nitrogen (If you get too many greens which is hard to do unless you pile on a lot of fresh grass clippings, you may get a stinky pile)

After a couple of days / weeks the compost pile will cool off. When the pile was getting hot you had created a perfect habitat for the bacteria that started decomposing the bio matter in the pile. After they ran out of the perfect diet (usually ran out of oxygen, water or Nitrogen) other decomposers went to work. (mold, Fungus and other small “critters”) To reactivate the pile stir it up with a garden fork, metal rod and remoisten at the same time. It is OK to add some more hi-nitrogen matter to the pile. My experience has been that the 2nd and later reactivations do not last as long or get as hot as the first. When you can’t recognize what you put in the pile, you are making compost. When it looks done then let it “rest” for a few months. Keep some moisture in it to fully “cure”

Time goes by… This photo is a few months later at a 2nd pile I had This is good looking stuff!

Final Finishing Screening to remove the larger stuff which hasn’t fully broken down. That goes to a new compost pile. (Yes you will want to keep going)

What have you accomplished? Dumpster after dumpster of compostable matter not sent to the land fill. Soil amendment for plants or garden that will hold moisture better than existing soils You will have a better garden / landscape next year from what you composted this year Yes, you are being environmentally responsible You are making soil in months that nature would take years to do in this climate

Composting comments Set pile away from house. A properly prepared pile won’t stink or draw flies, but as it cools other small critters (bugs mostly) will find it a great home. It’s all part of the natural process. Too much water or nitrogen (greens) can cause odors. Turning the pile to aerate will usually solve this problem in a few days Other than manure do not put meat products or pet waste in compost pile. What can you compost? When in doubt, leave it out!

Final Word www.nmcomposters.org Compost Happens. If you feel you can’t get the pile to heat up enough, don’t worry, the process will still happen…just slower. You don’t need a compost sitter if you go away for vacation. A cold pile can be reactivated at any time except in the dead of winter. Ask for help. Seek the advice of a Master Composter and check out the Master Composter website @ www.nmcomposters.org