#hot compost

[bumblebeeappletree]

Jude constructs a hot compost bay layered with the perfect ingredients to feed a productive patch.

On a sloping block in the Blue Mountains, Jude has many projects on the go. To keep the garden cranking, Jude’s been learning a lot about compost. “This stuff is gold,” says Jude, “it adds nutrients, water and is the life of the soil.” Here’s how to construct a hot compost bay to feed a productive patch.

The Built Structure:

Jude’s two-bay compost system can house about two cubic metres and was constructed with the help of a mate. They’ve used recycled pallets which are heat treated to make sure the compost is safe to put on edible produce. It has gates at the front, low enough for a wheelbarrow, and is clad with corrugated iron. Jude says the corrugated iron “makes a really good backing when you're digging into the compost, and they also heat it up.” It’s a good idea to install a chicken-wire tube in the centre of the bay for airflow.

Compost is broken down organic matter and is full of nutrients that plants thrive on. Organic matter is anything that was once alive, like plants, animals, and even manures. This material can be broken down slowly by worms in a cool compost system, but in a hot compost system, it’s broken down by millions of micro-organisms and fungi. A big mass of material paired with a lot of microbial action generates a lot of heat. Jude says, “hot compost is a great way to get a lot of compost in a very short amount of time.”

Hot compost needs to be built it all in one go, at least one cubic metre in size. Jude says smaller composts “won't generate the heat required to breakdown the organic matter.” The ideal temperature for hot compost is 60°C, anything higher is way too hot to support the microbes. Regular turning for airflow will help manage the temperature. Jude’s got the perfect ingredients for a healthy hot compost habitat to provide these critters food, air and moisture.

Green & Brown Materials:

Good compost has “a mix of greens and browns,” says Jude. Brown layers are carbon-rich material such as cardboard, sticks, newspaper and straw. These offer energy to the microbes, absorb moisture and improve airflow. Green layers are not always green in colour. Greens are nitrogen-rich materials such as grass clippings, coffee grounds and food scraps. Jude says, “as a general rule of thumb, you want at least twice as much of the carbon-rich material as the nitrogen-rich green stuff.”

Layer #1: Brown:

Cover the base with a carbon layer of sticks and twigs. The rough textures allow excess water to drain, will bulk out the base and help oxygen get into the pile. Jude says, “when I'm adding a layer of carbon, I'm watering it in. I'm aiming for a pile that's moist but not soaking wet.” A layer of wet newspaper on top of the twigs will help create this environment.

Layer #2: Green:

Repurpose your old kitchen scraps and leafy garden waste. Jude says, “avoid meat, bread and dairy” to keep rodents away, and make sure you’re “not adding any weeds with seeds, bulbs or runners.” Break big sections up with a spade to help it breakdown faster. Jude says, “adding diverse nutrients like comfrey will help fire up microbial life.”

Layer #3: Brown:

A thick layer of straw mulch will act as a blanket for all that heating mass underneath. In two weeks, this pile can be lifted and moved into the second bay and turned every few weeks. Check the pile regularly to see if it needs more water or aeration.

You’ll know it's ready when it begins to look like yummy crumbly chocolate cake. Like the one Jude’s brother Charlie was inspired to make - what a team!

[docdufresne]

Look i know donut worked on a farm and all, but doc doesnt know much outside of organic gardening other than mentioning he wanted to have a flower box so i think it would be funny if he accidentally started a compost fire in valhalla not knowing the safe way to maintain one

[rederiswrites]

It has been brought to my attention that sundews (drosera spp) eat fruit flies, and suddenly I have a mighty need for a new houseplant.

[spoofyleaf]

Sometimes I remember that my whole house was so obsessed with the show Merlin, that we named the first tree we planted in the yard Merlin.

When it was given to us 11 years ago it was hardly a scraggly stick, and now it looks like a giant bush

Artist rendition

[tenpolegardener]

July in the garden

Kitchen waste and coffee grounds are best for my hot composter.

[meta-sequoia]

me, making soup while normal: man all these vegetable trimmings will make great compost pile ingredients…

[blunderpuff]

oh so now the birds are eating the <25 cherries i've got growing on my tiny tree

literally everything i've planted in this fucking garden has either died on its own or has been killed by birds/bugs

[deadmomjokes]

Good news: Got the garden planted today. In approximately 4-8 weeks I shall enjoy bounteous harvests of fresh leek, peas, spinach, and several varieties of cruciferous veg.

Bad news: Forgot I was still recovering from pneumonia when I went about planting said garden. Currently back to being unable to move more than 10 ft at a time before my body shuts that nonsense down and forces me to rest.

But at least it waited til I was done, so.... Win?

[wowbright]

Every time I see that post going around about how no writing is wasted, gardeners throw rotten tomatoes into the compost pile to improve next year's crop ...

My immediate reaction is DON'T THROW ROTTEN TOMATOES IN THE COMPOST PILE THAT'S HOW YOU SPREAD TOMATO BLIGHT.

Like I appreciate the sentiment but clearly the person who wrote that is not a gardener.

[tinyshe]

Garden Report 23.01.07

So ... Happy New Year!

Was out in the garden new years day feeling rather sad but the day was lovely and I wanted force myself Out. I worry about the ancient fruitless plum tree. There is a section of heartwood exposed and conks are thriving. We always talk about taking it out but might have to be the year to avoid liability. This year has just begun but it has been really difficult and I don’t want it. If nothing else, it has to be topped heavily. The little sapling next to it is budding up to bloom so it needs to happen soon if the weather allows.

This is going to be the year that there we some heavy pruning, so much so that I am thinking we might have to rent a chipper. I like chips and need chips (both wooden for the garden and potato-kind for my belly ;)  but that’s another avenue for discussion!).

I think I have tried everything possible under the sun and am reverting back to some older gardening styles. Mind you, this is all just in my head for now. I am wanting to take out the grow boxes but then again I want to raise them up higher. But, for navigation purposes, and not being boxed in (no pun intended) they are going. Most of the wooden box edges have rotted and all building materials are too expensive.  I think I am going to go with a perpetual hotbed with French intensive style of growing . I really feel this is going to be the best option for my location after everything I have tried. It will raise the ‘soil’ temperature, keep moisture in the soil on an even keel, keep compost in direct line to consumption of plants and hopefully, less work for higher yields ... and we all like those higher yields/less work ratios! I hate hugell mounds due to the vermin population tunneling and setting up housekeeping so I am hoping that a high hotbed will not have the same problems. Fingers crossed! Time will tell if I can get this project launched.

Garlic that we planted late is popping up just as wonderfully strong ... as if we weren’t late; it don’t care! its super garlic! old variety aka heirloom & robust. I really need to plant more garlic and onions because for some reason they are MIA at the grocers. Need more grow space -- Looking at perhaps taking out a pergola that is next to the area of the summer house. I hope that opens up more space for container growing if I can beat down the monster kiwi who came back From The Dead With Vengeance! The bamboo and kiwi are now courting cousins of the third kind and a bane to my sense of permaculture garden dwellers. I can yell Not In My Garden but obviously, yes, in my garden, in spades [cue theme song mash up Who Ya Gonna Call from Ghost Busters and Bad Boys from Cops].

Hens, I love my hens. For Christmas I got a ceramic art tile that says “I get by with a little help from my hens”. We jest that they are my therapy chickens but you know, its not far from the truth. Maybe I can get just a few more (chicks) and slowly integrate ... I’ve done that before but its like some of the ‘blended family’, they tolerate each other and pretend to play well with each other while being watched BUT technically have two micro flocks.

The Worm friends, I confess, I have neglected. I just have not been mobile enough to be fussing over them. They are probably happier that I am not disturbing them. They are hardy stock and don’t complain (unlike my vocal chickens!). When/if I do my hot mounds/hot beds I will introduce part of the population to those situations. I had divided my vermiculture holdings into two boxes so I will probably take the older box for the beds since that box will probably be composted the most (?) idk. Have to wait and assess.

I have my plastic ammo can of seeds that I keep my newest seeds in. I have my older seeds in a shoe box and need to Do-A-Dump garden which is kind of fun. I mix all my old seeds and broadcast sow into a single bed. If it grows, huzzah! If it don’t, it won’t and just nestles itself into the compost cycle of things. I have to do this every couple of years because saving, sharing and purchasing happens more than what I can use for my small patch at one time so it all sort of just gathers up and accumulates to a point of action is necessary ... I could make seed bombs but my experience it, they don’t do well. Cute idea, big on the feel good aspect but really not best situation for the germinating seeds. So we do the Do-A-Dump so they have a better chance of surviving.

So this is the update of the garden doings -- most of it just plans while we wait through the Winter months. Hope everyone is planning and dreaming of gardening, both big and small.

[king-of-men]

Hot take

Hold up, hold up! If Trump won the 2020 election then he's not eligible for 2024:

No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice

Twenty-second amendment, right there. And, of course, if he *didn't* win the 2020 election then he sure has spent a lot of time lying about it.

[bumblebeeappletree]

I am so excited to share this video covering what I think is the most revolutionary gardening technique for my personal growing journey. And the great news is that you too can do this even if you have a small garden! Without a shadow of a doubt, this ancient gardening technique is, per square foot, to be the most useful and productive element of my kitchen garden this growing season - even more than a polytunnel! This technique is a 3-in-1, allowing you to grow huge yields, germinate thousands of seedlings for transplanting elsewhere, and generate a mass of compost!

For more detailed information by Hot Bed expert Jack First, check out our collaborative online course here http://hotbedsuccess.com/ and use code ‘20HOTBED20’ for 20% off.

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[ecogardiuns]

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[pebblesmustard]

i actually started doing the 200 word challenge for the month of May challenge and i'm actually writing? i'm not writing anything good, in fact i feel very poorly about my writing abilities right now (like, whether or not they actually exist) but we're getting...somewhere. i hope.

[tenpolegardener]

July in the garden

Hot composting