#hot compost
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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!
#gardening australia#solarpunk#compost#how to#how to make compost#diy#do it yourself#hot compost#hot compost system#Youtube
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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
#only bc i accidently did that one winter when i flipped and turned the compost over and it started a fire in the deeper part of the bed#it was scary hot like there was no snow around it and it was steaming like crazy#idk i just think its funnier to have a random combustion moment
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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.
#we still have all our fruit fly guards from last year#traps and mesh netting over the fruit and compost#but as soon as it got hot they just SURGED inside#it's the worst
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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
#this is the first year it has like!! actual bark!!!#only the middle/ main trunk#I’m so emotional over this tree you guys don’t even know#he won’t stop growing branches on the bottom#so he just looks like a huge bush when leafed out#then another tree we planted the same year looks like a Maple Tree TM#I love all the trees in my yard#every day when it’s warm enough I tell them all they’re doing a great jobs#and one who burnt during a really hot summer didn’t grow for YEARS#but we didn’t give up on it#no sir#we cut off the burnt limb#we kept telling it that it was doing great#and last year!!! it finally started growing new twigs!!#it grew more than like 5 leaves!!!#and this year so far there’s already a LOT of growth!!!!!!#and one tree I got from a childhood best friend like 5 years ago has absolutely taken off#like holy hell#the tree was a sapling from the tree from her backyard#it was my favourite tree growing up#it’s were we were kids together#guys no you don’t get it#we slowly fell out of friendship and then years later she texted me#‘hey you know that one tree you used to love? do you want a sapling from jt otherwise my mom is throwing it in compost.’#‘she thinks you don’t care about this tree anymore but I know you do’#*sobs*#Spoofy tambles
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July in the garden
Kitchen waste and coffee grounds are best for my hot composter.
#growing fruit and veg#sylvanthorn#gardening adventures#summer#2024#july#my hot composter#hot composting
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me, making soup while normal: man all these vegetable trimmings will make great compost pile ingredients…
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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
#my garden is a microcosm of my whole life right now#my life has been on a downward spiral since last july and bestie i am starting to reach my fucking limit#defaulting to thinking ''i wish i were dead'' at every little inconvenience is BAD!!!! i know!!!! but it's true!!!#the mint from trader joe's was infested with aphids and i've been cleaning it off every day for 2 weeks and it's STILL got them#like... this plant is 1 foot tall with two little stalks and less than 30 leaves. it hasn't grown in the 2 months i've had it#the money plant still reeks of mold and has to live outside because of its smell and the fungus gnats#the golden sage just fuckin.... burned to death????? it turned gray and DIED#the one and only bean plant that sprouted just ejected the only 2 true leaves it bothered growing#the originally robust blackberry cane is withering. the other two did get better but started from the ground up. there's 1 blackberry total#the rosemary hasn't gotten any bigger in the 3 months i've had it#the scotch brooms don't look so good. the salvia haven't gotten any bigger in 3 months and the creeping phlox bleached and died#the thyme is doing okay and the culinary sage is hanging in there but i don't have high hopes#not a single fucking wildflower sprouted in the yard. i used 2 bags of seed+mulch that was supposed to cover 600sq ft (the yard is 400)#the mourning doves ate a bunch of the seeds and the rest never sprouted#there's a few puny sunflower sprouts but the cottontail came and ate some of those leaves#the cottontail also ate an entire stalk of the potted mystery flowers#the huge plant i moved in November... the one that surprisingly survived frost/freeze... can't handle the heat and is now dead#i just...#the job market is awful. the salaries are worse. the neighborhood is in the middle of nowhere and inhabited by paranoid cops#everyone has big dogs who go apeshit when they hear ppl walking#and the fences are short and the dogs are big so i'm scared to go walking because EVERY. DAY. on the nextdoor app are people#announcing that they found a dog wandering the neighborhood. or ppl saying ''omgggg my dog got out of the yard! have u seen it?''#spring was all wind/gusty and it battered the blackberries and sucked all the moisture out of the yard#so the 2 tons of compost that we rototilled into the dirt? it's just dust now. there's nothing living in that soil#and now summer is here and it's too hot and these plants don't have a chance#i hate everything
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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?
#file under: dumb decisions i regret a bit#can't regret it too much tho because if i didn't do it now#i wouldn't get a harvest#not with how short the growing season is and how hot it gets#and it looks sooooo good now#but i knew i was making Mistakes around the second bag of compost#and that was only 5 minutes in#i didn't get done for THREE HOURS#i am not smart#i am also incredibly stubborn#these are bad traits to have together#anyway maybe i'll feel better about my decisions when I have my first homegrown stir fry
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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.
#writing advice#I mean yes if you have a compost pile that gets very very hot then maybe you can kill off all diseases#but that is very difficult to do in a non-industrial composting situation#and IDK maybe there are areas of the English-speaking world where tomatoes don't have such delicate constitutions#but those parts of the world aren't my parts of the world and so#I freak out every time I read this#don't throw your nasty sick rotten tomatoes in the compost pile!#gardening#farming#I believe the quote is attributed to#erin bow#I don't know who that is#maybe they have been gardening for years and never dealt with this problem#or maybe they have been gardening for years and wondering why they end up with so many rotten tomatoes
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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.
#catholic gardener#gardening#garden#2023#winter#permaculture#vermiculture#hens#seeds#new plans#old ideas#seed bombs#hotbeds#hot beds#compost#worm compost#pruning#trees
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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!
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#Huw Richards#solarpunk#hot beds#garden#gardening#composting#compost#plant#food#growing food#Youtube
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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.
#i do feel like everything i've written these past three days is hot garbage but i guess i can make compost with it at the very least?#i wrote for three different wips and ultimately that's nice i think?#200 words writing exercise
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just had an insanely productive hour my goddddddd when the vyvanse Hits
#we went and dealt with my moms return package. and then while she drove around i cut up the leek tops to go in the compost#and then actually took it all out to the compost. turned the compost around a little bit.#washed the container and put hot water and vinegar in it.#found the heating pad for my moms back 👍 and cleaned the cats litter box#and some other shit dude what on earth has happened to me
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July in the garden
Hot composting
#growing fruit and veg#sylvanthorn#gardening adventures#summer#2024#july#my hot composter#hot composting
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