How long will it take to get good fertilizer from a newly formed compost pile?
Question:I havent started it yet but im moving in to a house with a year lease...is it pointless to start one with only a year to enjoy the benefits...also, are there ways of speeding up the process?
Answers:
I don't agree with all that's been said. Yes, a compost pile can take a long time to bring up to speed. But No, you don't have to actually wait all that time.
Here is what I'm doing ( and I do have more than a year in my home)-- I collect in a large coffee can thin peels, coffee grounds, tea bags-all that stuff--- and take them to my fence line where I have dirt piled. I dig a trench and spread my kitchen waste in the trench and cover it-- I have active worms and pill bugs-- and have the waste nearly composted in a matter of weeks.
When I plant perennials, I take the clay/sand dirt from the hole-- put it in a wheelbarrow and plant my new perennial with that amended dirt from the trench-- the clay sand is broken up and put where the dirt was removed. I do move the trench around-- I have actually 4 sites in that dirt-- and I rotate taking out and putting in.
I encourage you to compost while you can-- you will gain and so will the persons coming behind you.
good luck
I dont think a year will be long enough to get the full benefits from composting. The only way I know of to speed up the process is to introduce nitrogen into the compost. Even with that I still don't think a year will do it. Sorry.
You don't get fertilizer from compost. You get rich earth (kind of), which you mix in with the regular soil. It will hold moisture better and have some nutrients. And takes at least a year depending on your rainfall. Dry conditions take longer.
A compost pile is as good as it's parts. If you compost manuer, fish parts and that sort of thing, it can also be rich and sort of work as fertalizer however most compost piles are exactly that, compost. It would not be worth the trouble if you are only going to be there a year but you can speed the process by watering and turning often.
My suggestion is wait until you will be in a place a couple of years and then have at it. Coffee grounds and some other materials don't need long (a month) while leaves and grasses take longer to be useful. Putting in fish will speed decomposition of the pile up but will also make the stench rather strong. I get away with it because I am on acerage and the pile is a good distance from my home but for city dwelers that might not be possible.
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