How do i make a compost stack? and what do i put in it?
Question:I've just dug up all the grass in my front garden to make way for a veg plot. I want to compost it but haven't got a clue how to make a compost stack.
Answers:
If you take 36" high fencing with (wire with openings)-about 12-14 feet of it. make a circle with it standing up. fill this with your compost materials. The grass is good, but in the fall throw in any leaves you collect (except walnut leaves-they kill plants) Any coffee, yard clippings, etc. throw in there as you go. When the first frost hits, take a shovel or pitchfork and stir up the pile. Do this every couple months until next planting season. Then spread out your pile and rototill into your garden.
P.S. Don't put any animal feces, or food stuffs in there, or the local critters will make a mess of your pile.
Old engine oil, a couple of car battery's, and some napalm into a 45 gallon drum of radio active waste should get things started.
Edit* Outrageous you try and help some people and this is the thanks you get..
good compost should be composed of fine grass clippings ..leaves.all of the following egg shells..fruit and vegetable peels..coffee grounds.
compost heaps get very warm..and have to be turned over frequently to keep them aerated..
keep it watered daily ..you don't want it to dry out.
add dark top soil.
you can add lime in a thin layer...
keep out any plants that are diseased.
put a small wire fence around the compost heap to keep it in place.
Compost=All vegetation, no animal products except egg shells, coffee grounds are fine, grass clippings, leaf litter, soil that is unused, manure, and peat. Find a sunny location and start piling. You can build a bin if you like, but it's not necessary. Make sure you water the mound frequently and mix it by turning with a shovel it at least once a week. Just remember you can put anything in the compost except animal products like meat or fat. Don't add diseased vegetation either.
I bought a bin from local council with a door at the bottom, fill with a mixture from house, old tbags and veg waste and anything from garden grass clippings to dead flower heads
no meat scraps or youll get foxs, rats and mice. I wouldnt recommend full sun as then it starts to pong but half and half if possibleout of the way. Its better to have two bins as you are suppose to move from one to other but i dont and i still get enough to mulch my garden with.You will also get allot of small flies sometimes but these arnt harmful just means allot of fruit peelings in bin
All these folks have given you good suggestions except one.
Between layers of compost toss in a cup of bone meal found at good gardening stores every everywhere. It promotes heat and relatively fast decomposition. The layers settle faster and provide richer food value for your future use to be incorporated into the earth by hand or rototiller.
Just buy one from a garden centre they are not too expensive. Make sure you get one with a shovel slot at the bottom. Put in potato peeling fruit skins any fruit that may have gone bad. No meat! this will attract rats.
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