Sunday, October 18, 2009

Midway to Black Gold


After about three weeks from the start here is how the compost pile looks now. I think it will be ready after two weeks. The original pile has been continuously turned once every two or three days since the beginning. This is necessary to keep the reaction going and to aerate the pile. Also, the layers needed to stay wet, but not too wet. I had to add water every two or three days as needed. Notice that the pile is now less than half the volume of what it used to be three weeks ago, so I added more brown leaves and grass clippings to fill the bin again. That is OK because the first batch is going to be ready in a couple of weeks at the bottom while the new batch can continue to rot. The new pile can also be ready before winter, and if not then it will be ready in spring. The picture of the finished compost (humus) will be posted in a couple of weeks (hopefully).