One thing that became apparent fairly quickly is that you can never have enough compost. The modest compost heap began in earnest when first moving to the farm proved to be woefully inadequate. The compost operation has since been significantly expanded and a number of key lessons learned.
Volume
The first realization was that kitchen waste alone could not provide all of the compost needed. Fortunately chicken manure, pig manure, garden waste, and leaves were available in abundance. In addition, a small rabbitry was established primarily for meat but the large amounts of manure were a welcome addition to the composting operation.
Multiple Composting Sites
While pushing a wheelbarrow full of pig manure up the steep hill from the pig paddock to the compost heap (and thinking of the line from the movie Patton: “...Well, I shoveled s*** in Louisiana”) I had a major aha moment. It is far more preferable to push a wheelbarrow full of compost than a wheelbarrow full of manure. Therefore, why not bring the mountain to Mohammed instead? So, rather than maintaining a central compost heap, additional composting sites were established closer to the sources of material – particularly the manure. Currently there are composting sites in the top field (the original), the orchard (close to the free-range chicken coop) and pig paddock (only a short distance to shovel the pig manure to the compost heap - bypassing the wheelbarrow).
The multi-composting site strategy appears to be working well with just the one drawback. In winter a compost pile needs to have a volume of approximately 3 foot x 3 foot x 3 foot to maintain the necessary “cooking” temperature. The more heaps that are built the longer it takes for each heap to reach this critical mass and thus the overall decomposition may take longer during cold weather.
Efficient Processes and Developing Good Habits
Kitchen waste is still an important source of Nitrogen for the compost and while much kitchen waste was captured, some was still being thrown away. There were several challenges: First, keeping kitchen waste in the kitchen quickly attracted hundreds of small fruit flies so that the kitchen resembled a biology experiment that had gone wrong. Second, taking the waste to the heap frequently enough to avoid the Drosophila invasion was a pain. A three-step system was established to overcome the above challenges.
First, a container with a lid was used to hold small amounts of waste in the kitchen. The lid is easy to remove but also keeps away the fruit flies. When this container is full the contents are transferred to a covered plastic 5 gallon bucket immediately outside of the kitchen door (outside of the house). This further minimizes the fly problem yet avoids frequent trips to the heap. Once the 5 gallon container is full the contents are then transferred to the compost heap and turned in. In a nutshell, the easier it is to collect and move the kitchen waste the more likely it will end up on the heap versus in the trash.
Keep it Moist
Perhaps the single most common problem with composting is allowing the heap to dry out. Each site is therefore located close to a water source.
Compost Heap Design
At any composting site there are three basic stages of compost: compost that is ready for use, a completed compost heap that is being cooked, and a new compost heap still being built. This means that at every site there are three phases present. While there are many ways to achieve this, nothing more elaborate than wooden pallets were used to frame and partition the heaps due to their low cost, ease of use, and versatility. Large plastic ties were used to attach the pallets together. This is simple but effective and the ties can be undone and re-used.
The picture below shows a three-stage set up used at the original site in the top field. The relative short distance of the compost heap from the kitchen door can also be seen – closer the better but not too close!
Composting is a key process for improving the soil and fertilizing the plants. Experience to date suggests applying some thought to the design and location of the compost heaps can make the process more effective and more efficient.
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