- Messages
- 54,308
Son_of_Atropos said:Hello --
I'm trying my hand at composting so I could use some advice.
I built a 4 by 8 foot wooden frame which was about 2 1/2 feet high. I set it on a rectangle of cinderblocks in order to increase the height, so now it is about three feet. I've mostly been putting orange peels, grapefruit peels, apple peels, and some old leaves from last fall which still hasn't broken down. Now I've been adding some water to this concoction to keep it moist and been turning it with a garden fork once a week. Am I composting correctly? Do I need more green matter or brown matter? What is the ratio between green matter and brown matter?
I heard about a method where you put a 6 inch layer of dirt on top of about 12 inches of compost and this is supposed to accelerate the compost process. Anyone try this? It seems like it would work because the earthworms would aid the compost process.
Good luck to all you victory gardeners.
I am not sure what the temperature is where you are but in warm weather you have to water and turn the pile more often. I would also cut down on the orange and grapefruit peels as you are adding quite a bit of acidity to the mix.
The leaves are fine and I would add more of those. You can certainly add more dirt if it is light and friable. Heavy clay dirt can smother the decomposition.
You can add potato peels and other kitchen scraps too as long as they are not meat or bones. Wilted lettuce, celery and other greens or their discards are fine to add.
You didn't mention if the compost pile is covered. I use a covered bin as it works faster and keeps the heat up. The pile decomposes faster if it is covered and the heat is kept within itself. You can add lawn clippings to the pile and that would certainly heat it up quite a bit if you don't have it covered.