Compost in a hole in the ground?
Tamara Settergren
hole in the ground and pile the clippings in there, along with a few vegetable-type food
scraps to help the decay process? Should I cover the pile? Watch for bug infestations?
Add water?
You advice will be much appreciated!
Tami Settergren
ta...@tc.fluke.com
kl...@cobra.uni.edu
> I'm going to need to start composting grass clippings. Can I just dig a large, shallow
> hole in the ground and pile the clippings in there, along with a few vegetable-type food
> scraps to help the decay process? Should I cover the pile? Watch for bug infestations?
> Add water?
>
You can do it this way, and it may be preferable in drier parts of the
country. However, two things that you need to do with compost piles:
get air into the mass, so it rots properly, and keep it turned (to
speed composting, and to incorporate the air needed). Harder to do
with a hole in the ground.
I've used a pile on bare soil, topped with an old shower curtain for
moisture retention for years. Sometimes I get ambitious and build a
back frame of old pallets. Sometimes I don't.
Kay Klier kl...@cobra.uni.edu
Robert Beer
Tamara Settergren <ta...@tc.fluke.COM> wrote:
>I'm going to need to start composting grass clippings. Can I just dig a large, shallow
>hole in the ground and pile the clippings in there, along with a few vegetable-type food
>scraps to help the decay process? Should I cover the pile? Watch for bug infestations?
>Add water?
>
You don't really need to dig a hole; if you do, you shouldn't make it too
deep. The best decay will happen if you get a good mix of green, fresh
materials like grass clipping and vegetable scraps, etc., and dry stuff
like spent spring annuals (poppies are a really good source of this by
the way..). After that, the two most important things are oxygen and
water. The oxygen is the reason you don't want to have your compost down
in a hole; you want to be able to get air to it, and be able to turn it
when it starts to cool. That's harder if you have to dig it out of a
hole. For water, you want to keep things moist, but not soaking wet.
You can give it a spray in the morning. Also, wet the material *as* you
build the pile; if you pile it all up and then spray it, you can't be
sure the moisture is really getting into the middle.
I have read some tricks for getting oxygen into it. If your pile has
some coarse material in it you should get oxygen in without a problem,
but besides turning it, (which besides fluffing the pile, also gets
uncomposted things into the constantly moist bacteria-friendly zone).
One, which I have tried, is to put several long sticks into the pile and
jiggle them a couple times a day when you think about it. Another, which
I haven't but which worked well for the writer, was to build the pile
incorporating several wide PVC pipes with holes drilled all over them.
Let oxygen into the most inner parts without drying the pile, and he got
very good hot composting. I plan to try this one myself; pvc is pretty
cheap. He covered the pile with plastic to keep moisture in the whole
thing, and had the pipes sticking out; making turning less vital because
the decomposition was taking place more uniformly.
If you try and compost just pure grass clippings, you will want to turn
them pretty often, because they will tend to pack down quickly, and you
will start getting anaerobic decomposition (without oxygen). This still
breaks things down, but it also stinks and is where you get a slimy mess
instead of nice loose compost.
bob
sonny hays-eberts
> In article <DCn2...@tc.fluke.COM>, ta...@tc.fluke.COM (Tamara
Settergren) writes:
> > I'm going to need to start composting grass clippings. Can I just dig
a large, shallow
> > hole in the ground and pile the clippings in there, along with a few
vegetable-type food
> > scraps to help the decay process? Should I cover the pile? Watch for
bug infestations?
> > Add water?
> >
>
> You can do it this way, and it may be preferable in drier parts of the
> country. However, two things that you need to do with compost piles:
> get air into the mass, so it rots properly, and keep it turned (to
> speed composting, and to incorporate the air needed). Harder to do
> with a hole in the ground.
>
> I've used a pile on bare soil, topped with an old shower curtain for
> moisture retention for years. Sometimes I get ambitious and build a
> back frame of old pallets. Sometimes I don't.
i've found the hole method useful for squash; next year mound soil into a
hill over the hole and plant. if you've got a large garden or yard, you'll
find a hole won't supply enough area.
what you need to help the process (generally) isn't food scraps, but
nitrogen. urea, bloodmeal, manures and 'compost activators' will do the
trick.
also, it needs to stay somewhat moist to be effective. grass clippings
tend to dry quickly, imho.
i've found the best trick (assuming your garden is surrounded by wire
fence like mine) is to cut across a corner with chicken wire. the wire
provides support as well as letting in a good supply of air. to turn,
remove the chicken wire, fork it all away from the area, replace the wire
and pile back in.
front fence
==================
\ |
\ * |
chicken \ | side fence
wire \ |
-> \ |
\|
|
* = compost pile
reputedly it's best to layer grass clippings, manure, grass clippings,
manure, etc.
turning is yucky, hard work (especially with 3 monster piles) but
necessary. i tend to make it a spring and fall event, as summer is too
hot.
you can also drill some holes in pvc and place the pipe in the center of
your pile. as it grows you can use that to send water to the center, as
well as move it around a bit to aerate the pile without turning.
--
so your life sucks?
well, 99% of life is what you make it
so, if your life sucks
you must suck
-- suicidal tendencies
sonny hays-eberts
ebe...@donald.uoregon.edu
David L. Henning
>
>I'm going to need to start composting grass clippings. Can I just dig a large, shallow
>hole in the ground and pile the clippings in there, along with a few vegetable-type food
>scraps to help the decay process? Should I cover the pile? Watch for bug infestations?
>Add water?
>
The only problem you can run into with digging the hole for grass
is that grass decomposition (as you described)can be smelly. To reduce the odor
you can add dolomitic limestone or a thin layer of dirt. Or you can
just use the grass as mulch and eliminate the work. Yes, I know someone will
worry about grass seeds. I've never found grass seeds to be a problem.
The grass as mulch has been a greater benefit.
sonny hays-eberts
Henning) wrote:
> Sure, you can dig a hole or you can just use the grass as a mulch on
your current beds.
> The only problem you can run into with digging the hole for grass
> is that grass decomposition (as you described)can be smelly. To reduce
the odor
> you can add dolomitic limestone or a thin layer of dirt. Or you can
> just use the grass as mulch and eliminate the work. Yes, I know someone will
> worry about grass seeds. I've never found grass seeds to be a problem.
> The grass as mulch has been a greater benefit.
heh, i am your dissenting opinion. :) the first few years i mulched, i
used hay or straw interchangably. i'm *still*, five years later, working
on removing the grasses. the priority list i've seen for weeds lists
grasses as the first thing to remove from your garden, followed by
broadleaf weeds.
i'm also afraid to point out that *other* weeds, possibly much more
noxious, leave seeds around. that's how the bindweed moved from my front
yard to the raspberry patch. :(
it's one very good reason to compost in a pile first. the heat of a good
pile should eliminate most seeds.
Kaye Swain
: I'm going to need to start composting grass clippings. Can I just dig a large, shallow
: hole in the ground and pile the clippings in there, along with a few vegetable-type food
: scraps to help the decay process? Should I cover the pile? Watch for bug infestations?
: Add water?
It's called sheet composting and my former neighbor across the street
used to do it. It's mostly an anaerobic form of composting (without oxygen
as opposed to the above ground (and hopefully mostly aerobic) way to
compost which I do.
Yes, definitely you would have to cover the pile. Both grass clippings
and food scraps are notorious for attracting flies and fruit flies so the
whole thing would have to be covered with at least a few inches of soil to
keep out flies. Even in my covered compost bin, I have to cover food
scraps and grass clippings with a layer of leaves or without fail flies do
manage to get in. A friend who just started bin composting is having trouble
with that right now. She didn't notice any problem with her open pile
composting but she more than likely kept it covered-- or buried the food,
etc. deep inside the pile.
Anyway, I would dig a small hole or a series of small holes, just
enough for the amount of organic matter you have that day. Remember to
cover with soil. Then dig more small holes 6" or so away every time you
have more to add.
As to watering questions, etc. maybe someone with some experience
in sheet composting can comment.
Hope this helps. Let us know how you get along. I love hearing
about anything to do with composting!
Regards,
Kaye Swain
Dartmouth, N.S. Canada